Reasons your start-up needs email marketingCongratulations – you’ve finally got that start-up business idea off the ground. The rough note you scribbled on the back of a beer mat three years ago is now a registered business with its own name, bank account and first customer.

Yay!

So, onto social media, video and podcast marketing, right?

Hold your horses. As exciting as the bright lights of content marketing’s many forms may be, there’s one way to reach your audience that you really shouldn’t overlook.

As a start-up, you’ll live or die by email marketing.

Not convinced? Here’s why:

1. You can build strong customer relationships from the off

Email marketing is a direct marketing channel, and because you can now legitimately and ethically harvest data about your customers and potential customers (providing they’ve given consent), you can use this form of communication to build a great relationship with them.

This is best done via list segmentation and personalisation, and enables you to demonstrate to your subscribers that you care about them individually; they’re far more to you than just a number on a spreadsheet.

2. You’ll start with credibility

Building credibility in business is challenging, but there’s a misnomer that it requires years of industry experience.

It doesn’t; you can build credibility simply by promoting your brand as an authority (even if you’re still wet behind the ears).

Why should someone hand over their hard-earned to you? Because, if they read the content of your email marketing campaigns, they’ll realise you’re a force to be reckoned with, no matter how young your enterprise is.

3. You won’t dip too deeply into your bank account

Google AdWords is a bit of a budget black hole, and social media marketing is increasingly a pay-to-play market (which is expensive, too).

Good email marketing isn’t free, granted; you’ll need a tool that provides the best platform from which to send campaigns, and that’ll come at a price – but it won’t cost you a fortune.

What’s more, the potential ROI on offer is simply mind boggling. A single send to several hundred people will cost you pennies, yet the engagement, brand exposure and raw sales you can receive in return will make a tangible difference to your bottom line.

As a start-up, you probably haven’t got oodles of cash, and that’s why email marketing is such a great area in which to focus your promotional efforts.

4. You’ll come across as an expert (because you are!)

Email marketing isn’t just about sending out newsletters and last-minute product offers – it’s a way to build your start-up as a thought leader within its industry.

You may have only just started, but you still know what you’re talking about, and if you’ve started publishing blogs featuring actionable advice and insight for your audience, email marketing is the best way to ensure they’re read.

5. Your brand will develop, beautifully

Email is a beautiful way to present your brand. Thanks to rich HTML content and the ability to create emails that display perfectly on any sized screen, this is one of the best ways to shine a spotlight on your brand.

Pick the right email marketing client, and you’ll be able to do this stuff yourself, too – there’s no need for a degree in graphic design if you want to create beautiful emails!

Wrapping up

Hopefully I’ve convinced you that your start-up needs email marketing.

There’s really no arguing, is there?