How Much Does Small Business Marketing Cost?

Do you ever feel like your head’s spinning when it’s time to sit down and focus on marketing?

We have so many options these days for small business marketing that it can be overwhelming to choose which methods to prioritize.

Before you can even begin to figure out where to allocate how much of your marketing budget, you have to understand:

• Why and what you want to market
• Who you want to reach
• And how to reach people in the most effective way possible

To top it off, you need to do it better than other businesses out there (your competition).

Today, we’re showing you exactly how to create a marketing budget for your small business. How much it costs, in the end, will very much depend on YOU: your needs, your goals, and your available resources.

The Purpose of Marketing for Your Small Business

The purpose of marketing is to get the word out about your products or services – in a way that draws in the right people and gets them interested enough to buy what you sell.

As the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) says, “marketing isn’t an expense – it’s an investment.” And like everyone else always says, you get what you pay for. Pay for the best software, tools, strategy, plan, and the right players to implement it all, and your business will thrive.

On the flip side, if you don’t invest in marketing and set up the right systems to get in front of the right people with the right messaging, your business will fall flat.

Here’s why marketing is a wise investment for your small business:

It Gets Your Name Out There

Brand name recognition can help you drive (a lot) more traffic to your website. 82% of searchers on Google click on brands they’re already familiar with. Keep people happy, and keep getting in front of them, and you’ll build a brilliant reputation for yourself over time.

It Shows the World What You Have to Offer

How will you make sales if no one understands what you’re selling in the first place? It starts with marketing – AKA getting the word out to the right people.

It Gets You in Front of People Who Want What You Have

You’re not supposed to market to everyone. That’s the best way to waste your entire marketing budget. Instead, you should establish a unique niche and target a specific group of people looking for exactly what you offer. Quality over quantity, my friend.

How to Determine Your Small Business Marketing Budget

You can figure out how much you need to allocate toward marketing by examining these fundamental elements.

1. Your Customers

Who’s going to pay for your services or buy your products? Create buyer personas so you have a detailed profile of the kinds of people who fit the bill. Pay attention to demographics, location, brands they love, online channels they use, and any unique traits.

2. Gross Revenue

Business 2 Community says that small businesses spend around 7-12% of their gross revenue on marketing. Ding ding ding! It’s the answer you’ve all been waiting for, folks.

Now, keep in mind that many small businesses don’t spend enough money on marketing. Others spend too much but don’t have the right strategies or marketing plan to spend their money wisely. Marketing budgets are all too often wasted. Such a pity.

3. Your Competitors

Before you can develop an accurate budget, you also need to research competitors and current marketing trends. What are other marketers in your industry doing that’s working? Are specific software, tools, and technology bringing similar businesses success? What channels and strategies help them build brand awareness, bring in traffic and leads, and make sales?

Campaign Monitor surveyed over 1,000 small business owners. Here’s what they found:

• Social media is the most common platform for building brand awareness.
• The best opportunity for gaining new customers is social media marketing.
• 78% of small businesses plan to increase spending on digital marketing moving forward.
• The biggest goal – and challenge – is acquiring new customers.
• The most-used channels are email marketing and Facebook (although many participants also reported that Facebook isn’t working for them).
• Email marketing is the #1 platform for scoring the highest return on investment.

Keep these trends in mind as you form your marketing plan and budget.

4. Your Priorities

Figure out how much each channel, platform, strategy, and subscription will cost. Here are some areas to consider including in your budget and marketing plan. Think about who you need to hire for each task, the software and tools you’ll need, and the time to go into each job.

• Advertising (on social and search engines)
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content management system (CMS)
• Content relationship management (CRM)
• Website hosting, design, development, maintenance
• Design
• Printing

Leave Your Small Business Marketing to the Pros

Marketing can be overwhelming, even for the most proficient marketers on the planet. Not only does it require a lot of time, energy, and strategy, but it’s always changing! Just when you think you’ve owned Instagram marketing or outsmarted Google’s latest algorithm, it changes. Back to the drawing board we go.

If you’d like to hand off the marketing madness to people who live and breathe the stuff, let us know. We’d love to get to know you and your business and develop a marketing plan that knocks your socks off.

