Which Comes First? The Chicken & Egg Email Syndrome for New Entrepreneurs
I recently had the pleasure of teaching a marketing workshop to aspiring entrepreneurs and new business owners. We got into the topic of email marketing. A common hesitation came up that leaves business startups stuck in their tracks when it comes to email marketing. I call it the Chicken and Egg Syndrome.
Consider these scenarios:
Business Owner 1: I know I should do email marketing, but I don’t have a list yet, so it’s not a priority.
Business Owner 2: I know I should collect contact information and start an email list, but I don’t have an email service provider (ESP) set up to send marketing emails, so why collect addresses now?
Does a list come first? Does an email program and system come first?
The answer is: it doesn’t matter. Just get started. Email marketing and collecting email addresses should be a priority, yesterday.
Why? Because study after study has shown email is the highest return on investment for digital marketing spend. The latest figures show anywhere from 38-44% ROI. Why wouldn’t you want to get that kind of return?
Yet many small business owners freeze over the uncertainty of how to get started. Fast forward three years for our entrepreneurs. I know so many small business owners who are in business, trudging along and still waiting for the chicken or the egg to show up and get them moving. When they hear that 38% figure again, their jaws drop. “I knew I should’ve been doing this, but somehow I just never got started.”
From day one that you have your business, start with something.
Take 3 small steps so that you have an inkling:
Get a professional email address. Don’t use your personal gmail or yahoo account. Create an email address using your website’s domain name: you@yourbusinessname.com or customerservice@yourbusinessname.com are good examples.
Get an email service provider. There are programs that are very affordable or even free until you’ve built your list into the thousands. Set it up and, at the very least, put a welcome email in place for new subscribers.
Start collecting a list. Put a signup anywhere: at your cash register, your event registration desk, or on your social media page.
Just starting with these small steps can help keep you from getting frozen in your tracks by the chicken and egg question. Then you can build.
We can help. For help getting started contact ideas@peakmarketingcommunications.com.