How to Use Email Marketing to Convert Your Leads

Learn how to use email marketing to convert your leads by sending the right information at the right time. Combine automation, customization and your unique business value!

Are you taking full advantage of your list of sales leads? If you send the same emails to everyone or rarely set up automated emails, it’s time to come up with a different solution. Email marketing is a great tool to keep growing your business if used correctly. At least 31% of B2B businesses use email to take care of leads, and B2C utilizes email at an even higher rate. Your leads likely use email already to make connections and learn new information, so don’t overlook this powerful marketing tool in your booking process.

When you use email to convert your leads, you need a balance of education, marketing, timeliness and personalization. You can set up automation with client workflow automation software that sends the right information at the right time. Converting your leads through email doesn’t have to mean more work for you to do.

Learn how to communicate with leads via email and set up processes that mean they’ll book with you faster.

Make a Strong First Impression

Let’s be real – first impressions matter. But that isn’t just true in person...it’s true in emailing as well. When you reach out to a business, it might annoy you if they take too much time to respond. To nurture your leads properly, start off with a good introduction. Keep in mind that about 8 out of 10 people will open a welcome email, which makes it a great way to start a potential client relationship.

How do you do this? You need to set up an automated intro email. Let’s say you generate most of your leads through a contact form on your website. This means your potential clients found you online and are already interested in the information you had on your website. When they reach out, they probably want more information.

With an automated email, you can set up a thank you that includes next steps and answers some of their questions. It’s a great idea to have a FAQ page on your website that you can link to, because it shows that you’re ready to anticipate your clients’ needs. You can also send an intake questionnaire to find more about them before you schedule a meeting or call with them.

To sum up, make sure your welcome email, including next steps, is sent as soon as you receive inquiries from leads. They should know when you’ll respond to their inquiry as well as what they should do while they’re waiting to hear back from you (for example, filling out a questionnaire or reading your resources).

Segment and Nurture Leads

Once your leads are in your pipeline, it’s time to start showing them what you can do. Keep in mind that many leads might not want to jump into business immediately, and that’s okay. You both need to decide if it’s a good fit (like in any relationship). To do that, focus on sending them information they want and move them forward into action with your business.

Determine your segmentation before you decide what content to send. Not everyone needs the same services, so sending the same information to everyone doesn’t make sense. When leads fill out a contact form, be sure to ask what kind of project type or services they want.

You can also segment your leads by services needed by creating different automations for each project type. Once you’ve segmented your leads, build a set of emails focused, for the most part, on education and resources.

For instance, a potential client who wants web design services might be interested in a tutorial about web best practices. Delivering accurate information will show that they can rely on you as a service provider.

Show Off Your Services and Brand

Once you’ve shown your clients what you can do with the resources you provide them, it’s time to start promoting your services. The more specific information you offer, the better.

Create a branded service brochure for each project type you offer. Once someone reaches out through your contact form and answers your "project type" question, you can include the specific brochure for that project type in their segmented email sequence.

When creating a brochure, add multiple pages to send useful information about your company. If a client asks about web design services, your brochure for them should include specific examples, case studies and pricing. But make sure that you’re not sending the same brochure to all leads, because they might become overwhelmed with all the available options. Instead, a project-specific brochure shows them everything they’ve already asked about.

Create a brochure with multiple pages so you can include an introduction about yourself and your business, as well as FAQs about each project. You can even include a services block so leads can choose services directly from the brochure. If they have more questions, you can include a link to set up a call with your online meeting scheduler.

Make It Easy to Move Forward

Congratulations! Your leads are now ready to become clients. Send out a comprehensive contract, invoice and payment schedule to transition into your project.

Once your clients sign and pay your proposal (using proposal software), you’re ready to impress them with your services!

Convert More Leads through Email Marketing Ready to convert more leads using email marketing? Automation will make it happen. When you don’t have automation, you have to remember to respond to all inquiries, reach out to people you haven’t heard from yet, and remember the specific circumstances of each potential client. Automation removes that burden from your shoulders and keeps a line of ongoing communication open.

To use email automation, all you need to do is map out your current lead process so you can translate it into an automated workflow. Once that’s ready, transfer each step into an automation tool.

Once your email automation is set up, continue to go over and refine each step. Perhaps you need more information, or maybe you need less (don’t send your potential clients too many emails). By understanding your leads’ responses and engagement, you can generate greater conversions!

I write about the tools of crms to help other small businesses and freelancers who are getting started themselves or just want to gain more knowledge. I hope that the information I provide helps you grow your business!