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Email Marketing for Startups: Tips & Tools (2021 Guide) | Connect 365 

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Did you know that there are more than 2.7 million emails sent per second? That’s over 200 billion every single day. In fact, people spend more than 5.4 hours every day checking their email or using a desktop or mobile device to communicate. 

You might even be surprised to know that 26% of people check their email before getting out of bed in the morning. But they often wake up to inboxes full of more than 60% spam. 

From a business perspective, emails are an integral part of any marketing campaign. According to one survey, more than 80% of professionals believe that email marketing drives customer acquisition and retention

With an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent, it’s easy to see why they turn to email as one of their primary methods of communicating with potential and existing customers. 

There is also an intangible side to the benefits of an effective email marketing campaign. Email marketing campaigns give companies the opportunity to build relationships with prospects in a personal experience for clients. 

But what does all of this mean for startups? 

In so many words, a well-designed email marketing campaign is absolutely necessary for any business looking to establish themselves as a serious competitor in their marketplace. There really isn’t any escaping the importance of using email as the cornerstone of any strategy for growth. 

Unfortunately, far too many companies fall short when it comes to their email marketing campaign efforts. They design massive campaigns that fill potential customer’s inboxes with spam and messages that aren’t personalized or include anything of real value. 

They aren’t timed well and at some point simply become a shot-in-the-dark. While some companies with a huge audience and a surplus of cash-flow might be able to get away with the repercussions of a poorly designed email marketing strategy, those newer to their industry don’t have the same benefit. 

Startups face a different set of challenges when it comes to email marketing than established businesses. 

As potentially the first interaction a customer has with a company, a startup’s email communication must be targeted, concise, and ultimately provide value. 

At Connect 365, we understand the value and importance of email marketing. As a result, we’ve created this helpful guide for startups looking to navigate the complexities of a well-designed campaign.

 The following information is meant to help new business owners better understand email marketing and how you can leverage its power for growth.

Why is Email Marketing Useful for Startups? 

The numbers clearly show that email communication is one of the best ways to reach customers. In particular, a well-designed email marketing communication strategy provides a myriad of unique benefits for startups. Specifically using personal email outreach and follow-up. While the following list isn’t exhaustive, utilizing the power that comes with an effective email marketing campaign can accomplish the following…

  • Allow startups to grow without the need for paid advertising
  • Provide new companies the chance to build trust with their ideal clients
  • Drive more traffic to a website, offer, or consultation page.
  • Begin building genuine customer relationships
  • Manage an online reputation
  • Convert cold-leads into paying customers
  • Stay top-of-mind with prospects they’d like to work with.
  • Generate more leads
  • Bring back previous customers with discounts on services

It would be fair to say that all of the benefits above provide value to startup companies. 

Any new business must be able to reach their target audience through clear, concise, and well-timed email communication. 

By doing so, they ensure they hit the ground running and begin building a solid and manageable brand identity and online reputation.

And the best part? You don’t even need an existing list to make it work. More on that later. 

Email Marketing Stats You Should Know As a Startup

Due to the undeniable fact that consumers are constantly connected to their phones, it sort of goes without saying that every startup should have an effective email marketing campaign put into place. But not just any email marketing campaign. 

One that is designed to track open rates, click-through rates, downloads, and web traffic. 

All with the purpose of determining whether or not they are focusing their sales efforts in the right place. Answering questions like… are we communicating with our customers at the right time? 

Do they know about all of our products and services? How do they view our brand? 

The list seemingly goes on forever. But while we’ve already established the importance of email in marketing campaigns, there are some more stats that every startup should be aware of. 

Did you know? 

  • 86% of businesses professionals prefer to use email when communicating 

  • B2B businesses typically experience growth of upwards of 760% when their email marketing campaigns are segmented properly

  • Emails are 40% more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined

  • 92% of decisions makers pay attention to unsolicited emails

  • 78% of decision makers say that unsolicited emails lead to a sales meeting

  • 59% of respondents in a recent survey said that emails influence their purchasing decisions

  • 79% of small businesses claim that email is the foundation of their business growth strategy

  • 92% of adults use email daily

  • Mobile devices account for more than 46% of all opened digital communication

  • 91% of all consumers check their email on a daily basis

Want to learn the best systems for getting leads and clients this year?

Grab A Free Copy  Josh Turner’s Book, The Trust Equation, To Learn An Automated Playbook To Build Lasting Relationships, And Get More Leads And Clients… The Right Way!.  Download Free Here!

