How to Sell through Email: 7 Foolproof Tips

One of the most powerful channels for selling online is good ol’ email.

Since it’s a direct and necessary medium in the daily life of users, it not only continues to be used by brands seeking to promote their products and services but is even more valuable when it comes to digital marketing.

How many times have you accessed your inbox this week? It might be because of work, a newsletter, or just to find out what’s going on. People’s contact with this channel is still strong and can be crucial for businesses seeking more conversions.

Email marketing, through a sales funnel, can strengthen the relationship with potential customers, as well as create desire, provide relevant content, and give the feeling of exclusivity, combined with assertive and powerful mental triggers!

According to Statista, the number of global email users has reached 4 billion and is expected to grow to 4.6 billion by 2025.

This is a high number, mainly because anywhere that requires logging in or registering, including social media, requests an email address.

Just like a physical address, your digital address is also a “means of location,” a central hub for receiving information from other people or companies.

This direct and personal contact with users has led companies to use email to advertise and promote their services and products, going beyond websites and social media.

If you’re interested in working with email marketing in your business and expanding your sales, check out our 7 foolproof tips to create a successful strategy. They’re designed for you to put into practice right now!

1. Focus on the customer and your value offer

What do your customers need? What is their pain point? These questions shouldn’t go unanswered.

Your email content should be completely focused on your customers and the solutions your business can offer them. You need to offer a value proposition and show that they haven’t signed up for your contact database for nothing!

Messages focused on sales cannot be shallow. Why, with so many other brands on the market, would a user choose to do business with you? What benefit does your offer deliver that is relevant to customers?

Keep all of this in mind when formulating solid content focused on selling through email.

2. Create an email list organically

Don’t buy ready-made lists! 

There are many downsides to buying ready-made email lists, such an audience that doesn’t fit with your brand, you have no relationship with the contacts, running the risk of looking like spam, and legal problems that we’ll talk about later.

In the end, buying an email list isn’t a good idea for a business that wants to be well viewed and welcomed by other people! Nobody likes to have their contact information leaked, nor receive unwanted messages.

The best way to build a network of contacts is organically and strategically so that you can make the most of it and actually sell through email.

You can create a piece of quality content and offer it in exchange for contact information, add a newsletter signup on your website or blog, and collect each address with the user knowing they are giving you their email information. This way your audience will be open to getting opens from you.

3. Conduct A/B tests

A/B testing will help you analyze what type content works best with your audience and generates the best results.

Quite simply, an A/B test is when two slightly different messages are sent in order to measure which one works better.

The differences between one message and another can be subtle at first glance, such as an image, a title, a part of the text, a CTA, or even the placement of the link.

This is a widely used method to improve a digital marketing strategy and is a more concrete way of seeing what works and what needs to be adjusted.

Nowadays, we have email-marketing tools that blast emails and collect data cosidering A/B tests. Take the opportunity to run these analyses on a regular basis!

4. Invest in personalized email

Everyone likes individualized attention, and with email, this attention needs to be good enough to make the user feel special.

That’s why you need to know your audience and your persona well in order to create increasingly personalized and authentic content.

Create titles and incorporate the user’s name into the email, segment leads according to topics of interest, and make the message more empathetic and pleasant. This brings your audience closer to your brand, increasing opening and conversion rates.

5. Keep it simple

Less is more!

With so much content being provided online, holding the users’ attention for just a few minutes is a huge challenge. Try to create short messages that are to the point and attractive to the audience from the very first sentence.

Don’t over advertise your product or service. Know the best moment to make an offer and always establish a good dialog before making your sales pitch. Act naturally and stay away from excess!

6. Track the metrics of your email marketing campaigns

Always keep an eye on your outbound email metrics to check open rates, link clicks, and conversions.

If an email didn’t do very well, try to understand what factors contributed to this result and how you can improve this scenario for your next blasts.

Measuring data is also about studying your audience and improving your email marketing strategy. Without studying, you won’t obtain results; and without results, there are no sales!

You need to track your metrics constantly. Only then will your brand be prepared for changes in the digital market and continue to move forward. Never forget your metrics!

7. Avoid SPAMMING

SPAMMING hurts your results and your reputation with your audience. There’s an aggravating factor in sending messages without the users’ permission.

In order to receive content from your brand, those who are interested need to provide their email address to your contact database.

When you buy lists, collect emails without consent, or blast unwanted content, you infringe on data protection guidelines, which have been created to ensure the safe use, sharing, and storage of personal data.

Your business’ image will be affected and, consequently, sales will not perform well.

BONUS: learn copywriting techniques!

Here’s a bonus tip that will contribute (a lot) to winning over new customers!

Copywriting is a persuasive writing technique often used on sales pages, but make no mistake: it isn’t limited to that format alone.

Email is a great channel to apply persuasive texts, which will generate more conversions and sales. This strategy will change how you produce your texts, making your content and your products even more irresistible.

If you’d like to find out how to use copywriting in your emails, check out this blog post!