Is Email Marketing dead in 2017? Far from it!
With the advent of Social Media and how people currently communicate online, email marketing has lost a bit of its luster, but that does not mean it is not a profitable online marketing endeavor that generates leads and produces sales.
In 2015, a Radicati Group study showed that roughly 2.5 million people across the globe still use email to communicate with each other. That is approximately 33% of the world’s population! Do you think that there are enough email users out there who want and need your debt settlement info? It seems so.
The key to converting those email subscribers into buyers is to learn how to effectively market using email marketing practices that will work in 2017.
As times have changed, so has email marketing. People will no longer stand for spammy email messages that just push the sale and do not provide valuable content to them first.
There are some do’s and dont’s for any email marketer, but especially for debt settlement companies who want potential prospects to open, read, and to sign up to their email list. If you do things correctly, you will get leads and customers.
Below is a quick email marketing for debt settlement companies tutorial that will explain some of the best
Email Marketing practices being used successfully in 2017.
Get Clear About Your Email Marketing Goals
As with any marketing endeavor, not having a set plan is a blueprint for failure. The most successful email campaigns have always had a clear goal in mind: newsletter subscribers, increased brand awareness, generating sales, or ensuring repeat customers.
Maybe you want your prospects to sign up to your debt settlement newsletter and in that way, you can generate leads, build brand awareness, and eventually convert those subscribers into sales. If that is the case, then you can send your newsletter weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on the amount of quality content you can provide your list.
Never Spam
Besides being illegal according to the U.S. Government CAN-SPAM act of 2003, spammy emails are frowned upon and will never generate many leads or customers. Besides that, it looks unprofessional and since you are in the business of debt settlements, you want to appear as professional as possible.
In order to avoid looking like a “cheap salesman” and facing potential legal consequences, apply the following guidelines to your email marketing campaigns:
- Only collect emails from subscribers who have opted into your email list.
- Make your sign-up email clear and concise. Tell the subscriber what they have signed up for, give them whatever you have promised them on your lead generation page, and provide them with contact details (address, phone number, social media accounts).
- Don’t send emails on a daily basis. People are often put off by daily emails (unless it is breaking news) and will unsubscribe if you email them this much.
- Make it easy to unsubscribe. Always provide an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your emails. This is just a courteous thing to do and it makes you look more professional in the eyes of your subscribers.
Automate Your Emails
Whether you have a large email list or only a couple hundred subscribers, sending out weekly or monthly emails can get boring and exhausting.
DeptPayPro has email scheduling options and many other features you can set up in advance so you don’t have to waste time sending out general emails to your subscribers.
Some of the emails you might want to automate include:
- Welcome & Thank You Emails
- Reminder Emails for Upcoming Events
- Abandoned Emails (non-login, empty carts, etc…)
- After-purchase Follow-up Emails
- Make Your Emails Interesting
If you want to keep your subscribers, then make your content fresh and useful. Even though there may not be a lot of interesting content you can provide on a regular basis when it comes to debt settlements, you still want to make the emails you do send out interesting.
Here are some tips for keeping your emails relevant to your subscriber base:
- Eye-catching Subject Lines
- Include Interesting Images
- Keep the Sales Pitch to a Minimum
If there is not enough content out there pertaining to your niche, then only send emails out monthly or quarterly. Keep your subscribers happy and they will end up becoming happy customers for life.
Include Relevant Links
Of course, you do not want to seem to “salesy”, but in order for your email campaigns to be successful, you must have a strong call to action.
Consider asking a question at the end of your email that ties in well with the service or product you are offering. For example, do you think it is time to……….? Then, provide a link to the page where they can find out more about what you have to offer.
Another way to not seem too pushy is to include a sidebar in your emails that show your offers, much like your website or blog. That way the email itself does not have to even mention the offer, the prospect will stumble upon it themselves.
Track & Monitor Your Emails & Email Lists
These include metrics like click-throughs, conversions, subscription rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates. This is the only way to know if your email marketing campaigns are doing what you want them to be doing.
Remember, if you are tracking open rates do not do so without using the other metrics mentioned above. Just because a subscriber is opening your emails, it does not necessarily mean they are reading them, much less clicking through to the offers.
There it is, a tutorial of email marketing for debt settlement companies that are absolutely viable in 2017. Put the above tips to use and continuously refine your email campaigns for best results. If you do so, you should increase your subscriber base, which will ultimately lead to more customers and sales.
Happy marketing!
