When it comes to selling your products in an increasingly online world, one of the best things to do as a supplier is create an email marketing list. Email marketing is highly effective across a number of industries, especially in the realm of product sales. Recent surveys indicate that:

• Email marketing is the best channel for customer acquisition and retention
• The return on investment is $38 for every $1 spent
• Emails are more effective than social mediafor conversions

On top of that, emails are one of the most direct marketing tools out there. Think about it: people check their email first thing in the morning, while they watch TV at night, and even on the weekends thanks to mobile phones. Your products can be seen any time of the day or night; that’s why email marketing is so useful.

And while many suppliers are familiar with email marketing, most aren’t harnessing its power to the fullest. Instead, many rely on third party service providers to communicate with customers – or they don’t use email marketing at all.

The limits of third party email providers

A large number of suppliers use third party email services, companies that collect, maintain and contact customer email lists, for small-scale email marketing. While this may get your business some traction and maybe a few sales, it might not get you the results you want. It also may not reap all the benefits that come with true email marketing.

Third party service providers may be a great starting point, but they can also limit your marketing reach. That’s because many third parties:

• Don’t allow you to see the data on your emails. With third party providers, you may get information on email open rates, but you can’t see who opened your messages and who clicked which links, which is critical to improving and targeting your message.
• Compile lists that may not be targeted to your client base. You may not reach the distributors you really want to communicate with.
• May include outdated contacts. This could mean your emails don’t go through or get seen by your ideal audience.
• Send emails to suppliers, as well. You want distributors seeing your products – not other suppliers.
• Usually don’t allow for email segments to be created.One email is used for everyone on the list, which leads to sending irrelevant messages to the wrong people.
• Can be very expensive.

There’s no doubt that email marketing is a great way to increase distributor interaction, improve sales and create a stronger overall business strategy. But if you’re sending the wrong emails to the wrong people, you may not be reaching potential customers or, worst-case scenario, you might annoy those who are receiving your message.

Regardless of whether or not you use third party email marketing currently, it’s important to also create your own emails and build your own email lists.

Managing your own email marketing

Whether you’re supplementing your third party emails or starting from scratch, managing your own emails is a great first step to increasing conversions. Thanks to advancements in email management software, creating your own campaigns can be quick and easy – but more on that later.

Creating your own email lists and messaging means:

• You’ll save money. Most email marketing software is free or very inexpensive. Options like MailChimp are free for fewer than 2,000 subscribers! Other affordable options include:
  • ConstantContact
  • InfusionSoft
  • AWeber
• Your customers will be able to manage their preferences. Customers and prospects can sign up for information they want, which reduces unsubscribes or spam ratings. It also ensures your emails are getting in front of the right people!
• You can choose the email content. With third party services, you usually only get to send one large image and one link. Using your own service, you can create templates that look great, are responsive, and show your contacts useful information about products. You can also update your lists about company news, events, promotions, and more!

Spending a little time and money to get more conversions and better customer interaction is a smart investment. You can augment third party lists and start building organic, targeted email lists for your customers and prospects!

Next steps in email marketing

Every element of managing and marketing a business takes time. However, supplementing a third party email service (or no email service at all) with your own email marketing campaign will provide massive benefits. Remember: the average ROI on email marketing is $38 for $1 spent! Where else can you get those kinds of results?

If you’re ready to start your own email marketing, we’ll be sharing exactly how to create your own email lists and manage them in the next article. Soon, you’ll be getting maximum conversions and higher sales!