Book a consult with us. First one’s on the house!

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How Much Does a Marketing Plan for a Small Business Cost?

If you caught our last article on small business marketing, you learned why marketing is an investment – not an expense.

Good marketing impacts EVERYTHING: if people find you, how others view your business, and whether customers buy your stuff and tell all their friends.

With any smart investment, you need to know where you’re headed (goals) and how to get there (strategy). Strategies and goals are the two main components of a solid marketing plan.

A marketing plan is like a business roadmap, showing you what you need to do to get people to give you their money.

You may be thinking, “That sounds great and all, but where the heck do I start? And how much will I have to fork over to get it done?”

We’ll answer these all-important questions in just a moment. Let’s start with why you need a plan in the first place and what that plan should include.

What’s a Small Business Marketing Plan?

This is a road map that explains what actions your business should take to get from where you are now to where you want to be. It should outline your vision and goals, the strategies to reach those goals, and the budget you need to make it happen.

A marketing plan will also describe where to spend how much of your marketing budget. It can be updated annually (or more frequently) as you learn what works for your business and what’s not so hot in your industry.

Without a plan, you’ll be flying blind. Your marketing department could end up wasting a whole lot of time and money on efforts that don’t produce any real results.

What Should My Marketing Plan Include?

Here are some sections that companies routinely include in their marketing plans.

1. Company Overview

Really get to know your company for this section – warts and all. What products and services do you offer? Who are your primary customers? What are your business’s strengths and weaknesses?

Take a good look at financial reports, departmental budgets, and your company history to understand how money is being allocated and if it’s being used effectively.

Interview someone on the sales team for more insight into customer behavior for feedback on what products and services are resonating with people.

Include a summary of your company culture in this section as well.

2. SWOT Analysis

Write down your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to assess where your business stands in the marketplace and possibilities for growth.

3. Target Audience

Who already loves what you’re selling? Create profiles of your ideal customers to use as the basis for your marketing. Where do they spend time online? What channels do they often use? What’re their buying habits? How old are they, and what are their greatest desires and fears?

4. Marketing Goals

What are your marketing and sales objectives that you want to accomplish throughout the upcoming term? Set quantifiable goals and summarize how you plan to reach each one. Do you want to grow your sales by a certain percentage? Are you planning on getting most of your leads through email marketing or Facebook? Or are you prioritizing SEO this year and focusing on website traffic?

5. Competition

Who are your top competitors? Make sure you research what marketing techniques are working for them and what tools and strategies they’re implementing. You can learn a lot from other successful businesses in your industry.

6. Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

What makes you different from everyone else? Your USP can give you an advantage over your competition. Is it your customer service? Do you offer the best prices? Are your products or services leaps and bounds better than the competition’s?

7. Channels & Strategies

Based on your target audience, choose what channels and strategies you’d like to implement in the coming year for marketing. Popular inbound marketing platforms and tactics include:

• Blog
• Social media
• Search engines
• Website
• Email
• Branding
• Advertising
• Video

8. Budget

How much are you planning on spending on marketing in general? Small businesses generally allocate 7% to 12% of their gross revenue to marketing.

How Much Will My Marketing Plan Cost?

That depends. You knew this was coming. For us to give you a definitive answer, we’d need to sit down and chat with you about your goals and business and stuff. Which we’d love to do – whenever you’re up for it.

The cost will depend on two main factors:

• Type of marketing plan: Will your project include content marketing, social media marketing, website design, paid marketing, or some kind of combo?
• Your partner: Are you going to work with an agency or a freelancer? If you choose an agency, size and prestige can make a massive difference in the cost.

You can expect to pay anywhere in the ballpark of $5,000 to $40,000 for a solid marketing plan.

Ready to Craft Your Small Business Marketing Plan?

We can help! Partnering with a marketing whiz with the skills to help you accomplish your goals while working within your budget is essential. We’d love to hop on a call with you to answer all of your pressing questions. And YOU can see if WE fit the bill – literally.

If you’d like to give us a shot, we’re ready to discuss your goals and vision to create a marketing plan that checks all the right boxes. Book a consult with us today!

