With this in mind, having a custom email address which includes your website’s domain name (i.e. yourname@yourbusiness.com) will allow your small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) to be taken seriously by customers and competitors alike. A professional email address establishes a sense of trust that your business venture is legitimate, and in turn will increase your capacity for attracting new sales.
Since email is one of the most efficient ways for businesses to communicate with potential customers, it is crucial that entrepreneurs fully understand the various ways in which a professional email address can positively impact their bottom line, as outlined below:
1. Builds Brand Awareness and Drives Website Traffic
In any business deal, it is of the utmost importance that the customer is constantly aware of two things: who you are, and what you are selling. This is why strong branding is so essential. And by using a professional email address that incorporates your SME’s brand name, you are indirectly advertising your company’s website every time you hand out a business card or engage with a client.
But if your electronic correspondence is delivered using a personal or otherwise unprofessional email address, you will be missing out on a prime opportunity to reinforce your company’s brand in the customer’s mind. This in turn may result in a less favorable or even forgettable impression of your products and services, which is obviously an undesirable outcome.
You want your brand to be memorable. Eschewing a professional email address will only achieve the opposite effect, as it places the burden on a presumptive consumer to search for your online presence.
When properly executed, email marketing can serve a complementary role in your promotional efforts while simultaneously driving traffic to your business website.
2. Creates a Sense of Trust
Imagine a scenario in which you received email messages from two different companies using the following addresses:
Which of these seems legitimate? In all likelihood, the former would be taken seriously, while the latter would be ignored or discarded due to its overly informal nature.
Trust is essential in any relationship, and having a professional email address is a necessary component of the seller-buyer dynamic, as it can convert prospective customers into loyal patrons.
3. Facilitates Targeted Marketing and Cultivates Relationships
Merchants who are successfully able to foster long-term relationships with their customers typically have a strong understanding of how to curate and personalize the shopping experience. And one of the best ways to accomplish this is to disseminate professionally written email newsletters.
Targeted newsletters sent via email are undoubtedly among the most effective tools for marketing your company’s offerings. These periodic dispatches enable you to advertise your products and services, including special promotions and events, while providing a personal touch that can help engender brand loyalty, strong word-of-mouth, and repeat business.
The email newsletters can also incorporate a personal greeting for each subscriber or for subgroups within your subscriber base who share similar interests.
Email marketing data from 2019 indicates that personalized email messages increase website click-through rates by 14% and customer conversions by 10%. Meanwhile, targeted email newsletters may generate over half of an average company’s revenue.
In short, email marketing is an effective tool for improving an SME’s bottom line.
4. Offers a Reliable Means of Direct Communication and Encourages Feedback
A professional email address provides customers with a direct, hassle-free medium to communicate with potential and existing customers alike. This allows business owners to maintain a consistent communication channel with their clientele - one with a much quicker turnaround compared with phone calls and snail mail.
In addition, merchants can request customer feedback in their regular electronic newsletters and on their website, with the goal of obtaining valuable insight into their customers’ concerns and making improvements as necessary.
5. Facilitates Communication With Vendors
Many merchants who need to communicate with their vendors on a regular basis utilize email as much as possible. This is because electronic correspondence creates an online paper trail that can prove invaluable in the event of billing or legal disputes. It also provides clear evidence of requests, progress reports, and other essential dialogue in the merchant-vendor relationship.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to effectively leverage a professional email account continues to play an important role in the marketing strategy of successful business ventures. With consistent, up-to-date content creation that appeals to your customer base, you can generate hype for your products and services while also improving sales. You can also cultivate brand loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and increase website traffic.
The key is to carefully consider the message you want to convey to prospective customers, then ensure that your email strategy makes a strong and lasting impression.
