An email list is the foundation of any small business. Email addresses can directly connect you to prospects. When you are constantly focusing on sending email marketing campaigns, you could be losing out on the actual message. Many marketeers and small business owners are time poor, so they write something quick, put it on a 3rd party email marketing platform and schedule it in. Then it is done! Or is it?

The focus for many business owners is looking at the results, open rates, sales and click-through rates. But you may be missing an important step…  addressing your audience.

‍

Who is receiving your emails? Are they primary prospects? Do these people have a reason to believe you? Are you providing value?

These questions often get unanswered because we become focused on the quantity, and not the quality of the email content. Most small businesses focus on trying to acquire a huge database of emails. When in fact it is better to concentrate on only 100 prospects in your email list and build a relationship with, than reaching out to thousands of people who don’t even know you or care what your business is. It is proven that a small business email list with a low number of contacts will have a better reply rate, than an extensive list.

Our point is, maybe It’s time to rethink your email marketing tactics and focus on the content that you want to share, and improve on fostering a strong relationship with your contacts that will naturally see a higher email open rates. It's important to note that a small business email list gives you a direct way to interact with people who need your services and products the most.

Advantages of a small business email list

Over the last couple of years, emails have had a bad wrap! We’re receiving more email scams than ever and the sheer volume has given email marketing a bad reputation. Everyone who is social distancing or that needs work is sending emails to get attention. But when you read these emails - have you noticed what we have? For example, we receive 15-20 emails per week offering websites, digital marketing and SEO services, and if they were smart would have done their research.

It's only fair to say that most of us lose trust with emails and its important that your email marketing is planned out correctly to provide value and doesn’t fall into your prospects spam folder.

When you focus on creating a high value small business email list, it allows you to break free from the noise, and you can actually build better customer relationships. When you start thinking about your email list, think of it as developing leads and building trust with those prospects. When you have a small business email list it allows prospects to enjoy reading your email and look forward to future communications.

When you have create trust, it will ensure your emails are read, providing a deeper connection, and the opportunity to work together.

Generating a Small Business Email List

These are the several, yet straightforward ways to build a small business list for your business, and below we’ve outlined some simple ways to build a highly targeted list with a strong result.

• Use your contact list. This might seem obvious, but if you are a business owner, leader, worker, or executive, you already have a contact list. You may be so busy you don’t even know who is in front of you. Take five minutes once a week and go through it to see who you know. Reach out to them and see if they’re happy to be on your email list first. 
• A current small business email list - is a goldmine. You are allowed to begin with the existing list, and there will be names on that email list that you haven’t reached out to in years. Send an email to let them know you are thinking of them and give them and update on what’s been happening in your business.
• Contact previous customers. Reach out with an email to touch base and check-in. This is an easy solution sometimes to build your email list.
• Get contacts to from Linkedin. Linkedin is a social media platform that has an up-to-date business database. You can find new connections and build unique relationships with new prospects. You can reach out to the existing connections to reconnect with.
• Use third-party tools. There are so many email marketing platforms that can help you send validated emails to decrease bounce rates. It will help you to collate leads and reach prospects in an automated way.  

Tips for Better Email Marketing

Email marketing is the perfect formula to build your small business email list. The following email marketing tips can be used to grow your small business email list:

• Keep things simple. You don’t need complicated funnels because you only need to reconnect with the leads you already have.
• Make sure to follow up. People get busy and they might have the intention to contact you back, then things happen and they forget. So make sure to follow up with your small business email list. You have to maintain and influence their awareness of your business.
• Use authentic messages. No one likes to read impersonal, cold automated emails. A relationship can be built when you make your email professional and  personal. You can try using unique messages to make them feel like important. Remember to respect a person’s limited time and use short emails with the right message such as helping them solve a problem.
• Make sure to be shown up at the right place. Don’t depend purely on the 3rd party emails to target your small business email list. Try to deliver your emails exactly as if you are addressing them individually.
  

Building a small business email list can connect you to prospects. These email marketing tips will help you increase engagement with your emails, and your prospects may even reach out to say thanks. If you need a hand with your email marketing get in touch and let’s talk about your digital marketing efforts.