Inbox to Conversion: The Journey of Email Marketing in Lead Generation


Published: | By Renu Sharma


Email marketing is currently one of the most popular mеthods of digital marketing. Its popularity is bеcausе it еncouragеs digital markеtеrs to еngagе with a widе range of audiеncеs. Also, it incrеasеs thе chancеs of lеad gеnеration and convеrsion.

Bеlow, wе'll takе you through thе journey of improving your lead generation results when using еmail markеting.


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What is Email Marketing?

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Email marketing involves the use of emails to do several things. These several things may include:

  • To increase brand awareness
  • To drive sales and revenue
  • To generate website traffic
  • To boost other advertising channels
  • To engage with prospective customers
  • To obtain valuable business data from customers 

One thing to note is the use of emails is very prevalent today. Furthermore, the use of emails will continue to increase in the future. 

Research shows there will be about 4.6 billion email users by 2025. Therefore, email marketing is incredibly promising.

6 Benefits of Email Marketing

You can derive many benefits by using email marketing as one of your strategies to generate leads. These benefits of email marketing include the following:

1. It encourages lead segmentation.

Email marketing ensures that you can effectively segment your leads. This ‘segmentation’ focuses on a specific target audience based on their

    • Country,
    • Job title,
    • Company,
    • Industry,
    • Income.

Once you segment your audience, you can create content for each segment. The best thing about "this lead segmentation" is that it does the following:

    • It increases the chances of lead generation. 
    • It promises more engagement than using generic content.

2. It increases sales.

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Email marketing is essential in increasing sales! In addition, it ensures that you can get a more significant Return on Investment (ROI) from your marketing efforts. 

Research shows that for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you get an average ROI of $40!

When you use well-crafted email marketing strategies, your company has a significant opportunity to:

    • Get repeated customers
    • Get new customers
    • Get loyal customers
    • Increase sales levels

3. It is cost-effective.

Email marketing provides one of the most effective forms of marketing compared to any other marketing practice. 

It only needs you to manage the used resources. Furthermore, since its introduction into the market in 1978, email marketing has been the preferred advertising method. 

This preference is because email marketing promises low-cost investment with high ROI.

4. It allows you to target a specific buyer persona.

Email marketing encourages your marketing and SDR teams to target specific prospects. 

One essential thing to note is that a single target audience can comprise individuals with different buyer personas

Targeting specific buyer personas allows you to create emails personalized to the individual group you are trying to influence.

5. It helps to increase brand awareness.

Brand awareness is essential for lead generation. It ensures that your target audience knows of your business's existence. 

One way to improve brand awareness is through email marketing! Email marketing enables you to send updates related to your brand to your target audience.

6. It offers more visibility.

Email marketing provides more visibility than display ads, social media, and PPC ads. These other marketing practices can quickly vanish once a customer signs off or the budget becomes over. 

However, with email marketing, your prospects can always find your content in their inbox! 

To maximize the impact, it's crucial to make action plans that capitalize on this consistent visibility provided by email marketing.

How to Generate Leads Through Email Marketing

Lead conversion and generation through email marketing is relatively straightforward. You only need to follow the following best practices in email marketing.

  • Identify your target audience.

The first thing you need to do for a successful lead generation is to identify your target audience. 

Ensure you answer the following questions when identifying your target audience:

    • Who are your ideal buyers?
    • What are the buyer's pain points and requirements?
    • What are your buyers' personas?
    • What are your targeted demographics?
    • Where do your prospective customers live?
    • What industry do your target buyers work in?
    • How much do tour target buyers earn?
  • Create a quality email list.

A quality email list is the cornerstone of efficient email marketing. At this step, you need to get email addresses through sign-up forms from:

    • Networking events
    • Gated content
    • Webinars
    • Websites

Make sure that the individuals on your list are people who are interested in your offerings.

  • Craft an irresistible offer.

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An irresistible offer can act as a lead magnet. Note that this lead magnet can be in the form of

  • e-books
  • Webinars
  • Written content,
  • Video Content
  • Monetary value (discounts),
  • Interactives,
  • Access to something or tools,
  • Audio.

When creating these lead magnets, ensure that you address the pain point of your target audience!! 

Also, give actionable tips! Note that written and video content are the most popular lead magnets that can lead to higher conversion rates.

