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How to Make Money with Email Marketing

by Tara Needles
Read Time: 7 minutes
Stack of money with @ symbol laying on top

When it comes to making money online, no other marketing automation platform has consistently shown more efficacy than email. This is mainly due to email's impeccable reputation for providing the highest conversion rates at the most affordable costs. 

Businesses looking to tap into this revolutionary resource to build their finances can readily do so without breaking the bank and still achieve extraordinary results. This article analyzes 15 ways you can leverage email marketing to make more money

How Email Marketing Helps in Developing Relationships with Prospects and Customers

Every serious business owner knows that maintaining a strong relationship with customers is critical to their business' growth and ultimate survival. Success for any enterprise depends on developing quality prospects and customer relationships, which is why email marketing automation tools have become an integral part of many businesses today. 

With email marketing, businesses can provide timely and quality content that builds customers' trust and earns their loyalty. They deploy various email marketing automation solutions and techniques such as sending regular informative newsletters, hosting giveaways, personalizing emails, using creative subject lines, adding visuals to emails, etc. 

 

Why Email Marketing is Still Relevant and Effective

For years, email marketing has maintained its status as the most relevant and effective marketing channel. A report by Statista indicates that there are nearly four billion email users in the world today. Email owes its relevance and effectiveness to a number of factors. For instance, Campaign Monitor reports that 72% of people prefer to receive brands marketing materials through their email, while 17% reported they would prefer the same content through social media. The average email is opened by 20-30% of its recipients – that's three times more exposure than Facebook, and with higher click through rates as well. 

 

How to Start With a Targeted List That Generates Revenue

One of the most effective email marketing techniques that have stood the test of time is targeted mailing lists. A targeted mailing list is a list of subscribers' email segmented based on criteria such as age, gender, place of residence, occupation, income, interests, hobbies, or preferences. 

It is necessary for productive and profitable email marketing. To start with a targeted list that generates revenue, you will need to do the following:

  1. First, ask your customers if they'd like to be added to your list of exclusive content that would typically cost money. Let them know how much value they stand to gain by being on that list.
  2. Keep track of your emails using CRM and marketing automation platforms like Aweber, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc. 
  3. Make sure that you're actually providing relevant and helpful information to subscribers on your targeted list.  
  4. Research to improve the quality of email experience and value you're providing by producing eBooks, hosting webinars, checklists, videos, etc. 
  5. Ask subscribers questions in your email and monitor their responses. That'll enable you to know which areas of your business you should focus on and which areas need improvement. 
  6. After conducting your research, offer solutions through your content and resources. 
  7. Finally, and this is where the money comes in. Gather all the content you've created for this list (the eBooks, webinars, checklist, videos), combine them in a course or bundle and sell to a newer list down the road, especially to potential customers. 

 

15 Tips on How to Monetize an Email Campaign

Below are fifteen tips to help you monetize your email marketing campaigns:

1.Grow your list

This is where email automation tools come in handy. Embedded newsletter sign-up modules on article pages, on-site overlays, referral programs, and registration walls are just a handful of the many different ways through which you can grow your list. 
 

2. Personalize, personalize, personalize

After segmenting your email list by demographics, level of engagement, or reading behavior, the next step is to customize your message to suit each subscriber's interests. This can be done through the personalization of your email messages. 
 

3. Don't personalize for the sake of it

Use personalization as a means to reinforce your authenticity and proficiency in your niche. You can save it for opportunities like a welcome series for subscribers or orientate newly registered users by encouraging them to explore content and features.
 

4. Manage your list

A clean and efficient email list is critical for deliverability. Making use of email marketing automation solutions can help you to manage your list effectively.
 

5. Create benchmarks

Regularly track the performance of all emails, editorial, or marketing.
 

6. Automatically remove hard bounces

Establish set rules for soft bounces. Check and remove users with a set number of soft bounce and a hard bounce. 
 

7. Protect against spambots

Analyze and evaluate the pros and cons of using a double opt-in process.
 

8. Identify and suppress users who never open your emails

Create rules about what qualifies "your final abyss," e.g., no opens in the last month. 
 

9. Beware of spam traps

Clean your list from time to time to prevent your emails from getting sent to spam traps, as that would damage deliverability.  
 

10. Never buy an email list

Purchasing email lists can negatively affect your overall send rate and reputation. You may rent but do not buy it. Besides, it's against many email marketing automation service provider's terms of service. 
 

11. Know the anti-spam laws in your region

Several anti-spam laws exist, like CAN-SPAM in the U.S., CASL in Canada, and GDPR in the EU. Be familiar with all the rules and processes for email consent and opt-out in your country, as well as the penalties for violating them. 
 

12. Optimize for mobile

According to ReturnPath, an email marketing firm, more than half of emails are opened on mobile devices. Ensure the emails you send out are accessible to the mobile audience by creating mobile-friendly email designs. 
 

13. Make data-driven decisions

Make sure the data contained in your emails are valid and follow best practices in the industry. Understand that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, so choose your send times, subject lines, and call-to-actions wisely. 
 

14. Test, test, test

Select a small portion of your list and use it to test different elements of your email, including subscription offer and placement, subject lines, and calls to action. This will give you some insight into what works, and then you can send the winning creative to the remainder of the list. 
 

15. Challenge all best practices

Be dynamic and versatile. Frequently review your email performance and test new things. Learn what's working and refine. 

 

The Importance of a Strong Call to Action and Why Copywriting is Important

One of the most useful tools in email marketing automation for eCommerce is a call to action (CTA). This marketing instruction is used to provoke an instant reaction from the audience. CTAs can be typically placed anywhere within your marketing, website, blog, email, or even within a blog post. It leads to visitor conversion and helps boost your click-through rate. The better your click-through rate, the higher your ranking will be in search engine result pages (SERPs). Some examples of CTAs include:

  • Sign-Up
  • Register
  • Call
  • Subscribe
  • Try Now
  • Donate
  • Buy
  • Order
  • Share
  • Follow
  • Download
  • Click here for

Copywriting also is very important. Good copy can be convincing, enticing, and set up a positive image for your company. Poor copywriting will make visitors have a lower opinion of your website, and in turn, a lower opinion of the product or service you're offering on the website. 

By creating unique, relevant, and high-quality content through exceptional copywriting, whether on a webpage, blog, or social media account, your company will be better able to build an audience and develop a solid reputation quickly and easily.