Having an email marketing strategy isn’t just another strategy in the marketing world—It’s a life changer!

Running a small business in Nigeria comes with its own set of challenges—Ranging from fierce competition to budget constraints.

However, email marketing has proven to be a cost-effective way to reach your customers, stand out from the crowd, keep them engaged and make sales.

This strategy has shown to be more than just a means to reach your audience but an effective way to build loyal customers.

Therefore, this blog post will dive into small, actionable strategies that you as a small business owner can use to improve your email marketing game. Let’s get right into it!

What is an Email Marketing Strategy

A strategy is usually a plan you create In order to achieve a specific goal.

For instance, if your goal is to create more awareness to your brand, your strategy will include putting out valuable Top of the funnel content that your audience can relate to.

Likewise, an email marketing strategy is a plan that helps businesses use email to connect with their customers, nurture them through valuable email content and promote their products or services.

For small business owners in Nigeria, it is a cost-effective and reliable way to stay in touch with customers.

Having the right email marketing strategy is a big plus when it comes to your marketing strategies.

Why Email Marketing is Important for Small Business Owners—Benefits

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for small businesses to grow and thrive. For small business owners still struggling to stand out, email marketing offers unique advantages that can help you build relationships, increase visibility and boost sales.

Let’s look at why it matters.

1. Have direct reach to your customers

Unlike social media where your content competes with countless posts and even with the algorithm, email offers you direct communication access to your customers.

When someone subscribes to your email list—they’re giving you the permission to enter their inbox.

For instance, A Nigerian bakery can use emails to notify customers of a cake with a special flavor going at a discounted price.

2. Helps you build trust and improve customer relationship

Email marketing is a great way to build trust with your audience. By constantly providing value, whether through useful tips and tutorials, updates or exclusive offers, you stand to position your brand as a reliable and authentic one.

For instance, using that same bakery store—They can send emails to its subscribers educating them on how to make simple cakes for their loved ones during the festive periods.

OR a skincare brand educating its subscribers on how to care for their skin during the harmattan in order to avoid dry skin and cracks.

3. Helps to promote repeat business

Customers literally turn to babies whenever they’re communicating with a business owner. They want to be pampered, reassured and carried like eggs—email marketing makes this possible.

Through personalized targeted campaigns, you can create exclusive offers to your customers appreciating them for their patronage.

For instance, the bakery store can send a monthly buy a cake and get 2 cupcakes free to its subscribers.

4. Provides cost-effective marketing

Small business owners especially when in their early years in business often have a tight marketing budget. And traditional advertising like TV, radio or billboards can be quite expensive.

Email marketing, therefore, provides a budget friendly alternative to these business owners.

5. Perfect for local and seasonal marketing

Nigerians are big on cultural and seasonal festivities like Christmas, Easter, Eid etc. Email marketing allows you to tailor your campaigns to these occasions, ensuring your offers resonate with the season.

Simple Steps to Create an Effective Email Marketing Strategy

Creating an email marketing strategy may seem hard at first. However, this section will break them into simple, clear and actionable steps that will help you get started.

Step1. Define your email marketing goals

Before you start, you need to be clear on what you want to achieve with your email marketing efforts. Your goals will shape your strategy and guide you through the whole process.

Common goals include:

• Build brand awareness
• Drive traffic and eyes to your business.
• Increase sales.
• Retain existing customers.

Step2. Identify your target audience

Understanding your audience is very important when creating an email marketing strategy. Take your time and craft out a detailed buyer persona of the kind of customers you want to target. This will include:

• Demographics: Age, location, gender.
• Psychographics: Behavior, beliefs.
• Preferences: What kind of content they enjoy.

Step3. Choose an email marketing platform

Choose a reliable email marketing platform that will help you streamline your strategy. Look for tools that are affordable and easy to use. Such platforms include:

• Mailchimp.
• Moosend
• Active campaign.

Step4. Build a quality email list

Your email list is the foundation of your email marketing strategy. Therefore, desist from thinking about buying lists. Focus on collecting email list through the following means:

• Create a sign-up form: Add the form to your website or blog, asking visitors to subscribe for updates.
• Create lead magnets: Create a free and valuable resource relevant to your target audience and exchange their emails for the freebie.
• Leverage social media platforms: Use the social media platforms where you’re active on to promote your email list and encourage your audience to sign up.

These will help you gather quality emails from subscribers who want to hear from you.

Step5. Craft compelling content

Your email content should always lead with value.

• Subject lines: Write attention grabbing subject lines that will prompt your readers to open your emails.
• Personalization: Address recipients by name and send content tailored to their preferences.
• Relevant updates: Share promotions, tips and updates that will help your audience.
• Add clear call to action: Guide your audience to take the next step such as checking out your blog or making a purchase.

Step6. Design mobile friendly emails

With most Nigerians accessing the internet via mobile, it’s important to create mobile friendly emails.

• Use a clean and simple layout.
• Preview your emails on mobile before you publish.

Step7. Make good use of email automation

Automating emails is a way to save time and keep your audience engaged. Examples include:

• Welcome emails: You can create and automate a welcome email sequence that introduces you and your business when someone joins your email list.
• Abandoned cart emails: These emails remind customers to complete their purchase.
• Birthday emails: Offer discounts or gifts to celebrate a subscriber’s birthday.

Step8. Monitor and analyze your email campaigns

To ensure that your email marketing strategy is working, you need to track the performance of your email campaigns.

Focus on key metrics such as:

• Open rate: How many people opened your email.
• Click-through rate: How many clicked on links within your email.
• Conversion rate: How many completed the desired action such as making a purchase.

Step9. Ensure compliance with email laws

Respecting your subscribers privacy and following email marketing regulations is important. This helps to prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder. You can ensure compliance through the following ways:

• Get consent before adding someone to your email list.
• Include an unsubscribe link in every email.
• Avoid spamming your subscribers with content.

Step10. Stay consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to building trust with your audience. Decide how often you’ll send emails, let them know and stick to it.

Conclusion

Email marketing offers business owners a cost-effective way to build relationship and boost sales. Creating an effective strategy takes it a step further by helping you maximize the success of your email marketing campaign.

Therefore, read and apply the steps above to get started.

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