We’ve been working our way through what I call the Power of 3 Marketing Strategy – the foundational elements that are needed in order to successfully grow an online business organically – without the need for paid ads or sleazy marketing techniques. We’ve already discussed the first foundational element – the attraction strategy, and today we’re jumping into the three reasons to embrace a nurture strategy in your online business. So, if you’re ready to build a marketing strategy that works for you – without the overwhelm – then, let’s get started!
Links for This Episode
- Enroll in the Mama Business Blueprint
- Schedule your Mama Business Strategy Session
- Book Your Website Design + Systems Services
Podcast Episode Recommendations
- #101: 3 Common Attraction Strategy Challenges and How to Overcome Them
- #99: 3 Things to Know Before You Create Long-Form Content
- #98: How to Make Your Attraction Strategy a Reality
- #97: From Mom Life to Boss Life: How to Design Your Attraction Strategy
- #96: Beyond Selling: 7 Reasons to Focus on Your Attraction Strategy Today
Need Help with Strategy?
Before we jump into this episode, I wanted to let you know that I have just a few more openings for Mama Business Strategy Sessions this month. Here’s the deal: in order to have a successful business, you have to have paying clients and customers. That means, knowing who your ideal client is and how to reach them, understanding why your client should choose you over the competition, and designing marketing systems that work to generate leads – over and over again – without sacrificing your family. That’s exactly what a one-hour Mama Business Strategy is designed to help you do. After the session, you’ll be able to make your first sale (or 10th) without feeling salesy, sleazy, or annoying everyone you know on social media. Overcome decision paralysis when it comes to the practical and technical side of running your business. And sleep well at night knowing you don’t have to do “all the things” in order to be successful. Plus, you’ll know the next right action step to take to jumpstart the next phase of your business life. Sound like something you need? Schedule your session today at sarahbrumley.com/strategy.
3 Reasons to Embrace a Nurture Strategy as a Mompreneur
Well hey there and welcome back to this episode of the Mama Business Podcast. I’m happy you’re here with me today. If you’ve been around for awhile, then you know that we’ve been working our way through what I call the Power of 3 Marketing Strategy – the foundational elements that are needed in order to successfully grow an online business organically – without the need for paid ads or sleazy marketing techniques. We’ve already discussed the first foundational element – the attraction strategy, so if you missed those episodes, they are episodes 97, 98, 99, and 101 – and today we are moving on to the second element, which is the nurture strategy.
But before we get into how to implement a nurture strategy, I want to make sure that we are really clear on what a nurture strategy is and why it’s so critical to our organic marketing strategy.
What is a Nurture Strategy?
Put simply, a nurture strategy is the strategy that you put into place to take your potential client from “just interested” to “truly understanding what you offer, how you can serve her, and why she should choose you over your competition”. Some of this can be done through the long-form content you create as part of the attraction strategy, but nurture takes it a step further, and with good reason.
The most effective way see this play out is as a part of an email marketing strategy. Of course you can use other platforms as well, but when it comes to the Power of 3 – of having ONLY the MOST effective systems and strategies in place – then email marketing is the place to start. Remember, we want our marketing strategy to be as SIMPLE as possible.
What is Email Marketing?
If you aren’t certain what’s entailed with email marketing, not to worry – we’re going to get into the nitty gritty of everything involved. But first let’s talk about what it is.
In it’s simplest form, email marketing involves sending emails to customers or clients to make them aware of the things that you offer. Emails can contain information about services, discounts, or just allow you to keep them engaged until you do have something to offer them.
Think of all of the emails you get in your inbox each and every day. Chances are that you have several email subscriptions – things you’ve signed up for and the merchant or business owner sends you an email here and there. They probably send you discount codes, information about new content they’ve created or products and services, and you might even get the occasional email about an upcoming event. Those are examples of email marketing.
And my guess is that you enjoy getting some of those emails, right? They encourage you to go purchase something you didn’t know you needed or to engage with a resource or service that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise.
Personally, I love Birkenstock sandals. Each of the last few years, I’ve added a new pair of them to my collection – in a different and fun color – and I wear them year round. Not outside in the winter, of course, because we do live in snow territory, but I love to wear them around the house. They are comfortable, my feet never hurt at the end of the day, and it brings me joy to put them on.
Probably more than you actually wanted to know…but all that to say that I’m subscribed to the Birkenstock email list. And when I receive an email from them, I ALWAYS open them. I might not be in the market for a new pair of sandals quite yet, but I LOVE to see what’s new. What might be on the horizon for my next purchase.
The truth is that I wouldn’t see all of those options just by heading down to the small shoe store in the mall near me. I just wouldn’t. So it’s great that they share all of that with me via email.
And the thing about email marketing techniques is that each business and brand can tailor their email marketing efforts to the needs of their potential or current clients or customers.
Just like everything else in your marketing strategy. Right?
3 Reasons Why You Need to Implement an Email Marketing Strategy ASAP
Okay, so we know what the nurture strategy and more specifically, email marketing, is in the context of business, but why is it necessary? I mean, you just spent time putting together an attraction strategy that gets people to your website through your long-form content. Isn’t that enough?
I get this question all the time, which is why I want to spend the last part of our time together today discussing why having an email marketing strategy – in combination with your attraction strategy – is critical for long-term business success. In fact, I have three reasons why, so let’s jump into those now.