 

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How Much Does WordPress Website Maintenance Cost?

You mean I have to pay for my website to be designed AND pay for ongoing maintenance?

You better betcha!

Your website does many wild and wonderful things, but it doesn’t have a mind of its own.

Like the Great and Powerful Oz, you need a man (or woman) behind the curtain, pulling the right strings to keep everything running smoothly.

Times change. Styles and trends evolve. Websites glitch. Plugins and code become outdated.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on what Google thinks of “static” websites that just sit around on their bums.

Before we jump into specific pricing, let’s cover some basics: why WordPress website maintenance is necessary and what factors can play into the cost.

Why Does My WordPress Website Need Ongoing Maintenance?

When you hire an agency (or a freelancer) to maintain your website, they’ll check it regularly for glitches, mistakes, and potential issues.

Web maintenance is ongoing and repeats year over year. Specific tasks should be done weekly, monthly, quarterly, and once a year to keep everything in tip-top shape. A healthy website is essential in helping you continue to grow your business successfully.

Updates and Security

WordPress needs to be updated and backed up frequently. The designer of the template used to build your website may add new features that could benefit your business. Plugins and software often need updating to get rid of bugs and outdated components. Keeping your website up to date will also help it work faster and more efficiently for visitors and customers.

Security updates are the number one reason you need website maintenance. Security-related tasks can be time-sensitive. If someone isn’t watching and updating your website regularly, it could become a dangerous platform for anyone who uses it.

Someone could hack into your site and steal information, which happens every 39 seconds (2,244 times per day). You could have spammers running rampant if you don’t pay close enough attention. Malware could sink its dirty claws in and do some nasty damage.

According to Varonis, 64% of Americans never check for data breaches. But the cost to fix a data breach can be millions of dollars – $8.64 million on average in the U.S., to be precise. Scared yet?

Sometimes, components of your website stop working for no apparent reason. If you notice something’s wrong or acting funny, call your web designer to fix it for you as soon as possible – especially if it has to do with security.

Google and SEO

You need to update your website content continually so that everything remains current and relevant to your target audience. If your content becomes outdated, links break, or other SEO issues arise, Google can penalize your website. When this happens, your content can drop in rankings, throwing all of your hard work off-kilter. If it’s really bad, Google might even deindex some of your pages.

Analyzing your website statistics regularly and making updates accordingly to continue improving content and user experience will keep search engines happy.

Customer Engagement

When someone’s looking for a service like yours or for a product you offer, they want to find a solution quickly. And they want to buy from a company that looks trustworthy and established.

They’ll choose to work with a business with a quality website – one that’s secure, attractive, modern, and has killer content. You simply can’t accomplish all that with an outdated or unmonitored website.

What will website maintenance cost to outsource?

The answer to this question depends on several factors:

• Size
• Purpose
• Audience
• Complexity

If you have a personal blog or small hobby website, web maintenance won’t cost you much because your website will have few needs. WordPress is a self-hosted platform. You’ll be required to pay for your domain and hosting, but you can get away with just that if you want.

Personal websites can cost as little as $15 to $30 per month. Personal bloggers often update their own websites. Just make sure to stay on top of it if you do!

A small business website will cost a bit more and require more attention – around $30 to $100 a month for standard maintenance.

A large business or e-commerce website could cost $100 to over $2,000 per month, depending on the size and complexity.

Last but not least, a custom-built website that requires more time, attention, and care could cost over $2,000 monthly to maintain. If you need your custom site to be in top working condition at all times, you may need to hire an expert team of developers to make it happen.

Keep in mind that it can potentially cost more in the long run not to maintain your website (cue security breach). Make sure you prioritize value over cost when looking to outsource website maintenance tasks. The future of your business could depend on it.

WordPress Website Maintenance

If you’re not already updating your website regularly, it’s time to get on it. Ongoing maintenance will make your website more secure, faster, easier to use, and so much more fun to visit.

Our website maintenance packages include security and updates, ongoing support (a real person!), regular backups, hosting, and SEO. We’ll handle all the important stuff so you don’t have to worry a smidge.

Book a consult with us for a no-cost phone call. We’ll have a chat about your business website and let you know how we can help you best.

