When it comes to email marketing, no business can be too small.  No matter how many customers or members you have, businesses of all sizes can benefit from using email marketing.

Size doesn’t matter.  Whether you’re an SME, a small-growing business or just one man and his dog, we understand that the thought of using any online marketing activities, let alone email marketing might be a daunting one.  You may have concerns about a lack of email addresses or on how to create a professional looking email.  That’s where Suite26 can help.

Here are 5 simple steps to you help build your email list, engage with your customers and follow up on your campaign results.

1. List building by collecting email addresses

The quickest and most effective way of collecting valid email addresses from customers who are interested in your products or services is to provide an email opt-in subscribe form on your website so that customers can sign-up to receive your newsletters or promotional offers.  The other way is to get your employees to actively ask customers for their email addresses at every point of contact, whether it’s by phone, face-to-face or online.

2. Understand your customers and carefully plan your email messages

First you need to understand your customer base and consider how they can benefit from X, Y or Z news or offers. What do they see as value?  If you plan to send a regular email newsletter, make sure it’s newsworthy and of interest to the reader.  Separate your customers into specific groups depending on their interests, location, purchasing amounts and more.  Then send targeted emails that specifically relate to their needs and interests.  Also consider the best day(s) and time(s) to send your emails, giving them the best chance of being read.

3. Creating your email template

Create an email campaign that will grab the readers' attention, engage them and get them to respond e.g. sign-up, contribute, trial or buy.  Use a professional looking, properly designed HTML email template as it can be the difference between inbox or junk folder delivery.  Having a custom-built email template designed for you can give your messages a professional look and feel each time you send, helping your customers to instantly recognise your brand and help increase traffic straight to your website.

4. Write content that will engage customers

When it comes to writing your content remember these key points:

• Keep it simple – both your subject line and your message

• Decide what the objective is for the email - what do you want the customer to do next?

• Use clear, well placed call-to-action buttons or words that will direct recipients through to a specific webpage

• Carefully consider your opening paragraph as this is what will initially be seen by customers in their email program’s preview panel.  You must be able to grab their attention in a few seconds and make them want to open it and read on.  Personalising the email with the recipient’s name can help achieve this.

• Always use fresh and interesting new content on each and every send

• Make sure there’s good ratio between text and images.  Too many images and not enough text can make the email look like spam to Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo email filters

5. Understand your results and what to do next

Unlike other marketing activities, email marketing provides results and a return on your investment.  After sending your campaign you’ll immediately receive stats showing who’s opened your email, who’s clicked through to your website and much more.  You’ll then be able to determine which customers are interested by how many times they’ve read your email and exactly how interested they are by the number of times they’ve clicked, and what links they’ve clicked on.  With this information you can plan to follow up with another email specifically targeting these interested customers.

Have You Started Email Marketing Yet?

So if you’re a small business still unsure whether to start using email marketing, simply follow the steps above and you'll have no problems at all.  With a little effort at the beginning, you’ll soon see that email marketing works, not to mention it has one of the best Return-On-Investments of all marketing activities.  So don’t be put off, give us call on 0845 313 0912 and we’re happily have a chat about your requirements.  We’re here to help you get your email marketing underway.

Using a custom built template for your email campaigns has many benefits.  For a start, it reduces the creative building time process, and makes it possible for those without HTML knowledge and the necessary design skills to use a professional looking email template without having to know how to write HTML code.  Following on from that, optimal HTML code can mean the difference between inbox delivery success or  junk folder failure.  So why not use a custom built email template that has already been tested for optimal HTML structure?

Consistency is key. Using a custom email template will give your emails a familiar look and feel each time you send, helping your customers instantly recognise your brand. Using a custom built template for your company and brand is a great way to direct traffic straight to your website.  By providing links to key landing pages, you are making your products and services easily accessible to your recipients, as well as directing your customer to exactly where you want them go to.

In short, custom built email template designs at a minimum help improve delivery, promote brand exposure and increase traffic to your specific landing pages.  So, are you using a custom email template for your email marketing campaigns?

For more information on how to order your custom built email template, please visit http://www.26.co.uk/customEmailTemplate

Happy Easter and a BIG thank you to all our 'egg-cellent' customers for their continued support and custom over the weeks, months and years.

As a little treat from Suite26, you can now get a FREE Easter email template for your Easter campaign!

Check out the free Easter email template design we've made specially for you:

If you would like to use this email design for your Easter campaign, please email us today at sales@26.co.uk or call 0845 313 0912, and we'll add it to your account at no extra cost.

From all at Suite26, have a great Easter and enjoy the bank holiday weekend.

We have now added a new feature onto Suite26 that allows you to request your very own custom built email template.  By clicking on the Customised Templates button on the home page, you can now design your own unique email template to completely reflect your style, business logo, preferred layout and presentation style.  All you have do is submit your contact details and we'll put you in touch with one of our preferred design agencies, who'll then contact you directly.  Custom designed template prices start from only £195 excluding VAT.

We've recently added 10 new templates into Suite26 which you are free to use and edit to suit your own needs.

To use a template, simply create your campaign as normal and then click on the Edit Primary Content link.   You will now see our built-in WYSIWYG editor, and just above and to the right of that you will find the Use A Template link.   Upon clicking on this link you will be able to select a template of your choice which will be inserted into the editor and can then be changed to meet your requirements.