You’ve got mail! Just those three powerful and penetrating words is all it took to make us smile back in the ‘90s. We felt loved, wanted, and couldn’t wait to check our inbox. Those same feeling resonates even more today. Especially in email marketing.
Still not sure if email marketing can work for you as a manufacturer? Your distributors have email addresses, don’t they? Well, here are some eye opening facts about why email marketing still works. (Source: Direct Marketing Association)
- There are more than 3.2 billion email accounts today.
- 77% of people prefer email for marketing communications.
- Email marketing has an ROI of 4300%.
- 95% of internet users have email.
Keep it Fresh
One secret to marketing for manufacturers is staying fresh with your emails.
You don’t want to harass your potential distributors by sending them too many emails, as well as, staying away from emailing those from a purchased list.
That’s a huge no-no! By doing so, you increase your chances of those emails ending up as spam.
Your leads are unengaged? That’s okay — let ‘em go — there will be plenty more.
Remember: Nurture, Don’t Nag
A manufacturer that runs effective email campaigns will send you specific offers, such as downloading a to-do checklist. This helps delight customers and keeps you engaged.
Another great reason to specify a certain action from your leads is that it will encourage them along a certain path that you, the manufacturer, is in control of. This is an excellent way of ensuring your pipeline is keeping leads flowing towards your sales goals.
Don’t be discouraged if these prospects don’t turn into any leads, right now. You can still be resourceful by sending tailored information to keep their palate salivating.
Delight Your Customers
Once you’ve nurtured your leads into customers, it’s time to make them feel welcomed and loved with email. Simply put, delight them. Email them relevant offers, events, and products that are of interest to them.
Not only are you staying in contact with them, you’re showing them you care about what they care about! This will keep them coming back to you time and time again.
Marketing for Manufacturers: Personalize It!
Avoid sending a generic email to ABC Company; it looks like spam as well. Taking the time to do just a little research on your customer will earn you big brownie points. And everyone loves brownies!
Sending The Right Amount
How much is too much? You won’t really know this until you have your first batch of analytics back. The key here is to not badger the prospect. Be personal and remember to add value to your emails.
After analyzing your results, you will have a better idea of how often to send your emails. Sending too little, your leads might forget about you. Sending too many, your leads will want to forget about you. Definitely stay away from the latter.
So, I ask you, are you ready to get your email campaigns jump started? I figured you would be. Download your “Inbound Marketing Checklist for Manufacturers” here.
To Your Inbound Marketing Success!
~Brodie
