Email marketing gives a lot of benefits for all businesses. From building credibility to improving visibility – a couple of paragraphs in an email might be all you need to increase new and repeated sales.

But, how do you make it work for your business?

There is no doubt that email marketing can become a dramatic difference maker for your company. But sending the wrong types of emails can alienate your prospects.

Worst yet – you can end up with a SPAM label on your forehead. And your chances of growing your part of the market share will start to diminish.

So, how do you go about email marketing? Let us start with the reason you will send emails to your market.

Nurture Your Relationships Online

If you don’t have a clear reason as to why you will implement email to your marketing efforts, allow me to give a clear focus…

Nurture your market!

There is nothing that we humans like more than to receive affection from those that surround us.

Affection lets us know that someone cares for us. Enough to put forth an act of kindness to make us feel good. And that is the message you want to send to your market.

You want your prospects to know that “hey, I care about your problems. And I want to help you overcome your issues and become better/faster/stronger than before.”

Now, the question is: how do you nurture your audience? The answer to that is: with information, education, and entertainment.

Let people know what is going on within your industry. Are there any policies or regulations that the public should be aware of? Let them know! Be transparent. Your prospects will appreciate that you are looking after their best interest.

Also, teach them the basics of what you do. Educate people on the why’s of your craft. And, if possible, give them some DIY tips for them to take care of simple issues. That way, when an advanced problem presents itself, you know who they are going to call.

And finally, let them know you have personality. Have fun. Share something you feel your market will find interesting and spark an after-hours conversation.

3 Email Formats That Can Generate Leads for Your Business

There are three types of email that you can send to turn your targets into leads.

Use with caution:

Newsletters/Ezines: This is the most common email marketing practice. Weekly or monthly, send out an email with valuable tips and information about your company, offers, or cause. And be sure to open the door for reader feedback.

Autoresponders: These are a series of five-to-seven follow-up emails used to deepen customer relationships. Your best strategy is to make your autoresponders themed – having a thread that ties each to the others. You can also use autoresponders to drive follow-up purchases.

Stand-alone Emails: Marketers use this type of email at an advanced stage of the business/customer relationship. These emails are meant to reach out and grow sales with special promotions, event invitations, and more.