Top Email Marketing Tips & Examples 

We’ve spent quite a bit of time going over the benefits of email marketing and the hard numbers and facts behind why it’s important for startups to use. 

But it’s worth diving a bit deeper and looking at some specific examples of an effective email marketing campaign in action. Below you will find a handful of tips to help improve your efforts and a few examples worth following. 

For most startups, especially those on a budget, we recommend starting with personal email for your email marketing. Meaning you send out personal emails from your actual email address. Instead of sending emails from a big box email marketing solution like MailChimp or Constant Contact. 

The reason? For those email tools to work you need an existing email. A large one. Not all, or many startups have that. 

Also, startups are typically successful when they are relationship focused with their leads, prospects, and/or customers. 

Meaning their customers are signing on to work with a person, not a business. There’s a relationship there. There’s a human element. 

So that’s what we’ll focus on today. Email marketing tips for startups or new businesses that work even if

  1. You don’t have an existing big email list. 

  2. You don’t have a big budget for ads or paid advertising.

  3. You don’t have much brand recognition (you’re just getting started)

Let’s dive in...

Send Personal Email

No, this does not mean to use your personal Gmail address. 

What I do mean is send email that looks and feels exactly like you manually typed out a note to a friend. 

That’s because, as a startup, your best advantage is building personal relationships 

People want to be communicated with, not communicated at. Now, more than ever, it's important to make your prospects feel heard. Your goal should be to start a dialogue and that begins with getting the first initial positive response.

Personal messaging through email is the perfect tool for this and why it should be THE core piece of any email marketing strategy for start ups.

Using a combination of psychological triggers that we call "Response Triggers" you can make it almost impossible for your prospects to ignore you and actually feel compelled to respond.

Once they respond they've opened the door for a conversation. Whether that be through email, Zoom, or phone call.

The days of getting tens of thousands of leads with Facebook ads for pennies on the dollar are long gone.

Because once you narrow your focus on what actually matters - trust, and effectively communicating with prospects, clients, and potential partners in a way that comes across as personal - you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to get more sales appointments, close more deals, and make more money.

That’s not to say sales funnels can’t work. They certainly can. But there’s a lot of time, energy, and money that goes into making them effective.

Those who focus on conversational email outreach with the purpose of starting a conversation are not only going to save time and money, but they will see far greater results.

This means that sending an email like this...

Will work a whole lot better than sending an email like this...

Send Relevant and Timely Communication

We know that every startup should be focused on clearly establishing what they do best and the exact value they provide. However, there’s a bit more to it. 

A startup’s email marketing campaign efforts should be designed with relevant and timely communication as a priority. It’s not only important to understand which type of messages to send, but also when. 

Surveys show that 74% of consumers become frustrated when their interactions with companies aren’t personalized. Campaigns that are relevant and aimed directly at the right customer at the right time ultimately fare much better than the alternatives.  

First, you need to get into the minds of your prospects to understand what moves them to act.  It’s both an art and a science. The Fogg Behavior model developed by BJ Fogg, best-selling author on human behaviors, provides an in-depth look on how to delve deeper.

It sounds complicated, but Fogg uses a simple formula (B=MAT) to explain. Meaning that for a behavior to occur it must have the following elements - motivation, ability, and a trigger. 

Now, let’s put it into perspective in terms of email outreach marketing. In order to be successful and for something to happen (i.e., opening your cold email), the reader needs to see the benefit). They also need to have the ability to take the next step, and finally must be triggered, or reminded, to act on an ongoing basis. 

If a desired behavior is not occurring, just ask the following questions: 

  1. Is your prospect motivated enough? If not, why?

  2. Does your prospect have the capabilities of performing the desired behavior? If not, why and how can you make it easier?

  3. Did you remind the prospect of the desired behavior and incite them to act, and then remind them again?

The answers to these questions help to shape the outcome and desired behavior that you want. 

In this case, opening your cold email and being receptive to your message.. 

The traditional business mindset wants the prospect to buy right away but times are changing. But your prospects are bombarded daily with marketing messages. Advertisements, emails, LinkedIn messages, billboards, etc. 

Going for the sale right away makes you look just like the others. A solicitor.   

Instead, you want your prospects to get to know you, understand what you stand for, anticipate your emails, feel valued, and start the beginnings of a long-lasting and prosperous relationship. 

“Once you understand your prospects' motivation, then always remember that if you want to get people to do something (and continue to do something) make it easy and remove the obstacles.”1 

And, then stay in continual contact and remind frequently. Follow-up email outreach is key

You’ll find that creating simple nudges of awareness will compel your prospects to act, cause them to open cold emails and encourage them to respond.  

