Firstly, let’s take a look at what email marketing is, and what companies use it for.

What is email marketing? Simply put, email marketing is any kind of advertising you do via email! Of course it’s not quite that simple, as you first need to build up a subscriber base and collect email addresses, and then make sure your mails aren’t ending up in people’s spam folders. From there, you also need to ensure your emails are enticing enough that your readers actually open and engage with them. This is where the services of an email marketing company or an email marketing consultant come in handy!

Generally, email marketing allows businesses to accomplish one of two major goals:

• Turning prospects into customers, or
• Encouraging previous customers to buy again

There are, however, many other reasons a company might invest in email marketing:

• To inform and educate:
  Help grow your brand’s reputation and build trust by sharing useful facts, advice or insights
• To request feedback or a review:
  Ask for constructive criticism to help you improve your service, or politely ask happy customers if they’d be willing to leave you a review or testimonial
• To get the word out:
  Promote an event or sale, or let customers know about company news which might affect them
• To drive traffic to your website:
  Coupled with solid SEO practices, email campaigns can be a great way to get potential leads exploring your website
• To promote your social media profiles:
  Let fans know they can follow you on their favourite social media platforms
• Cross- and up-sell:
  Recommend other products and services your customers might be interested in
• Nurture customer relations:
  Offer helpful resources free of charge to build good will and boost brand credibility, while also keeping your offering top of mind

Partnering with a trusted email marketing services company like Banda Media can help you accomplish all this and more. We can assist with email marketing in Cape Town, Johannesburg and across South Africa, as well as for international brands.

Email has been around for a long time (since 1972 in fact!) so it’s not all that surprising that people expect it to be a bit outdated in terms of marketing. With social media such a presence in our daily lives now, most companies expect advertising campaigns on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to outperform “old-school” email. Actually, this couldn’t be further from the truth!

Depending on factors such as your industry and database. Email marketing is known to outperform other digital marketing efforts in terms of ROI. Part of this is the low cost of entry, which allows even the smallest start-ups to take advantage of it. And because you’re directing your messaging at a group of people who have already expressed interest in what you have to offer (by signing up in the first place) the chance that your efforts will convert into revenue are pretty good.

In addition, with something like social media, it takes time, money, and effort to figure out which platforms your ideal target audience hangs out. You’ll likely have to run campaigns on several platforms and constantly analyze data. Which is again, a necessary yet time-consuming and costly exercise. 

Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But why enlist the services of an email marketing company?

With all the benefits we’ve discussed above, you’re probably raring to get started with your own email marketing campaign. There’s one big hurdle to be overcome first through: building up a list of subscribers.

Do you enjoy getting spam emails that have absolutely no relevance to your interests? Of course you don’t – and increasingly, built-in spam filters won’t let these kinds of mails into the inbox at all. There are also legalities to be considered, as sending unsolicited emails is illegal in most parts of the world, including South Africa.

For all these reasons and more, purchasing an existing list of emails is a really bad idea. Apart from anything else, it’s not likely to work. You’re shooting in the dark as to whether the recipients have the vaguest interest in what you’re selling at all – if they even see, let alone open your mails.

A small, targeted, qualified, and opt-in subscriber base is far more valuable than a massive purchased one. The best email marketing companies will always focus on this crucial aspect first. And as both an email marketing and digital agency, we’re best positioned to help you attract the kind of subscribers that convert into sales.

As a specialist provider of email marketing in South Africa and internationally, Banda Media’s killer SEO skills mean we can grow your list the right way. Like many top email marketing companies in South Africa and around the world, we know that the best campaigns are built around providing value first, and selling second.

If you’re a small business owner, you know how vital it is to keep existing customers happy, and pursue every new potential lead. We offer company email marketing for B2C companies, as well as B2B email marketing services across South Africa.

1 | Highly effective lead magnets and opt-in forms
Incentivise potential customers to sign up to your database through compelling lead magnets and enticing opt-in forms.

2 | A/B split testing
By testing multiple versions of an email on a small segment of your subscriber base first, we ensure the best-performing version goes out every time.

3 | Mobile and tablet-friendly designs
Make sure your mails display beautifully and function perfectly, no matter what device your customers view them on.

4 | Analytics, reporting and continuous improvement
By keeping an eagle eye on your stats, we’re able to monitor what works best, so we can continuously improve your ROI.

5 | Abandoned cart emails
As an ecommerce email marketing agency, we can help you recover “lost” revenue through abandoned cart email follow-ups.

6 | Automated follow-up and product recommendation emails
Use your customers’ previous purchases and interests to get them coming back for more, and keep them engaged with your brand.

7 | Content writing and email design
Take advantage of our content marketing specialists to craft compelling emails that entertain, inform and convert.

8 | Competitor Analysis and Email Strategy
Stay one step ahead of the competition with a personalised strategy designed just for your company.

We’re an email marketing company that operates in Cape Town, Johannesburg and across South Africa. Get in touch today, and let’s start your next email campaign!