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How Much Does WordPress Website Design Cost?

It’s time to design a new website, and you’ve heard WordPress is all the rage.

You’re right about that.

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, powering 38.5% of all websites online.

Before you approach an agency or a freelance designer to build your website, it helps to have an idea of how much it’s going to cost.

We aim to answer that tricky little question for you in this article.

Just keep in mind that higher quality and more functionality typically come with a higher price tag.

Know the End Goal for Your WordPress Website Design

What’s the primary purpose of your website? It could be to sell a product or service, drive more traffic organically, bring in new leads, or become a trusted resource chock-full of content people are dying to read.

Who’s going to be using the site and why? User experience (UX) is the key to creating clear navigation. Think about how visitors, leads, returning customers, and business partners will use your website. Each group may follow a different route to get where they need to go.

Creating a web design marketing plan is the best way to ensure you set the right goals for your new website and develop effective strategies to knock them out of the park.

Understand What Factors Impact Price Range

When your website designer comes up with a quote for your project, they will consider several factors to estimate how many hours it will take to complete. Here are some of the biggest factors that can influence pricing.

1. Size

How many pages are on your current website, or how big do you expect your new site to be? How many different templates do you plan on using? Think about your homepage, contact page, service pages, landing pages, etc.

Do you want your blog content and website copy written from scratch, or are you going to use what you already have and just transfer it to your new website? Will your website host different types of media – like a blog, videos, animations, ebooks, or press releases?

The larger your website is, the more it will cost to design or redesign it.

2. Complexity

This also plays a large role in the overall cost of your WordPress website design. If you want your website to include…

• Complex layouts and navigation
• Custom coding
• Fancy UX design
• Ecommerce functionality
• Extra content resources (like ebooks, blogs, and case studies)
• Scheduling features
• Accounts for customers
• Video, illustrations, or animation

…it will require more time and expertise.

3. Type of Website

A small business website will cost much less than, say, a large ecommerce website. A basic site could include a homepage with a few product or service pages, contact information, and an about page. An ecommerce site might need hundreds of pages with specific details about each product, variants of certain products, shopping cart functionality, member accounts, and a plethora of other features.

“So, what’s it gonna cost me? Spill.”

The magic formula to pinpoint the cost of WordPress website design depends on what we already covered mixed with who you hire to do the job. Working with a rookie freelancer, for example, will be a whole lot cheaper than hiring a kick-ass agency. But, remember, ya get what ya pay for.

Option 1: DIY

Are you planning on building your website yourself? You guessed it – this is the cheapest option. But if you’re not a website wiz, you’re bound to pay for cutting corners sooner or later. Generally, the less you pay for a website, the more issues you could run into down the road.

Now, if you’re a solopreneur or launching a new startup, you might be able to get away with building your own website to start. Later on, when you’re more established, you can hire someone to create a more robust machine for your business.

Designing your own basic website could cost you as little as a few hundred dollars. For a more advanced WordPress site, expect to pay between $500 and $1,000 per year.

Option 2: Hire a Freelancer

The next step up on the pay scale is working with a freelance web designer. Expect to spend anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000, depending on the scope of your website. Keep in mind that while freelance designers can have bomb website skills, they likely don’t also have copywriting, video, ecommerce, and other specialized skills you may need to build the website you want.

Options 3: Hire an Agency

If you can afford it, your business can get the most bang for its buck by working with an established design agency. Instead of working with one person – hoping and praying they have all the necessary skills for your website to be a blazing success – opt for a whole team of skilled professionals!

You can find a design agency with graphic designers, web developers, copywriters, videographers, animators, strategists, SEOs, and more – for approximately $15,000 to $50,000.

Ready to Start Your WordPress Website Design Project?

You’re in luck. We’re so ready for a new client like you. We’d love to hear your vision and goals for your new website – and then make it happen! We’ll start by mapping out a custom road map to turn your new website into a lead-generating machine and moneymaker. How’s that sound?

Book a consult on our website for a no-cost strategy sesh. We’re waiting for you over here with bated breath.

