Email marketing might sound like an outdated strategy, but it could be the best way to drive new connections.

Regular visitors are the lifeblood of any website, but how do you keep them coming back? You remind them, of course.

If you’re not already using email marketing as part of your strategy, now is the time to learn how this technique can help boost traffic and loyal visitors. It’s actually easier than you might think.

Does Email Marketing Actually Work

First of all, it’s time to dispel the myth that email marketing no longer works. Despite the rise of texting and messaging apps, email is still king. Take a look at the long list (over 200) of popular email marketing tools, for instance. Marketers keep coming back to email because it’s cost effective and delivers better ROI than other marketing methods.

One study shows that 54% of marketers prefer email because it not only works, but it’s easy to execute. A surprising 89% say email is their best tool for lead generation.

It’s easy to see that email marketing isn’t a dying trend. It’s still one of the best ways to reach your site’s visitors. After all, email is opt-in and if someone is signing up, they’re interested in staying in contact with you.

Using Email Marketing To Your Advantage

Email marketing is a tool that takes little work, but works to your advantage. Imagine being able to send personalised messages to different segments of your email list. You might send a special offer to those who haven’t clicked through on a message in a few months or a special thank you to those who’ve been subscribers for a year.

Some of the benefits that are often overlooked when it comes to email marketing include:

• Learning more about your visitors, such as what devices they use or what types of messages different demographics respond to best
• Interacting quickly with visitors
• Staying in contact to keep visitors coming back
• Offering personalised messages, which consumers love
• Target customers based on interactions with messages and your site

One of the reasons people don’t mind email is because it is something they’ve asked to receive. It’s a simple, yet effective way to keep driving people back to your site.

Driving New Connections

Now the big question – how does email marketing drive new connections? You’ve already discovered the benefits of using this marketing strategy. Email marketing not only keeps your site on visitors’ minds, but emails are something that are easy to share. Offering tips, discounts, or free downloads get your visitors excited and get them sharing your messages with their friends.

If you want to get the most from your emails, check out some of these incredible marketing campaigns and consider the following tips:

• Offer something useful, such as information or a free download
• Use friendly, descriptive headlines
• Keep messages brief
• Use clear calls-to-action
• Personalise as much as possible
• Learn from the competition
• Use images to grab attention

Incorporating Into WordPress

Obviously, you need a way to encourage people to sign up for your emails to before your site benefits. There are three things you need to think about:

• Signup placement
• Signup forms
• Email marketing tool or service

First, you’ll need to choose an email marketing / newsletter service, such as AWeber or MailChimp. These services allow you to create triggers for sending messages, offer tools for managing your email list and help you create newsletters and messages.

Next, you’ll need a plugin to link your WordPress site and your email marketing tool. SearchEngineLand provides a detailed list of plugins to get you started. These usually provide customisable opt-in forms as well.

The final step is the most crucial – placement. If no one notices your signup form, they won’t subscribe. Use these tips to get more email subscribers:

• Use a noticeable submit button
• Add the form to the sidebar, footer and as a link within blog posts
• Make it easy to enter an email address
• Use a different color and font for your signup form
• Only ask for email addresses and a first name at most
• Offer something special to new subscribers

Test different placement areas to see which yields the most subscribers.

Gain Loyal Visitors

Email marketing is key to gaining loyal visitors. It’s why the majority of websites try to persuade you to sign up for their newsletters. If you’re not already using email on your WordPress site, now is the time to implement it and start driving new connections and creating loyal visitors.

Ready to implement email marketing on your own site? Contact StuartMedia today to add a signup form and plugin to your site.

Image: Dai KE