With all of the new technology that exists in marketing nowadays, it’s easy to overlook one of the most effective marketing tools around: email. While many have passed email off as outdated and on its way out, an email marketing strategy is more important than ever – in fact, 76 percent of marketers say they use email more now than they did three years ago.

In honor of National Coffee Day, I’m drinking coffee and using words like “perks” in my blogging titles. I didn’t even know it was National Coffee Day until I opened my email this morning and saw subject lines with phrases like “Espresso Yourself” “15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee,” “6 Excuses to Drink Coffee Every Day of Your Life” and “Here’s Where to Score Free Coffee on National Coffee Day Today.” That got me thinking – the businesses that sent me emails know what they’re doing, or are working with an email marketing agency that knows what it's doing!

While I don’t have any free coffee for you I do have some free advice. Here are 4 P.E.R.Ks of working with an email marketing agency.

You know a thing or two about using search engine optimization (SEO) as part of your online marketing strategy to get more customers. With the help of an inbound marketing agency you’ve done keyword research and developed all kinds of materials to attract people to your small business – a good looking website, blog articles, eBooks, and social media posts – and you’re even getting people filling out the forms to actually get their hands on your material. But now that you have the SEO leads – people who have shown interest in what you’re offering - what should you do with them?

Have you checked your email yet today? Let me guess there were about a dozen or so spam emails that you didn’t want to have anything to do with. But why not? I am sure there were a few of those emails that could have been helpful, so where did these companies go wrong?

Most businesses understand the benefits of email marketing but know little about personalization of those emails, which is interesting because emails that are personalized generate 6 times higher transaction rates than those emails sent that aren’t personalized. Do I have your attention now? Let’s dive in and take a closer look.

Remember the good ‘ole days when companies used to only send snail mail to get your attention? Catalogs, coupons, and company newsletters galore would fill your mailbox, along with the daily bills, mountains of junk mail, and maybe a personal card or letter if you were special.

Having email marketing as a part of your internet marketing strategy can be very beneficial to you as a business. However, it can also be dangerous if you hire an email marketing agency that uses immoral business practices to get results.

Some people believe that email is dead. They think it has bit the dust and took its last breath. But this couldn’t be any further from the truth. Having an email marketing strategy is a great way to gain new customers but also to keep current customers. Keep on reading to learn more about the benefits of email marketing.

We get it, there is a lot of information on the internet that makes you question whether or not you are running your small business properly. Now you are questioning whether or not you need an email marketing strategy. Keep on reading to get the basics on how businesses can use consumers’ inboxes to increase awareness and gain more customers.

Sometimes your best just isn’t good enough when you’re trying to get new customers. That’s when you need some momentum to push you forward into the realm of closing customers before they lose interest and turn to your competitors. But how do you do this?

Maybe you think you're doing a really great job at this inbound marketing thing. You’re attracting people to your company website by blogging 3 times a week, actively posting on social media platforms, and you think your keyword strategy is accurate. You’ve even started converting some of your website visitors with your stellar calls-to-action that entice them to click and fill out the form to download the helpful content your staff has created. But then these leads seem to vanish into thin air and you’re left wondering how you can hold onto them and close them as customers. Keep reading to learn three key things that you should be doing.

Naturally, every single business owner would like to see more leads close and turn into customers. However, the reality is that it’s a tough feat nowadays with all of the options that consumers have. The way to close more leads and become a more successful small business full of passion and provision is to build trust and establish relationships by using an inbound marketing strategy.