Another great thing about email marketing? By nature, it forces your readers to interact. They can read the email, forward it, or take advantage of a discount code or special offer. And even though you’re nowhere near, you might as well be in the room—walking them through the process step by step.

If you’ve been neglecting your email marketing strategy, it’s time to up your game. Keep reading to find out why it’s worth the effort.

Email Marketing Is, Like, Super Cost-Effective

Few people start businesses they aren’t passionate about. In fact, most business owners could talk for hours about their industry, their message, and what they bring to the table. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could convert that passion into sales?

With email marketing, that’s exactly what you get to do. Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, funneling that passion into a weekly email will draw your readers in. That right there is the biggest asset your email marketing strategy has . . . and it’s 100% free.

From there, the rest is relatively easy and affordable. There are several email marketing programs that simplify the process and make it easy to maintain an email database. You might look at Constant Contact or Mailchimp for starters.

And here’s the really good news: email marketing has a staggeringly high conversion rate. The average return-on-investment is $36 for every $1 spent. Needless to say, email is one of the most cost-effective marketing avenues you can take.

Plus, what do you have to lose?

Think about it.

If someone is receiving an email from you, it’s because they’ve already given you their address. They’ve already told you they like what you’re selling. All you have to do is keep the good vibes going. And if you can throw in some bargains or benefits, even better. With time, you’ll build an army of loyal customers.

Email Marketing Allows You to Interact With Customers

As your customer base grows, it gets harder and harder to maintain relationships. Email marketing allows you to reach hundreds, even thousands, of people in a personal way. And when your customers feel seen and heard, they’re more likely to interact with you. Here’s how email marketing can make that happen:

Customer Segmentation

It used to be that all of your email subscribers would get the same content, regardless of whether it was relevant or not. Now, you can segment your email list so that readers get content that is tailored to their specific needs.

If ToasterTubs is ready to offer a discount to their Iowa-based customers, they don’t need to email every customer across the U.S. about it. Instead, they can opt to send geographically relevant content to the people in that area.

There are many ways to segment your email list. Here are a few ways to break it down:

• By location
• By purchasing behavior
• By age
• By industry
• By interest

To successfully segment your email list, you will need to acquire customer data as you go. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools like SalesForce or others, allow you to gather data and segment the customers you have. You can take that data and input it into whatever email platform you choose to use.

Drip Campaigns

Imagine a world in which you have the time to email every person who signs up for your email list directly. You could say hi, introduce yourself and your business, thank the person for joining, and explain what kind of content to expect from you. It would be a great way to get the relationship started off on the right foot.

Of course, you could try to do that. But as your email list begins to multiply, you’d quickly give up or die from exhaustion.

Thankfully, there’s a solution to this problem: drip campaigns.

Drip campaigns are time-based strategies that are personalized to the receiver of the email. You could implement a drip campaign for new people to your list. Or, you might use a drip campaign after a customer has:

• Made a purchase
• Attended an event
• Contacted customer service
• Left an item in their shopping cart

With a pre-written campaign at the ready, you can keep these customers engaged and moving forward.

Customer Personalization

Personalizing an email takes data, but you can get started with something as basic as the customer’s first name. After all, which subject line is more likely to catch your attention?

Check out this killer sale!

Hey [insert your name here], check out this killer sale!

The first intro might get a reader or two to open the email. The second has a much better chance. In fact, studies show that having the recipient’s first name in the subject line can increase the chance of an email getting opened by 26%.