Marketing

SBDC BLOG 5 email marketing mistakes to avoid Email marketing can be a powerful and cost-effective tool for connecting with your customers. With the right approach, you can reach your audience, drive sales, build relationships and much more. Here are five mistakes to avoid so you can make the most of email marketing for your business growth. Email marketing can have a big impact on your customers – and your bottom line. However, your efforts may go to waste if you don’t approach this powerful marketing channel in the right way. We asked Kasia McNaught of McNaught Media for her insights into common email marketing mistakes, and how you can avoid these in your business. Here’s what she shared. Mistake #1: Thinking you don’t need email marketing Even you if you have built a large following through social media, email marketing should still have a role in your overall marketing strategy. As Kasia shared in our blog on email marketing for beginners, depending on social media can leave you vulnerable to platform changes or shutdowns, while building an email list can become an asset for your business. “The thing is, you want to get in front of people by using social media and get their email addresses as fast as possible so that you can build your own list, as this can be a goldmine for your business,” explains Kasia. Mistake #2: Sending too many emails You might have experienced this kind of email marketing in your own inbox. You sign up to somebody’s list and suddenly get inundated with daily promotions and offers that you don’t want to read. “Sending too many emails can lead to subscriber fatigue and higher unsubscribe rates,” says Kasia. “Focus on quality over quantity.” Mistake #3: Forgetting about mobile phones It’s likely that many of your target audience will read their email through their smartphone – not through their laptop or PC. Kasia says it’s important to remember to optimise your emails for mobile phones before you send out an offer, promotion or update by email. “Always ensure your emails are mobile-friendly. I always check my test emails on desktop and mobile before sending them out to my audience.” Digital marketing expert Kasia McNaught will be presenting an upcoming SBDC workshop on email marketing. Mistake #4: Ignoring your analytics As with other types of marketing, the more you know about your target audience and how effective your channels are for influencing them, the more impact you can have and value you can deliver to them. “Don’t ignore email analytics, as this data can provide valuable insights into campaign performance and help refine your strategy,” Kasia warns. “Email analytics are usually provided for free within the platform you use.” “Segmentation and personalisation can also help you to tailor your emails based on your subscriber preferences, demographics and behaviour. You want to avoid generic content which doesn’t resonate with your audience.” Mistake #5: Leaving out a call to action Not every email you send needs to sell – but Kasia notes that it’s important to let your subscribers know what action to take next. “Remember to include a clear instruction or button at the top of your email to guide subscribers. Whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter or visiting your website, your call to action should stand out, be easy to find, and relevant to the content of the email.” Find out more Not every email you send needs to sell – but Kasia notes that it’s important to let your subscribers know what action to take next. “Remember to include a clear instruction or button at the top of your email to guide subscribers. Whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter or visiting your website, your call to action should stand out, be easy to find, and relevant to the content of the email.” Marketing Share Facebook-f Instagram Youtube Linkedin Related Articles Tax-time tips to prepare for a downturn Learn more Our quick guide to tax deductions Learn more Why your credit rating matters in business Learn more

SBDC BLOG Getting started on social media Not sure where to start when it comes to promoting your business on social media? Social media can seem overwhelming, but fortunately there are a few basic principles that can help guide you through the ‘getting started’ stages. The golden rule of social media is to engage with your target market on their preferred platform, using relevant and useful content. Your customers are more likely to come across posts on the platforms they prefer to use and to read, share, like and comment on posts that interest them. Sometimes this means there is a disconnect between the content you want to post (such as special offers and product information) and the information your audience will find useful and engaging. Unless you’re one of the lucky few who have a knack for writing engaging content off the bat, you’re going to need to do a bit of research and put together a social media strategy on how to create and deliver that content. Here are some tips to help you get started. Work out which social media platforms are best for your business Choose a platform you want to include as part of your social media mix (for example, Facebook). On the social media platforms you’re interested in using, search for similar businesses to yours. Look for businesses with at least a few thousand followers that post on a regular basis (at least weekly). Browse through their profiles to find posts that their audience are engaging with (posts that get a lot of likes, shares, comments). Make note of the content theme (eg. was the post educational, problem solving, entertaining or news focused). Repeat this process for several business pages and identify popular topics or themes. Plan your social media content Now you’ve done your homework, it’s time to use your research to help you plan your social media content. You could: Create your own content from scratch, including written updates, images, infographics and/or videos. Experimenting with different content types is a useful way to test the kind of content that your audience engages with the most. Comment on relevant content you’ve found elsewhere. You could use a social media post or article someone else has created to express your view on a popular topic. Use a quote from an article and then express your view or standpoint. Provide a link to relevant content on an external website. Share content created by someone else (make sure you have their permission and/or credit them for their work). Tips to help you create social media content Once you’ve decided on the type of content you’re going to post you need to develop it. This can be one of the most challenging parts of the process – the big question is ‘what am I going to share today?’ Luckily, there are some useful tools that can help you generate ideas for your social media posts. Content idea generator websites These tools allow you to enter a topic or keyword related to your business and in return you will be given a list of potential topics that are popular in relation to your industry. Google tools There are a range of tools freely available from Google that you can tap into for insights into what people are searching for in relation to your product, service or industry. Google’s Keyword Planner can give you an insight into what people are searching for when it comes to your product or service, helping you generate content that answers the questions they are asking online. Google search suggestions/autocomplete can be used to explore what users are searching for. By typing a topic into the Google search bar, you’ll see a list of auto suggestions based on what’s popular for that topic. Google Search Console provides you with insights into how visitors are being drawn to your website. This free tool reports on the search terms people are putting into Google that result in them visiting your business website. AI tools Apps like ChatGPT can be used to brainstorm new content ideas as well as help you develop key information to cover and calls to action. Read our article AI made simple: An introduction for small business to find out more. Draw on human experiences Are there questions you are frequently asked about your products or services? Or compliments you regularly receive from happy customers? The conversations you have in your business with customers, suppliers or staff could provide inspiration for social media content that you hadn’t considered. Behind the scenes (BTS) Providing your customers with a ‘behind the scenes’ look at your business can be another affective way of building up a social media following and customer loyalty. BTS content can seem more genuine and less ‘marketing’ focused than some other content, which may appeal to certain audiences. Want to learn more about social media marketing? This is just a summary of the steps involved in getting started with your social media strategy. If you’re interested in learning how to develop and implement a complete digital strategy in your business then join us for our Digital Marketing Essentials workshop or explore our range of practical sales and marketing workshops. Finance Share Facebook-f Instagram Youtube Linkedin Related Articles Tax-time tips to prepare for a downturn Learn more Our quick guide to tax deductions Learn more Why your credit rating matters in business Learn more