Email marketing is one of the most powerful ways to build a long-term business. The marketing strategy offers a 36X return on investment approximately, which means for every $, email marketers generate $36 in return. Why is it so effective? Because email marketing lets you build meaningful connections, engage your target audience, and sell whatever you want to sell over and over again. But, building and monetizing an email list from scratch takes a well-thought-out strategy. In this post, we’ll tell you exactly how to start an email marketing business even if you don’t know its basics and have nothing to sell right now. Let’s dive in.
What is Email Marketing?
In a nutshell, it’s a process of promoting a business by sending engaging emails over a period of time. Emails can be of several types, the most common of which are educational/informational emails, promotional emails, and transactional emails. Brands and businesses use email marketing to build long-term relationships and stay on top of their customers’ minds. With the basics out of the way, let’s dive into the practical email marketing guide.
How to Start Email Marketing Business
The following step-by-step guide applies whether you have an online audience or are trying to build it from scratch. We’re providing you with a generic email marketing template that you can fill in based on your brand or preferences.
Step 1: Define Your Goals and Audience
The first step of any marketing strategy should be to identify or define an audience you want to reach and engage. Having clarity on what you want to achieve with email marketing will help you stay focused and continue to move in the right direction.
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Step 2: Choose an Email Marketing Platform
There’s no shortage of email marketing platforms out there, which is precisely the reason why it can be tricky to choose the right one for your needs. Most of these platforms come with a generous free plan, so you can test them before going for the monthly subscription. Some even have lifetime deals with limited features, eliminating the need for a recurring cost. Some good email marketing platforms are Systeme, Klaviyo, and Kit (Formerly Convertkit).
Step 3: Build Your Email List
This is probably the most intimidating part for most email marketers. Building an email list of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say is crucial, but it’s not as easy as it might look.
A powerful way to get people to join your list is by offering an attractive and valuable lead magnet. A lead magnet can be anything that’s at least more valuable than a person’s email address.
To create an attractive lead magnet, think about the pain points and desires of your target audience and create something around that. For instance, a video that goes through different ways to lose belly fat without going to the gym. Note that this lead magnet will only work with people who are interested in losing belly fat without going to the gym, which is why targeting the right people is so important.
Create a simple landing page where you collect people’s email addresses and offer them the lead magnet. Share this landing page link with your target audience. Some effective ways to market a lead magnet include:
- Facebook ads
- Answering questions on Quora
- Networking on Reddit and Facebook groups
- Writing blog posts
- Creating videos
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Step 4: Monetize Your Email List
You don’t need a lot of subscribers on your email list to monetize it. The more important thing is the quality of those subscribers. You can monetize an email list in a variety of ways, but your primary focus should be to send helpful emails to build trust and authority, at least initially. If you’re already a business owner, you can use email marketing to sell your products.
The second popular method of list monetization is sponsorship. As your email list gets bigger, you can get paid to share sponsored messages within your emails. Another powerful way to monetize a list is by promoting affiliate products. Platforms like CJ Affiliate, Clickbank, and Partnerstack host a variety of products in different industries. You can pick the products you like and promote them with email marketing.
Email Marketing Tips and Best Practices
Growing an email marketing business is more than sending emails – it’s about developing a strategy. Here are a few email marketing best practices to help you grow faster.
Stay Compliant with Regulations
Email marketing laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM serve to protect users’ privacy. Make sure to get consent before sending emails to anyone and offer an easy way to unsubscribe to your list. Also, add your business details and address to stay transparent.
Avoid Spam Filters
Emails that land in the spam folders of your audience are as good as unread. You can maximize the probability of your emails landing in the primary inbox by:
- Using a verified domain name
- Avoiding promotional language, such as “Free” and “Act now”
- Keeping your email list clean and relevant
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Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s address some frequently asked questions about starting an email marketing business.
Is Email Marketing a Profitable Business?
Yes, email marketing is a profitable business because of its low startup cost and high return on investment.
How Much Does It Cost to Start Email Marketing?
Starting an email marketing business doesn’t require a lot of investment. You only need an email marketing tool and a custom domain name.
How Do I Start My Own Email Marketing Agency?
To start an email marketing agency, learn the skills, build a portfolio, create a professional website, and start offering email marketing services in a specific niche.
Conclusion
The barrier to entry for starting an email marketing business is fairly low. However, it’s essentially a content-based business, so the product or service you sell matters a lot. If your product isn’t good enough, no marketing strategy can help you achieve your revenue goals. But, if your product or service solves a specific problem (It could be an affiliate product), email marketing is probably the best way to build a loyal customer base around it.
