Sending the Right Email to the Right Lead

Hello Everybody,

Today I'm going to be talking to you about sending the right email to the right lead. A lot of people thinking emailing people is just spamming, but there's so much more to it when done correctly. Emailing helps to close leads into customers. This is the first step in the close stage of inbound marketing. There are reasons that you might want to look into emailing your leads, for example there are more than 3.2 billion email accounts today. 95% of online consumers use email and 91% check their email daily. Email and a longer lifespan than social media does and it is cost effective.

Email marketing works for every stage of the inbound methodology. It is good for attracting new visitors, which works when your current leads forward one of your emails to somebody new. It can convert visitors into leads. It nurtures current leads into customers because you are able to tailor to specific leads. And you can delight current customers into promoters by offering customer discounts and the like.

When emailing you need to be sure you're sending the right kind of email. Determine who your audience is. Know who your ideal customers are and know their interests, pain-points, behavioral patterns, motivations, and goals. Know where they are on the buyer's journey and cater towards that. Segment your contacts database. Know what your goal is, for example is it to increase deliverable, increase engagement, or to increase reach. 25% of email lists decay every year, so there's no point in sending emails to people who won't read them. Send the right content at the right time. If someone is in the awareness stage of the buyer's journey it would be beneficial to send them videos, blog posts, slide-share, or free-tools. In the consideration stage send webinars, case studies,  and FAQ sheets. In the decision stage send free trials and product demos.

Emails should add value, not ask for it. Here's some best practices for emails.

• Identify a specific goal
• Personalize sender info (this will increase your open rate about 3-5%)
• Personalize email copy (14% higher click-through-rate)
• Get to the point
• Address leads directly
• Use actionable language
• Focus on benefits
• Use multiple call to actions
• Encourage sharing
• Edit the plain text
• Optimize for mobile
• Analyze results (test different subject lines, email templates, offers, length, images, copy, and call to actions)

Keep these things in mind when emailing, because no body likes getting spam.
-Caitlin Campbell