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How to Write an RFP for Website Design in 2021

If you’re an entrepreneur or CMO, you run a startup, or you’re in charge of the marketing department for your business, you could eventually be tasked with writing an RFP for website design.

Having an RFP with well-defined goals, good organization, clear expectations, and a splash of personality will help you bag the right agency for your next project. It’ll also increase your chances of making that project a smashing success.

Today, we’ll walk through how to write an RFP, specifically for a website design or redesign project.

What Exactly is an RFP Anyway?

Let’s start at the very beginning – a very good place to start.

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that gives an overview of your project. Once an agency receives your RFP, they will have the opportunity to respond with a proposal that outlines their solution for your website design project, including the scope of work, a quote, and a projected timeline. You can send one RFP out to multiple agencies to compare various quotes and offers.

An RFP is your first impression on your future partner, so make sure you put in the time and effort to make it a good one!

What Should I Include in My RFP for Website Design?

Here are the critical components of a structured request for proposal. Follow this format, and your project will be off to a great start.

1. Overview & Background

The overview section is where you get to introduce yourself and share a little about your company’s culture and core beliefs. Summarize who you are, what your company does, your history, and what products or services you offer. Also describe who you serve – your target audience or ideal customer.

Next, briefly explain why you’re submitting an RFP in the first place. Outline your pain points and why you need a redesign or new website (you’ll go into more detail later).

2. Challenges

Try to be as honest and upfront in this section as possible. What’s wrong with your current website? Why do you want to build a new one? Be as clear as you can. Maybe you’ve had some of your clients complain about their online experience. Or it could just be time to level up to your competitors.

3. Goals

Your goals, or core objectives, are the heart of your RFP. They’re the whole reason you’re going to all the trouble of writing the thing! So be authentic. How do you hope to solve the problems you just outlined in the previous section? What’re your most important objectives? Do you want to increase sales? Attract more traffic to your site? Engage people longer? Revamp your business brand?

The 2020 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America report discovered that most B2B marketers use content marketing to successfully achieve goals like creating brand awareness, building credibility and trust with their audience, and educating their followers. Nurturing long-term relationships with customers and generating revenue are also essential goals businesses must aim for to continue growing successfully. Consider adding goals like these to your RFP at the get-go.

4. Project Scope

Your project scope is where you should get a little more specific. Here are some standard features you may consider including:

• Brand identity
• Graphic design
• Development (front end or back end)
• Site architecture
• Content strategy
• Lead generation
• Analytics
• SEO
• Keyword analysis
• Video
• Photography
• Copywriting
• Quality assurance
• Content migration
• Redirecting old URLs
• Project management
• UX/UI testing
• Blog
• Security
• Maintenance and hosting
• Customer service
• Additional features

5. Sitemap

Including your sitemap will give design agencies an overview of all the pages and resources on your current website and how to navigate them. From there, they can pinpoint dead ends, problem areas, and how to create a better user experience.

6. Timeline

Your timeline should include any essential deadlines you have for your project. Include the date you’d like for the entire website to be complete, plus any significant milestones along the way.

7. Additional Functionality

What technical aspects will your website require? Do you have a content management system? Email marketing integrations? Ecommerce functions? List those here.

8. Budget

Give agencies a range of what you’re willing to spend on your project. This will help you set clear expectations from the start to narrow down your pool of potential partners. You can negotiate the budget later on, but having an idea will help avoid wasted time on both ends. You won’t attract agencies who are too costly for you or too small to handle your needs.

9. Examples

Including some website URLs of other websites you love is always a great idea when working with a designer. Think about design, functionality, flow, and what you like about the experience of exploring the websites you choose. Include a few of your top competitors as well, so your designer can see into your industry.

10. Vendor Criteria and Instructions

If you have any requirements (such as capabilities, experience level, budget, etc.) for your vendors, add them here. Also include instructions on how to best follow up with you. Where should they send their proposal? Who should they address it to? If there are any other important details you’d like for them to include, list those as well.

Ready to Send Us Your Web Design RFP?

If you’re ready to dive into your website design project, we’d love to hear from you! You can even skip the RFP if you think we’d be a good fit.

Book a web design consultation with us today!