  • Write catchy and concise emails.

The design of your emails is essential in lead generation and conversion. 

Your emails should be as concise and clean as possible. Note that long-content emails can easily distract prospective buyers from your message's main point.

  • Create CTAs and opt-in forms.

Creating CTAs and Opt-in forms is essential in email marketing. This call to action (CTA) prompts visitors to subscribe and enter the lead generation funnel. 

Also, note that CTAs are vital when creating a lead-generation website. They ensure that your website attracts the right kind of audience who are ready to convert. 

Always include CTAs in your email marketing strategies and your website’s landing pages.

Some of the ways to write the lead conversion CTAs include the following:

    • Use action-oriented text, like "Try for Free," "Reserve your Spot," "Schedule your Demo," and so on.
    • Develop FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and a sense of urgency using words like" 7 Spots remaining!
    • Keep the CTAs concise. Make sure that they have two or three words.
  • Leverage social media.

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Social media provides one of the best platforms to increase your email list! Research shows there will be about 5.85 billion social media users in 2027. 

You should leverage social media's power to ensure a wide range of relevant email lists. This relevant email list can play an essential role in lead conversion. 

Add" CTAs" to your profile and daily posts.

  • Begin lead nurturing.

One way to promote lead nurturing in email marketing is through automated emails. This automation will allow you to schedule emails based on customer interaction or behavior. 

The best thing about the automated emails is that they will enable you to send welcome emails the minute subscribers sign up!

This automation helps to build customer loyalty and brand trust. Also, it ensures that your customers know there is an open line of communication that they can use to reach out to you. 

SureTriggers can be a great option to consider as it can help in connecting all top-of-the-line email marketing tools and CRM with ease.

In addition, you can use that email automation to:

    • Send emails to your customers that tell them valuable information about your offerings.
    • Schedule thank you emails.
    • Guide your leads through the lead generation and conversion funnel.
  • Segment your email list.

Segmenting your email list comes with several benefits. It promotes a high level of lead generation. Make sure you segment your list based on your target audiences by:

    • Behavior,
    • Interest,
    • Characteristics,
    • Demographics,
    • Location.

Then, ensure that you personalize your email content according to the unique traits of each lead!

  • Perform A/B (split) testing.

A/B testing is essential for optimization. It offers valuable insights into what resonates most with your target audience. Also, it ensures you can test different elements of your emails, including your

    • Call to action,
    • Content,
    • Subject lines.

Note that this A/B testing should be a regular process. It will help you to enhance engagement and increase conversion rates.

Best Practices for Email Marketing

There are several best practices that you need to employ in email marketing. Therefore, below are some of the best practices that you should consider.

  • Personalize your emails.

Personalizing your emails is one of the most vital email marketing best practices. Your emails should include:

  • A good subject line that addresses the audience by name
  • A snappy and short snippet that gives your target audience a reason to open their email

Note that addressing your prospective customers by their name increases the chances of higher open rates. 

However, you should not stop there! Proceed to personalize your email content.

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  • Send emails at the proper time.

The right timing is critical for lead generation. Note that it can vary depending on the target business or audience. Ensure you understand your customer’s

    • Habits,
    • Choices,
    • Preferences,
    • Characteristics.
  • Avoid using no-reply email.

Many businesses make the mistake of using no-reply emails. However, these no-reply emails do the following:

    • They prevent you from establishing a good bond with your customers.
    • They prevent you from gaining the trust of your customers. 
    • They give the impression that you are unavailable for complaints or queries.
  • Optimize your emails for mobile.

Optimizing your emails for mobile is incredibly vital. Most individuals today use their mobile phones to read their emails. 

Therefore, when you optimize your emails for mobile, you ensure your customers have a seamless experience. Research shows that 27% of individuals use mobiles to open their emails. 

Bottom Line

Email marketing provides one of the best ways to encourage lead generation and conversion. 

Some of the primary things you need to do are understand your target audience, segment them, create an email list, develop concise and engaging content, and have CTAs.


Author Bio

author-renu-sharma

Renu Sharma is the Co-Founder of Tanot Solutions, and she helps businesses to 5X their organic traffic by building high-quality backlinks. 

When not working, she loves to polish her marketing knowledge and skills and watch interesting web series. You can follow her on LinkedIn.

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