When I chat with estheticians about email marketing, I usually get a sigh of frustration or comment “I should be better with emailing my clients.” There is no shaming, however, you can easily convert prospects into paying clients with a couple of strategies.
Email marketing is a highly cost-effective way for small businesses to nurture relationships with prospects and drive conversions. In fact, it boasts an ROI of 3,800%!
But, many esthetician business owners send email newsletters religiously yet not getting the results “as advertised.” Hence the sigh of frustration!
What’s going on here? Is email marketing a thing of the past, as some marketers predicted would happen?
Marketing has changed during the last year but email marketing is still effective. Businesses are investing in email marketing to grow their business and they’re reaping the benefits.
However, “email newsletters” no longer meet consumer expectations. Honestly, your prospects and clients don’t want another email newsletter taking up space in their inbox.
Instead, your clients want value!
Subscribers are not interested in what’s new about your business unless it’s helpful and relevant to them. They want content that speaks to their interests and solves their challenges.
Here’s how to strategically leverage email marketing to convert more prospects into paying clients:
Generate High-Quality Leads
To turn more prospects into paying clients with email marketing, you have to get the right people onto your email list. This starts with lead generation, which often refers to offering something your prospects want in exchange for their email addresses.
The “something” is called a lead magnet and most commonly, a piece of digital content that’s available for free on your website. If a visitor is interested in your expertise yet isn’t quite ready to engage your services, a lead magnet helps you capture their information to further the relationship.
A lead magnet doesn’t have to be complicated. Think about the most common questions your clients ask you — these are great topics for a short video or PDF guide. Give it an enticing title to pique your prospects’ curiosity so they’ll sign up for the offer.
Follow Up with a Nurture Email Campaign
Once a prospect has downloaded your lead magnet, what do you do with their name and email address? The next few emails you send out are the critical component in your email marketing strategy to turn these new subscribers into paying clients.
This is the opportunity for these new prospects to get to know you. It’s your time to shine!
Offer as much value as possible in this welcome email sequence. Address problems that you can solve for your prospects. Take the time to nurture your relationships and build trust with these new subscribers. Position yourself as the expert and share practical knowledge to enhance your credibility.
Stay Top of Mind with Regular Updates
For a prospect to eventually do business with you, they need to hear from you on a regular basis. How often should you send out emails to your subscribers? I get this question a lot.
As a general rule, once a week is perfect. Experiment with the frequency to find a cadence that works for your audience. Whatever interval you decide on, communicate it in your initial welcome email sequence so your new subscribers know what to expect.
Sending out email updates is great but more importantly, you need to make sure your emails get read. Consider this: What makes you open an email? Scroll through your inbox and take a look at the emails you have opened. Chances are that the subject lines caught your attention.
Invest time and effort into writing compelling subject lines that are relevant to your audience and pique their interest. Then, fulfill the promise in your content and deliver value every time you send an email.
Be Patient but Bold
An email nurture campaign is like dating before marriage. You have to get to know someone before the big commitment. The same goes for running a business and getting prospects to buy from you. You have to invest the time and effort to build relationships.
You also need to be bold and ask for the sale when it’s the right time. Let subscribers know about your offerings and include a call-to-action in your emails.
Bonus tip: Review your analytics and identify subscribers who consistently open your emails and interact with your content. Send them a special offer or just reach out to say thank you!
The upcoming masterclass in the Esthetician Inner Circle will go into detail on how to create a strategic email marketing campaign that includes a lead nurturing and a sales component. Join us to see how you can turn more prospects into paying clients.