When developing your cold emails use the EAST method – easy, attractive, social and timely. It doesn’t get any easier than that. Let’s break it down.  

Easy. 

  • A few well-written and impactful, eye-catching sentences will do. Short and sweet and to the point. 

  • Don’t write a book because our busy society will just click away. Remember you only have 8 seconds or approximately 40 words. 

  • If the message is complex, break it into several, smaller pieces. 

  • Don’t let the main message get lost in a sea of words. 

  • Present the main idea in the subject line or within the first sentence and be specific. 

  • Give them one point of contact to reach back to, not everyone in the company. 

  • Remove all unnecessary information. When in doubt, leave it out. 

Attractive. 

  • People buy with emotion so don’t dwell on the negative. You want to attract and retain prospects, not repel them. 

  • Always tell prospects what you can do for them and highlight the benefits they will see in their own personal lives. 

  • Show them how working with your business will resolve an issue and improve their life for the better. 

  • Always point to a brighter future. 

  • Cold emails that are filled with negative energy and feelings of guilt will only make prospects click away. 

Social. 

  • Show prospects how you’ve built relationships with other businesses, customers, and community partners. 

  • Be sincere and honest, and don’t make it too salesy or all about you. 

  • Instead show that a relationship with your business is valuable and needed. 

  • Give advice, free content, a series of blogs that establish you as an expert and a trusted member in the process. 

  • Show prospects how you’ve helped people and show them that you sincerely care about them.  

Timely. 

  • There is never enough time in the day so that’s why continual follow-up, nudges and reminders are so important. You always want to be top of mind so that you are in the right place at the right time whenever that may be. 

  • You never know where a prospect will be when they are ready to open your cold email. Perhaps, they were super busy when the initial cold email was sent. But, now has a chance to take a breath and finally sees the gentle reminder of a second email with a catchy headline. The point is to always be ready because the clock is always ticking. 

Personalize Your Subject Lines

Did you know that roughly 69% of consumers will open an email that has a personalized subject line? 

When you send an email to a potential customer or a lead you’ve generated, it’s likely that they won’t open it if it doesn’t have their name or something specific about them in it. In order to avoid missing out on sales opportunities, there are a few ways that startups can ensure their subject lines lead to conversions and don’t end up in customer’s junk folders or trash. 

  • If you are sending an email to a lead who is a Dallas Cowboys fan, having a subject line that mentions any other team won’t do much good - make sure your subject lines are directly relevant to your customer
  • Include words like “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary.” Statistically they lead to a much higher open and click-through rate - if you know something specific and personal about your customer... let them know
  • Include any connection that you may have with the prospect - this gives them a reason to open. Here are some examples:

    - Following up from Tuesday’s meetup!
    - Cindy gave me your informationGreat to connect, Joe!
    - A couple of questions for Jon

Want to learn the best systems for getting leads and clients this year?

Grab A Free Copy  Josh Turner’s Book, The Trust Equation, To Learn An Automated Playbook To Build Lasting Relationships, And Get More Leads And Clients… The Right Way!.  Download Free Here!

Why You Should Use Connect 365 For Your Startup

There’s no denying the benefits of a well-designed email marketing campaign. Companies who leverage the power of the latest tools and solutions available to send emails that count are able to navigate the “new normal” with much more success than their competitors. In fact, startups and new businesses are in a unique position in 2021 to fully take advantage of the value that emails provide. 

Not only is it the preferred method of communication for 80% of professionals, 40% more effective than Facebook or Twitter, and the foundation of 79% of all businesses marketing strategies, it’s the key to building a relationship with customers as a new company. Startups can ultimately use email to receive an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. 

But with so many choices out there, how does your startup decide who to partner with?

At Connect 365 we believe that our services are a better, simpler way to get high-paying clients on auto-pilot and solidify your startups email marketing campaign efforts. We are proud to offer a list of email 

personalization, client attraction, and sales automation tools that help your company stand out in a sea of marketing and advertising noise. When you choose us, you can rest assured that your marketing and sales efforts aren’t going to waste. 

Our team can help you create email marketing campaigns that go directly to your customer’s inbox and don’t get trapped in their spam folder. But not only do our campaigns end up in your lead’s primary inbox, they build trust, manage your reputation, and follow-up with customers after a sale to ensure satisfaction; leading to repeated, positive interactions with your brand. 

If you want to outlast your competition and know exactly what to say and when to say it, Connect 365 is here to help. Visit the following link to learn more about our services and get started today!

www.connect365.io

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