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Why You Need a Marketing Plan for Your Small Business Website

When was the last time you redesigned your website?

Did you know that the lifespan of a typical website is only 1.5 to 2.5 years?

If your website…

• Is past its prime,
• Needs a facelift,
• Doesn’t run smoothly,
• Wasn’t set up with user experience in mind,
• Isn’t mobile-friendly,
• Or is just plain old-as-your-great-grandpappy,

…it could probably use a redesign.

Before you get overly excited (or stressed out), you need to take some time to develop a solid small business marketing plan.

And before you can develop that plan, you need to understand why that plan is essential to the future success of your business.

Why Your Small Business Website Needs a Marketing Plan

Your website has a ton of responsibility.

Today’s websites need to do many things – and do them well. If you’re still thinking of your website as a supercool yellow pages ad, you’re doing it wrong. Yellow pages were never supercool. Well, maybe when they were invented back in the 1800s. Not even kidding. That’s when they were invented.

You’ve probably heard by now that your website is your 24/7 salesperson. It needs to keep working while you’re taking time off in the evenings and on the weekends.

Your website doesn’t require nourishment or time off – so put it to work! Set it up right, and it’ll do its thing while you’re off gallivanting around the Grand Canyon or snorkeling off the coast of some remote island on the other side of the world. Internet access not required.

Your website is responsible for:

• Creating brand awareness
• Capturing visitors’ attention by showing the perfect solution to their problem
• Building trust
• Facilitating learning
• Demonstrating how your business can (and does) bring your clients results
• Housing entire sales transactions
• And _____________!!! (You fill in the blank.)

If your website isn’t taking care of essential business, you better include any and all gaps in your new marketing plan.

Here’s what your website redesign needs to include:

• A marketing strategy that kicks butt
• Questions your buyers are asking and goals they want to achieve
• SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals YOU want to achieve
• Search patterns
• Useful interactions
• Storytelling
• A design interface that makes it EASY for people to do and find what they need to

Good Web Design is Freaking Important

Here’s why, y’all.

1. It makes an excellent first impression and builds trust.

Websites with poor design, unclear navigation, confusing copy, and slow speeds scare people away. They just do. Don’t be scary.

Beautiful websites with helpful information, on the other hand, attract visitors. And once you’ve got ‘em, keep ‘em coming back!

Content is a great way to build trust with visitors by giving them free resources. These resources could include blogging regularly about important issues your target market is facing, sharing videos addressing pain points, or creating complementary infographics or ebooks people can easily download.

2. It brings you traffic.

A website should be optimized so people looking for your products and services online can find you instantly. You need to answer questions on your website thoughtfully and strategically. You need to build authority so you can compete against the other 1.74 billion websites on the internet. SEO is a fundamental component of bringing lots of traffic and qualified leads to your proverbial doorstep.

3. It will lead people through the buyer’s journey.

The buyer’s journey leads people through three main stages. First, they’ll become aware of a problem they have and start looking around to learn more (awareness stage). Next, they’ll pinpoint their problem and start researching ways to solve it (consideration stage). Finally, they’ll find and purchase the best solution they can find (decision stage).

Here’s how we like to break this process down:

1. Awareness
2. Exploring Solutions
3. Comparing Vendors
4. Purchase (Cha-ching!)

Your website should address individuals at every stage of the buyer’s journey. You need to show them you understand the problem they have and that they’re not alone. Then present some great options for dealing with that problem head-on. Lastly, you need to convince them why you (not your competitors) offer the best solution.

Let’s Create a Marketing Plan for Your Small Business

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

If you don’t know exactly how to move forward toward your goals, you won’t reach them! It’s as simple as that. Instead, you could end up wasting a lot of time spinning your wheels and spending too much money in the wrong places.

A marketing plan is like a detailed roadmap that tells your small business exactly what to do and where to go. Your website designer should walk you through all of the essential steps you need to take to ensure you have a clear plan of attack before the redesign even starts.

If it’s time for your droopy website to get its long-awaited facelift, Fingerprint Marketing is ready to work! Our strategists, designers, and developers will put on their thinking caps and come together to create one heckuva website plan for you.

Ready to get started? Book a consult with us today!

