I’m sure that when you started your business and were wondering what email software to use – the choice probably fell on Mailchimp. “Because it’s free and easy to use”. And that’s fine. It’s great you even bothered to create an email list from the start. Many small brands completely overlook that, only to regret it later on.
In my experience however, the best email marketing software based on ROI is not Mailchimp, or Klaviyo, or Shopify email. It’s ActiveCampaign.
Let me articulate why.
If your choice at the beginning was based on:
– What’s cheaper
– What’s easier to use
– What everyone else is using
I am almost completely sure that right now:
– You are emailing your list less than 4 times a year
– You don’t believe email marketing is a valuable digital marketing channel
– You’re almost afraid to send one more email for worry of “bothering” your audience
So…. is the problem with email marketing, the email marketing software, or with you?
Speaking frankly, all email marketing software offer pretty similar features. Double opt-in, email templates, automation, yada yada yada. The big difference doesn’t lie in the technicalities, but I’ve noticed it lies in the mindset it creates.
Free email marketing software >> “I’m not losing money if I don’t use it ” >> no/little results from email marketing
Paid email marketing software >> “I need to make my investment back” >> results from email marketing
You see what happens? When we pay, we pay attention. Us humans, we tend to be more afraid of losing something we have, rather than excited to gain something we don’t have.
By using an email marketing software with a monthly price tag, you’ll be immediately looking for ways you can make that small investment back ($9/month for a small <500 database with ActiveCampaign) many folds.
is sending weekly edms the best strategy for an ecommerce store?
And no, the best way to do email marketing isn’t sending a weekly “recap newsletter” – which goes by “edm” in Singapore – it’s email automation.
Email automation sounds very scary, but it simply means sending emails that are relevant based on context as opposed to sending everyone the same email every Monday, because they are on your list. It means sending new subscribers an introduction to your brand, and returning customers ways to take their relationship with your brand to the next level.
If you are curious to improve your email automation and give my tips a go, I’m making my email marketing for small businesses guide available free of charge for a limited time.
Can email marketing bring results even if I have a small list?
I’ve seen the incredible results that a well-designed email marketing strategy can have. In one case, a member of The Pickling Club with a list of only 600 people, brought in an additional 3000 SGD through 2 email flash sales! And no, this isn’t some expensive corporate service. This is a small, family-run kombucha brand based in Singapore! This is only one case, but there are many more examples I can talk about…
I hope this can at least convince you to give email marketing one more shot! I promise you, it will be time well spent.
This article originally appeared on the Juicy Pickles blog and it’s being reposted with permission.
