Email marketing: what it is and how this tool helps you sell more

Our colleague Federico Ahumada, a communicator and email marketing expert, shared some very practical tips on how to retain customers and build loyalty if you run a healthy food store.

In this article we'll show you how you can use email marketing to increase your sales, build customer loyalty and create effective campaigns.

What is email marketing

Email marketing is a tool that consists of sending bulk, automated emails to a contact database.

Which platform should you use?

This tool can't be used from a personal email account like Gmail. First, because it looks unprofessional. Second, because these accounts aren't designed for bulk sending and don't have all the features of an email marketing platform.

The best known are: Sendinblue, Mailchimp, Doppler. They all offer similar features and a free sending allowance, so you can start using the tool for free and switch to a paid plan as your database grows.

Don't worry: all of these platforms are affordable.

Benefits of email marketing

This tool allows you to:

• Increase traffic to your social media or online store.
• Stay top of mind with your potential customers.
• Build loyalty among your buyers so they keep choosing you.
• Drive conversions (sales, subscriptions, etc.)
• Access statistics to analyze how effective the emails you send are.

How to get started with email marketing

The first thing to do is choose the platform you'll use and build your database (the email addresses of your customers or potential customers). You can do this in different ways: for example, by asking for email addresses at healthy food fairs, collecting contact details in exchange for discount coupons, or adding a subscribe button to your online store so people can get a free resource (an ebook, a guide), etc.

Once you have that database, the second step is to segment it: split it between people who have already bought from you and those who have been in contact with your brand but haven't purchased your products yet and are potential customers.

Communication has to be effective and personalized, so you can't send the same email to your entire database.

Types of emails

There are 2 types of emails you can send:

Transactional: these are triggered by an action taken by the user, for example confirming their email address, tracking their order, receiving bank details to make a payment, etc.

Commercial: these include welcome messages, newsletters, special promotions, new product launch announcements, and greetings for special occasions such as Christmas or birthdays.

Remember that all of these emails are sent automatically, so you don't have to send them one by one.

We recommend watching: Webinar on how to retain customers and build loyalty with email marketing

Tips for sending effective emails to your customers

For this strategy to be truly effective and help you increase sales and build customer loyalty, put these tips into practice:

• The subject line should accurately reflect the content the user will find. If your subject line mentions an offer, the reader should find an offer in the email.
• The subject line should be eye-catching and encourage the user to open the email.
• Use direct calls to action and tell readers what you want them to do: subscribe, buy.
• Include an unsubscribe button.
• The content of the email should be valuable; try to keep it short.
• Use a person's name as the sender, for example: Nico from Agrojusto.

If you take part in healthy food fairs, download the guide to sell more!

Summary

Email marketing has been proven to be one of the most effective tools for increasing sales and building customer loyalty, even more so than social media or WhatsApp, but you need to make sure you use it correctly.

If you want to dive deeper into this tool and learn everything you need to use it correctly, watch this exclusive webinar on how to build customer loyalty with email marketing. Among other things, you'll learn how to read the metrics the platforms provide and check whether your strategy is working.