Reason #1: Email Marketing Increases Touch Points
The first reason to add email marketing to your organic marketing strategy is because email marketing increases touch points.
I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again – it takes an average of 8 to 12 touch points for a cold lead to become a paying client. That means that from the moment they come to know WHO you are and engage for the first time with your content, your website, or you personally, it takes on average another 7 to 11 encounters.
Now you might say at this point, “well, Sarah, I already put an attraction strategy into place and my potential client can just listen to my podcast or read my blog and get those touch points in that way.” Sure, they absolutely can. And, many will probably do just that. But there’s a good many others that might listen once and disappear forever. As you know, it takes work to get someone to your blog or your podcast, so once they are there – we want to capitalize on that. We want them to stick around, and that’s exactly what we can do when we have an effective nurture strategy in place – when we’ve prioritized an email marketing strategy.
Now, obviously we can use other platforms to make this happen. But I think it’s important right here to share a couple of stats about email marketing specifically.
According to OptinMonster:
Stats: https://optinmonster.com/email-marketing-statistics/
- 99% of email users check their email every day – some up to 20 times per day. That’s a pretty good indicator that you are going to be forefront of mind whenever you land in their inbox – almost guaranteeing you those much needed touch points.
- 58% check their email first thing in the morning before social media or the news. That means that if you are top of mind, they are going to be thinking about what you had to say or offer as they plug along in their day.
And…the best part of email marketing is that there’s no distractions. If Jane is reading your email, she’s reading your email. She’s not being bombarded by ads or videos or all of the other “noise” we’ve come to know on other platforms. You have her undivided attention. Well, that is, unless her son just walked into the room covered in paint…then she might be otherwise occupied. But…even in that situation, she’ll most likely return and once again engage with whatever you sent.
So the first reason to embrace email marketing as your nurture strategy is because it increases those much needed touch points.
Reason #2: Email Marketing Creates Personal Connections
The second reason to embrace email marketing is because it creates personal connections.
I like to think of the nurture phase as the relationship building phase. Sure, Jane might know WHO you are now and she may even think that you’ve got some great advice, products, or services to offer, but she just isn’t totally sold on you – or your business – being the right fit for her.
Think of it like building a friendship. We’ve all had those people who just walk into our lives and we know immediately they are the perfect fit. We have everything in common and we both agree immediately that we will be inseparable for life. I don’t know about you, but my experience is that those types of friendships are few and far between.
What’s more common is that we meet someone that we aren’t quite sure about. Maybe you see them at church and wave hello a couple of times, or they happen to walk the mall at the same time as you and your kiddo. Maybe it’s someone that you engage with through another friend for a time. But eventually, you come to the realization that you have more in common than you thought at first.
So, you exchange a few text messages, meet for a play date with the kids, or go out to dinner and drinks with mutual friends.
That relationship takes time to grow – time to get to know one another so that you can make sure it’s a good fit. You certainly aren’t sharing your deep dark secrets until you know it’s safe to, right?
The same rings true in online business.
As a potential client, we want to make those connections first – to know that it’s the right fit before we lay down our hard earned cash for the promised results. Email marketing allows for that. It builds relationship over time – it creates those personal connections.
There are other ways that we can personalize our email marketing strategy as well, including offering subscribers the ability to choose what type of emails they receive from us, what topics we discuss, and more. And that’s definitely something we’re going to go into more detail as we work on implementing this foundational element over the next couple of weeks.
So reason number two to implement an email marketing strategy is because it creates personal connections that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
Reason #3: Email Marketing Results in Higher Conversion Rates
The final reason to embrace email marketing as your nurture strategy is because it results in higher conversion rates.
Because of those increased touch points, the lack of distraction, and the personal connections created through email marketing:
79% of online businesses report that email is the most successful marketing tool for content distribution.
Baralliance reports that 18% of businesses make back more than $70 per every $1 they invest into email marketing. That’s a huge ROI! Who doesn’t want to put out $1 and get $70 back?
McKinsey notes that email is 40 times more effective when it comes to getting clients than Facebook and Twitter combined. 40 times – that’s incredible, right? Not to mention it’s so much less time consuming, trust me!
And this one’s my favorite: shoppers spend 138% more when they receive email offers, as opposed to those who don’t.
So, I think it’s pretty safe to say that email marketing is a valuable strategy that online business owners should embrace – and, might I say – ASAP. Because we all know that the sooner we start, the more success we’ll have, right?
Take Action: Embrace a Nurture Strategy as a Mompreneur
And that brings us to the action part of this episode. And we all know that action is where the dreams turn into the reality. And today’s action step is this:
ACTION: I know that you are excited about jumping into implementing your email marketing strategy. Who wouldn’t be, right? But I want you to keep in mind that this nurture strategy is foundational element number two. That means that without the attraction strategy in place – the nurture strategy won’t be as effective. So, take this week and make sure that you have all of the pieces of the attraction strategy into place so that you can build on a solid foundation going forward.
And, then come back next week and let’s get to implementing the second foundational element – your nurture strategy.
And mama, if you are struggling with any of this, want someone to audit what you’ve done so far, or just need someone to brainstorm with – head to sarahbrumley.com/strategy and book an hour of my time. Together we can simplify and streamline your marketing strategy so that you can do what you do best – serve your ideal clients and customers. Once again that’s sarahbrumley.com/strategy.
No matter what you decide though – just know I’m cheering you on. You’ve got this! Have an amazing day and I’ll chat with you again next time.