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Why Email Marketing is Important for Business Leads and Conversions

Email marketing isn’t dead. Heck, it’s not even dying.

In fact, it can be one of the best marketing tools for engaging leads and converting them into customers, especially during this weird COVID time.

You’re probably thinking, “That’s a BIG statement.” It is, but it’s also a true one. And we’re prepared to prove it to you.

Email Marketing is Alive and Kicking Butt

2020 has been quite a year. And we haven’t even reached election time yet (gosh, that’s a scary thought). When COVID-19 hit, we all cringed as we watched the stock market fall. But not all was lost during that unprecedented time.

According to data collected by Mailchimp that compared email engagement during March and April of 2019 versus 2020, the averages this year were better than last year. Click rates and open rates were up, and unsubscribes were way down.

Mailchimp also found that people wanted to hear from their favorite businesses more frequently – like every week. And smaller companies saw a more dramatic increase in engagement than larger firms. How cool is that? We’re all about encouraging small businesses as much as we can right now because, let’s be honest, this year’s been ROUGH.

If you still think email is dying out, check out Adobe’s 2019 Email Usage Study. They surveyed over 1,000 people in the U.S. and found that consumers spend about five hours a day checking email. FIVE. HOURS. A DAY. They also said people prefer receiving offers via email over social media, direct mail, and other popular marketing types.

Why Email’s Still One of the Best Marketing Tools for Growing Your Business

In 2019, the average adult spent around 3½ hours using the internet on their phone. Just imagine how much that’s increased during the pandemic. I know it has for me because my iPhone sends me regular phone usage reports. Ouch.

While this can feel depressing and unhealthy in a sense, it creates a big opportunity for email marketers and online businesses. Here are six reasons email is still at the top of its game.

1. People will check their email anywhere at any time, several times a day.

Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you checked your email? Or better yet, how many times have you checked your email today so far? And where all have you checked it? LOL.

If you’re an average American, the answer is a lot and pretty much everywhere – at work, during a Zoom meeting, at the dinner table, in the bathroom, in bed, even behind the wheel. Email has become an integral part of our daily lives.

Our job, as marketers, is to be in our customers’ inboxes regularly with messages that grab their attention. Figure out the best send times (when the most people on your email list are opening and engaging), then send them content they’ll love.

2. You can build trust through authentic relationships.

Engage with your audience. Be sincere and authentic. Personalize your emails so your contacts feel valued. Spend some time allowing your audience to get to know you – your personality, your quirks, and what you care about in the world.

Later on, when it comes time to sell your product or service, you’ll have a list of loyal followers who are ready to buy from you! That’s good stuff.

3. Email is cheap and has an amazing ROI.

Seriously, the ROI is insane. For every buck you spend on email marketing, you can recoup $42. That’s a 4200% return on investment!

4. You can segment your lists.

Mailchimp found that segmented campaigns have a 14.31% higher open rate and a 100.95% higher click rate than unsegmented campaigns. Unsubscribes are 9.37% lower, and bounces are 4.65% lower, on average. Those are some pretty dope reasons to segment your lists.

When you split up large contact lists into smaller segments, you can make your emails more specific and engaging for different groups of people.

5. You can automate emails to magically send on their own.

Need to send out a “welcome series” to new subscribers? Want to remind people who abandoned their shopping carts to finish checking out? Do you have blog posts you’d like to send to a specific list regularly?

Email automation allows you to engage with contacts in your sleep. You can create a workflow that sends out a series of emails or a single email to specific people based on certain criteria. Automation has the power to save you time while increasing engagement and sales.

6. Track, analyze, test, and improve performance.

Another awesome benefit of email is the ability to track and measure results. Watch your open and click-through rates to see how you should tweak send times, subject lines, body copy, calls to action, and contact lists.

A/B testing allows you to test two versions of the same email to see which one performs better. This insight can then help inform future campaigns.

Does Your Email Marketing Need a Little TLC?

Are you frustrated, confused, or at a loss when it comes to email? You don’t have to do it alone.

If you need help with email marketing setup, strategy, or implementation, Fingerprint Marketing would be thrilled to help. Book a consultation with us today!

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