Whether you’re just starting your email marketing journey or you’ve been shooting off emails a couple of times a week since 2012, you know that emails are one of the best platforms to sell. 

But there are so many different types – which kind will you choose? 

Should you nurture your subscribers? Are one-off sends better at optimizing your sales and marketing funnel? What about newsletters? 

All good options.

But before you make yourself crazy weighing the options, here are three types of email marketing techniques to start with that’ll keep your audience interested and ready to buy. 

Welcome Emails 

Did you know only 25% of leads are immediately sales-ready? Knowing that giving new subscribers a great first impression is critical for pushing your leads closer to the buying stage. Welcome emails show better open and click-through rates when they offer a personal touch and introduce your organization without slathering on the sales pitch. 

Advantage: A well built Welcome Sequence starts the relationship between you and your subscribers right. It gives readers a chance to get to know you better, your brand, offers, and more.

Disadvantage: If you mess it up and give a wrong first impression, you probably won’t recover those unsubscribes. Sorry, but it’s true! So when you’re ready to put one to work either reach out to a professional or do your homework. 

Newsletters

They’re great for keeping you top of mind, as well as using them to educate customers and prospects about what you offer, who your employees are, and what’s coming up. Certain audiences and industries seem to favor newsletters more than others – so do what’s right for your readers. 

Advantage: Newsletters are great for brand awareness and easily repurpose content. They help your readers keep you top of mind, which is great when they want whatever you’re selling. 

Disadvantage: Due to their form, newsletters are typically long and drawn out. Not everyone sticks around for the ‘big ask’ if you get my drift. Plain and simple, they’re great for selling the idea of you and your brand, but not your products. 

One-off email campaigns 

These spontaneous sales emails can make you a lot of money. That is, if your audience already 1) knows you, 2) likes you, 3) is ready to buy. But if you’ve been doing your due diligence and staying in touch, spontaneity works. But I must warn you, these types of emails should be used sparingly and strategically. Such as, if you’re gearing up to run a campaign, you can use these emails to ‘pre-qualify’ buyers by asking them to click a link if they’d like to hear more about your upcoming offer. Doing this makes them micro-commit to buying your new offer. But, if you’re going to send the campaign to the entire list, use these emails for flash sales or to fill openings in your calendar. 

Advantage: Dedicated sends can focus on driving results for one call-to-action because there is just one message and one goal. It’s the perfect opportunity to fill an opening in your services or unload products quickly. 

Disadvantage: Even if you decide to maintain a specific schedule, your subscribers might be caught off guard by your strong CTA because there is no apparent connection between that and what they’ve been hearing from you. But this is barely a disadvantage because really if you continue to nurture your audience or offer low-friction asks, your readers won’t even bat an eye.

There are dozens of ways you can market to your audience using emails, but these three are my favorite (and easy to begin with). And hey, I understand if you’d rather scream into a pillow for forty-five minutes than write a single email. I’ve got a team of expert marketers ready to do the work for you. That way, you can reap all the benefits without sweating over whether or not your emails are sending the right message. Click here and let’s hash out the numbers you could be earning with a solid email marketing plan in place!