Email marketing – still a key small business strategy
Promoting your small business can often feel challenging, with a host of strategies all claiming to be the most effective. In truth, most of these strategies work better for specific business models than for others. Despite that, small business email marketing stands out as one of the most popular, reliable and lucrative ways of building a business.
The catch is that, for those same reasons, spammers have abused email marketing. That has made it more complex and more regulated than many new small business owners suspect. Still, it remains well worth the effort for most businesses.
Why Small Business Email Marketing?
Email marketing offers several benefits to small businesses, not least of which is its high return on investment (ROI), which averages around £36 for every £1 spent. By sending targeted messages directly to interested customers, you effectively maximise your marketing efforts while minimising costs. Emails drive significant website traffic, bringing potential leads right to your digital doorstep.
Beyond numbers, email marketing builds credibility and boosts brand recognition. Each email serves as a touchpoint, reinforcing your business’s presence in the minds of your audience. The ability to create personalised content also means that emails resonate on a personal level, further cementing customer loyalty and engagement.
Building an Email List
Growing a robust email list is the foundation of effective email marketing. In fact, that email list can become a key business asset. As many marketers will tell you, “The money is in the list.”
That said, GDPR and other privacy/consent-based marketing regulations have now made the long-established practice of buying existing email lists legally questionable, at best. Building your own list may require far more effort, but it’s also far safer.
Start by offering value in exchange for contact information. This could be a discount, an exclusive piece of content, or even a simple newsletter sign-up on your website (if you have incredible content). A strategically placed pop-up offer on your homepage or a seamless signup option during checkout can significantly boost your subscriber base.
Use existing interactions to deepen connections. Encourage satisfied customers to sign up and share their positive experiences, turning them into evangelists for your brand. Remember, quality trumps quantity. Focus on engaging potential customers who are genuinely interested in what you offer.
Data Protection Compliance
Email marketing requires legal compliance
Compliance with data protection laws (e.g. GDPR and PECR in the UK; possibly others depending on how and where you trade) is essential to email marketing success. Failure to comply can undermine your business’s reputation and even lead to hefty fines.
You must always include an easy opt-out option in your emails, respecting subscribers’ choices at all times. You must also know which legal basis allows you to send different types of emails, and in the UK, must register with the ICO.
On the other hand, transparent, ethical data management reinforces trust among your audience. This means respecting customers’ privacy, providing clear explanations of how their data will be used and demonstrating your commitment to safeguarding their information.
One way to simplify compliance is to manage your mailing lists on systems you control instead of using one of the many dedicated third-party Email Service Providers (ESPs). In any case, ESPs generally require adherence to their own terms of use as well as your legal obligations — and can be quite draconic about closing accounts that they suspect of non-compliance.
Notably, very few ESPs allow cold emailing campaigns, as the legal limits on those are especially strict. As the ICO puts it:
You must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. There is a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’. You can send marketing emails or texts to companies. However, it is good practice to keep a ‘do not email or text’ list of any companies that object. — ICO, “Electronic mail marketing“
Crafting Effective Campaigns
The heart of successful email marketing lies in crafting campaigns that resonate. Understanding your audience is key. Conduct surveys or analyze purchase behaviour to gather insights into their preferences and needs. Use this information to create relevant content that speaks directly to them.
Each email should have a clear call-to-action (CTA) guiding recipients toward the desired outcome, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for an event, or sharing feedback. Maintaining a consistent sending schedule keeps your audience engaged without overwhelming them. Regular communication helps establish anticipation and reliability, boosting open rates and interactions.
It’s also essential to remember that not everyone reads emails the way you prefer to. Whilst many use mobile devices for short messages, others find desktop or webmail (email-in-a-browser) email “client” systems far easier to read. Some prefer plain-text emails (without formatting like bold or italic text), whilst others respond better to nicer visual design — but their email systems may not display exactly what you create. Some systems will even rewrite the code, breaking links and spacing.
On top of that, any images will need to be hyper-optimised for recipients on slow connections or limited data plans. However, your email will also need to work without them, as many systems disable images in emails by default.
Thankfully, dedicated email design systems can handle most of that complexity for you. Still, it’s worth noting that this is not as simple as writing an email to a friend. Personal email systems are not designed for bulk mailing. Notably, they can’t handle spam reports, unsubscribe requests, transactional emails or automated email sequences like onboarding campaigns.
Marketing Email Deliverability
Email marketing done badly becomes spam
Once you’ve created them, sending your emails through a suitable list-management system is the easy bit. The tricky bit is getting them delivered to your customer’s Inbox.
Most people don’t realise that spam filters dump vast amounts of rubbish long before it gets near their “Junk” folders. Even 25 years ago, when I worked for major UK ISPs, mail filters were dumping tens of thousands of the dodgiest emails every day.
Yet most automated mail filters try to err on the side of caution. No one wants to delete legitimate emails, yet many spammers work hard to make their emails look legitimate. Unfortunately, that also means your legitimate emails will likewise have to avoid looking like spam.
Quite a bit of that involves avoiding content that might trigger spam filters. Services like Mail Tester can help with this. Still, you may need an experienced web designer to help with electronic signatures like SPF, DKIM and DMARC, as well as avoiding the Realtime Blackhole Lists (RBLs) that many ISPs subscribe to. Those track and block domains and IP addresses that seem to be producing or forwarding spam. You do not want to be on them.
In fact, domain reputation can affect email deliverability even without triggering an RBL. So it’s often best to “warm up” new email addresses for a few weeks before using them to send bulk mail, by using them to send emails you know won’t get rejected or junked by the recipients.
Improving Response Rates
Personalisation is the secret weapon in improving response rates for your email campaigns. Begin by segmenting your audience based on factors like interests, purchase history, or engagement levels. Tailoring messages to specific segments means recipients receive content relevant to them, increasing the likelihood of interaction.
Go a step further by using dynamic content, where portions of the email change based on recipient data. This could be anything from mentioning their first name to recommending products similar to their previous purchases. Such personalisation creates a sense of individual attention, fostering connection and enhancing response rates.
Conclusion
Despite growing regulation and complexity, email remains a key small business marketing strategy. From building a responsive email list to crafting impactful campaigns and embracing personalisation, it offers a tried-and-tested pathway to sustained growth. By complying with data protection laws and fine-tuning your approach, you’re not just reaching inboxes. You’re cultivating lasting relationships.
As you integrate email marketing into your small business toolkit, envision the steady growth of your customer relationships — much like tending to a garden where every email is an opportunity to nurture, engage, and thrive. Embrace this strategy, and watch as your small business blossoms into something magnificent.
