Emails are still the number one mode of communication, especially with B2B businesses. They provide multiple benefits for relatively small investments. However, lately, they are receiving bad PR, especially for brands that spam audiences with irrelevant cold emails. 

Furthermore, since GDPR laws and restrictive features came into play, many marketers have difficulty communicating to their audiences through email. As such, many consider abandoning this strategy altogether. 

Nonetheless, email marketing is still effective and comes in handy at every stage of the customer journey. The challenge is to figure out how best to use it to yield returns and thus boost your inbound strategy. Here, you'll learn how to maximize the potential of email marketing in your inbound marketing.

How is email marketing critical to your inbound marketing strategy?

1. Allows engaging messaging 

Emails allow you to communicate your message more engagingly than other related platforms. Depending on your intended purpose, you can use various email formats, add media, compelling calls-to-action, etc. 

You can also attract and retain long-term leads which often yields excellent results for your inbound marketing funnels.

2. Email marketing is permission-based 

Since your audience can actively choose to engage with you, email marketing enables you to reach just the right audience. For instance, they decide to sign up for your newsletter, or for regular blog updates.

You often wouldn't be classified as disruptive spam, provided you don't send too many messages and follow other best practices. This is critical to the success of your inbound marketing funnels in terms of engagement and conversions.

3. Increases campaign effectiveness

You can group your audience based on their specific wants and needs with segmented data. Coupled with emails, sending personalized messages to your audience becomes easier. 

That, in turn, boosts engagement and could also foster brand loyalty. As a result, such leads are more likely to convert.

4. High lead conversion rate

Studies show that emails generate higher returns on investment than other communication tools. Sending emails is inexpensive. And, if sent to the right audience at the right time, it is highly likely to induce action and purchases. 

So, adopting email marketing at every stage of your customer’s journey can help increase conversion rates in the short run.

5. Create rapport with customers

Building great relationships with your audience is a way to maximize the effectiveness of your inbound marketing funnels. When your leads develop trust for you, they are more likely to read your content and engage with your future communications. 

Email marketing is helpful with this since it helps you regularly communicate with your audience and position your brand as an authority they can trust. 

6. Create hype for your offerings

Emails are a great way to announce new content or products you have coming up. For example, you can send email sequences ahead of new landmark pillar content or offers to generate buzz. That way, when you eventually release it, you can maximize engagements and conversions. 

How to improve your inbound email marketing

Most businesses use email marketing as the primary mode of communication. Yet, not many know how best to use this tactic to generate results. Whatever your goal is, here are some proven strategies you can integrate with your campaigns to boost returns.

1. Email formatting

Your email presentation is as critical as the content itself. You must use compelling subject lines. Customers’ attention span is rapidly decreasing, so you must grab their attention with a few lines. Also, use appropriate media, tone grammar, and well-placed calls to action to maximize engagement. 

For instance, studies show that emails with an average of 2 links generate more clickthrough than those with less or more. So, invest time in incorporating such best practices to increase engagements. 

2. Collect user information

Email marketing is only as effective if you reach the right audience. So, invest in credible data collection platforms to integrate into your content. These would help you collect and consolidate contact information you can use for communications.

Excluding sign-up avenues on your content is a wasted opportunity to grow your audience. It doesn't have to be disruptive but should be available for interested viewers. 

3. Create relevant email content

Your email content must be related and relevant to your overall content on all platforms. Stand-alone emails barely produce results since they do not offer avenues for further engagement.

Instead, ensure that your emails connect to blog articles, offer pages, support pages, among others. Such connectivity provides a better user experience. 

Additionally, your email content must provide superior value. What makes your content worth reading of all the brand emails they encounter in the day? Otherwise, you would not yield the desired outcomes in your efforts—for example, customers like free exclusive content, discounts, and the like.

4. Create drip campaigns

These refer to sets of emails you sent sequentially and periodically. Depending on which stage they are at, they generally guide your audience along the customer journey and facilitate lead nurturing. 

Rather than send one-off emails every so often, carefully draft a systematic chain. For instance, you can send them welcome emails when you find a new promising lead. Then, periodically inform them of your offerings step by step until you send them sales information about new products and discounts. 

5. Segment your audience

With the data collected from sign-up forms, prioritize segmenting your leads based on relevant behaviors or preferences. That way, you send only relevant content to the right people. Content personalization reportedly increases engagement and purchase by over 80% and boosts brand loyalty.

Email marketing tools

Email marketing tools like SharpSpring are a critical addition to your arsenal for the best results. With SharpSpring, you can create email sequences, personalized emails, utilize A/B testing features, among others. 

The tools come with inbuilt measurement tools to help you keep track of your campaigns. With such functions, you are more likely to generate better results from your campaigns.

Conclusion

Emails revolve around content, making them a perfect addition to your inbound marketing strategy. They draw traffic to your content while also providing some themselves. 

However, you must adopt best practices like those stated above to ensure your email marketing efforts facilitate your overall inbound marketing funnels. Marketing automation tools are also necessary to ease this process.