Targeted email marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that helps you increase your conversion rates and boost the effectiveness of your emailing efforts.
For some time, targeted email marketing was a strategy that was primarily beneficial for larger businesses.
However, if you use targeted email marketing correctly, it will undoubtedly work for your small business. It enables higher customer retention and repeat purchases, which helps you build a steady base of loyal customers.
But how do you use targeted email marketing for your small business? Read this article to find out more.
Table of Contents
What is targeted email marketing?
Targeted email marketing is an email marketing strategy where you send specific emails to each customer segment so that it better suits their needs.
The best way to use targeted marketing is to use segmentation. Even basic segmentation tactics such as dividing your email list by demographics or location can significantly boost conversion rates. Targeted emails are up to 6 times more effective than other mailing strategies.
Targeted email marketing thus depends on various factors. You can segment your mailing list according to different criteria – the most common being:
- The data your customers have shared with you
- Their past purchases
- Their age, location, gender
- Their interests and preferences
For example, suppose you own a clothing store and do a discount on scarves. You can send an email to those customers who have already bought scarves from you to notify them about the deal.
This type of targeted marketing can be more time-consuming since you’re dividing your email list into more segments. However, doing it properly is proven to have significant benefits even for smaller businesses.
Benefits of targeted email marketing
While it’s easy for companies to send generic promotional emails to their customers, targeted marketing is far more effective, albeit more time-consuming.
On the other hand, if you send your customers targeted emails, they’ll feel valued knowing you’ve addressed their needs and wants. It will make them more likely to buy from you again.
Let’s discuss the main benefits of targeted email marketing.
You send more relevant marketing messages
Nobody likes to receive generic emails from companies. Why would you be interested in buying products that are currently on sale but have zero interest in those products?
It’s better to send targeted emails to customers interested in buying the specific products you’re promoting. Customers who receive these marketing messages are more likely to take action and buy from you. It will significantly boost the conversion rates of your emails.
Higher conversion rates
Targeted email marketing is proven to increase your ROI by up to six times. Even basic segmentation of your emailing list can increase the results of your email marketing efforts by up to 7 times.
Email marketing is already one of the most effective marketing strategies for ROI. Up to 99% of all online consumers log in to their email accounts to check messages at least once a day.
So if you’re using generic email marketing and you’re wondering how to increase the ROI of your emails, then segmentation is your answer.
Improved customer satisfaction
Targeted emails show that you care about your customers’ needs and wants. In the long-term, having a stronger relationship with your customers will lead to better customer satisfaction, and targeted marketing helps tremendously.
Customers will notice that you care about their needs, but they will also be more inclined to open your emails again because they expect to find something of value.
This method will boost your relationships with your customers and make you a trustworthy brand, so targeted email marketing is worth it from this standpoint alone.
Higher customer retention
The last point is closely connected to the third advantage – higher customer satisfaction will lead to a higher number of repeat customers.
Email marketing strategy is a great way to build a solid customer base. It can be your foundation in the future, creating a robust base that you can build upon and expand your brand.
How do you do email marketing as a small business?
Suppose you’re a small business and want to incorporate targeted email marketing into your marketing efforts. In that case, these steps will help you out massively.
Use the right email marketing services and tools
The first and arguably one of the more critical steps is choosing the right email marketing tools to help you improve your marketing efforts.
When it comes to marketing tools, these are some of the more critical types of tools to consider:
- Email service – the most important decision will be choosing the right emailing service. Mailchimp is widely used, but several other tools are just as good and might not cost as much, making them great for small businesses.
- Marketing tools – in addition to the service you’ll use, you’ll also want additional marketing tools in your arsenal. Some might be included in your mailing service, while you can use others as standalone tools.
- Tools to create unique emails – one of the most important things is making emails that stand out. A sound email signature is one key aspect that will help you out tremendously. It’s a simple yet effective way to make your emails stand out from the rest, increasing your conversion rates.
Grow your list
If you want to use targeted emails, you’ll want to grow your list first. Now, growing your mailing list isn’t the focus of this article, but there are several different ways that you can increase your email list:
- Through social media
- Business website
- PPC ads
Choose one or several of these strategies and grow your mailing list. You can continue growing your list even while using the targeted email strategies.
Collect and use data and integrate it into targeted email marketing
One thing is for sure: targeted email marketing simply won’t work without having the right information about your customers. So a big step toward building a powerful targeted strategy is collecting the correct data and then using it to your advantage.
You can easily do targeted email marketing using basic information about your customers. However, the more detailed information you can collect, the more effective your targeted marketing will be.
If you’re an e-commerce site, you will include most of the data in the existing orders. Things like gender, age, location, and the type of products bought should be enough to get you started. So start collecting these data types and then use them in your targeted emails.
Use customer segmentation
Once you’ve collected the basic information about your customers, it’s time to use basic customer segmentation. It is just the start of a targeted emailing campaign that might get far more detailed than this.
You can split your mailing list depending on various criteria, such as:
- Location
- Gender
- Age
- Behavior
- Preferences
- Purchase history
These aspects are crucial for making your email marketing efforts more effective. You can decide to use one or several of these factors when targeting your customers.
Customize the content based on the criteria for segmentation
After you’ve decided which criteria you want to use to target your customers, it’s time to choose what type of content you will provide for each customer category. You can base your decision on the factors we’ve mentioned above.
For example, let’s say you run a business that sells gadgets. If you decide to split your mailing list based on age, you can send out emails about devices that provide entertainment to your younger demographic. On the other hand, you might see the benefit of sending out emails about gadgets that improve the quality of life of older subscribers.
It is just a rough example, but you can use this strategy in almost all the emails you send. You can do the same if you use other methods of targeting.
Test and improve
The best way to create an effective targeted campaign is to test and improve it constantly. A/B testing is appropriate when you want to see what types of content work best for your specific audience. You can make further adjustments to your campaigns to make them even more effective.
Is targeted email marketing good for small businesses?
Email marketing is perhaps the best marketing strategy for small businesses, as it provides the highest ROI of all marketing channels.
However, targeted email marketing can be even more effective.
Why?
Because it helps you build a base of loyal customers more likely to buy from you again and boost your brand reputation. The word will go out about the quality of your business, and more people are more likely to subscribe to your emails or buy from you in the future.
The best approach for making a well-targeted email campaign is to test and see what works for you. You’ll also need to use creativity, and with some patience and testing, you’ll stand out from your competitors who send out generic emails.
About the Author
Helga Zabalkanska leads the MySignature team and believes that product and growth marketing are driving forces to succeed in your six figures goals.
