Email marketing should be a staple in every accountant’s marketing strategy, but the reality is, this isn’t always the case. And more often than not, the reason for this is they simply don’t know where to begin. It’s time to change that.
With an ROI of up to 4,400% and the ability to attract, nurture and retain clients, email marketing is certainly not something to be overlooked. With that said, let’s explore three types of emails that could help you to transform mail into sales.
A warm welcome
A powerful welcome email (or welcome series) is the best way to make a good first impression. It will not only help to get your audience on board with your brand, but can also make them more engaged; if you pique their interest with your first email, the likelihood is, they will be keen to read your subsequent ones. And if that’s not enough, with a 91.4% open rate and up to 42% higher read rates than the average email, this is something your accounting firm cannot afford to miss.
If the benefits alone aren’t enough to motivate you, your customers certainly should. 74% of consumers say they expect to receive a welcome email after subscribing, so if you fail to meet expectations, they could very quickly become unsubscribers.
So, what should you include in your welcome emails? It will all depend on your brand, as this is about setting expectations and building your identity; really, you should start as you mean to go on. With that said, if you are looking for some inspiration as to what to include, here are a few ideas to get you started:
- If you offer any accounting software, courses, products or packaged services, you should think about including a welcome offer for your audience. Why? Including them can boost revenue by up to 30% per email – pretty impressive, right.
- Where possible, you should use personalisation to improve open and click-through rates and increase engagement and ROI. Whilst custom content is fantastic, even something as simple as a personalised subject line can have a big impact.
- Rather than making your new subscribers wait for your next email, keep them engaged by recommending content – just make sure the stuff you share makes the right impression.
Act now!
Everyone loves a bargain. And most people love to feel as though they are a part of something exclusive. Combine that with FOMO (fear of missing out), and you have the perfect sales opportunity. When creating your promotional emails, you should try and steer clear of the hard-sell approach and instead highlight the benefits of your accounting services or products to your audience.
It’s not enough to simply list features, instead, you need to frame them as benefits that are relevant to your audience. And if you’re looking to go that extra mile, why not include some testimonials to support your claims: after all, it’s easy enough to say you can do something, but to prove it is a whole different story.
And remember: promotional emails aren’t just for products. Why not offer a free consultation or add-on service? Or perhaps access to an exclusive webinar or course? The possibilities are endless. Just ensure to add that time pressure to give your subscribers that little extra push.
Give something back
If you make every email about sales, you risk coming across as spammy, so instead, ensure to include some which are designed to give something back to your audience. Whilst these emails may not necessarily have an immediate impact on sales, they will certainly be beneficial in the long run; helping to gain trust, nurture relationships and offer value to your subscribers. Ranked the second most effective medium for building brand awareness (and the number one for ROI), it’s clear that email marketing gives a lot for such a little investment.
So there we have a few ideas to get your email marketing kick-started, but if you’re really looking to send your campaigns to the next level, be sure to check out our mini-guide to email marketing for accountants here. If in doubt, think of that 4,400% ROI!
