“Should I be doing email marketing if my business is small?”
My answer to this question: Yes. Absolutely.
In my humble opinion, every business, regardless of size, industry, or annual revenue can benefit from email marketing.
I realize that as an email marketing strategist and consultant I am biased about this, but I stand by my statement.
Why?
3 Reasons Why Every Business Can Benefit From Email Marketing
Reason 1: Email Marketing Has the Highest ROI of Any Marketing Channel
According to a Forbes Advisor Article from July of 2026, “Email marketing ROI is generally $36 for every dollar spent.” The article then shares the chart below, showing that this varies by industry from $32 per $1 spent on email marketing, up to $45.
Regardless of your business type or industry, if you put money and effort into your email marketing, you will get money out of it.
I have worked with international corporations, global nonprofits, major marketing technology companies, in-demand speakers and educators, small businesses and solopreneurs in all sorts of industries from massage therapists and accountants to game designers and gardeners.
All of them, regardless of their size and annual revenue, successfully use email marketing to promote their businesses and create a steady stream of incoming and repeat customers for their businesses.
Reason 2: Email Marketing Cuts Through the Noise
Unlike social media or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, email marketing delivers a cleaner, more focused message because your readers want to hear from you.
As long as you are using ethical inbound email marketing methods of emailing people who have opted into your email list deliberately (i.e. not cold email/spam), everyone on your email list has said they’re interested in what you have to offer.
They are a warm audience who have raised their hands and said yes.
That same Forbes Advisor article states that
- 88% of people check their emails every day
- People are three times more likely to make purchases from email marketing than from social media
- 59% of people say that email marketing impacts their purchasing decisions
- 50% of people say they buy from a marketing email at least once a month
The people on your email list are listening. They want to know more. They’re checking their email and they’re getting ready to buy.
When done right, email marketing delivers sales consistently.
When done wrong, or not at all, you’re losing sales you could have had, if you’d actually followed up and given these people what they’re asking for.
Reason 3: Email Marketing Helps You Build a Relationship with Your Subscribers
Many businesses spend a huge amount of money and invest a ton of work getting new customers into their business. This may be in the form of a new lead or a first-time purchase.
Then they do nothing to continue that relationship. Nada. Zip. Zero.
That’s such a waste.
Email marketing helps you build on that relationship, by staying in contact with your subscribers regularly. It lets you help them find the right products or services for them.
When people join your email list, they usually know they have a problem they want to solve. Not all of them are ready to buy right away.
Some people need more information. Others may need a better understanding of how your company works and what you stand for. Still others may know they have a problem, but aren’t sure what will actually help them solve it, so they’re looking for options.
Email marketing lets you give your people all of those things, as each person needs them.
- Product or service specific sales sequences give people who are close to buying enough information to make their final decision.
- Weekly nurture emails share your company values and mission with your subscribers, as well as highlight how your products and services serve your customers.
- Welcome sequences can help new subscribers determine which of the solutions you have to offer will work best for them.
Then, once a subscriber has become a first-time customer, you can continue this relationship using exactly the same tools. That way, they stay with you and become a repeat customer.
By sharing who you are and what you believe with your subscribers, you welcome them into your community and make them part of something bigger.
They support your company’s mission and spread the word to their friends and family, helping to grow your business and achieve your goals.
That kind of support is priceless, and takes time to cultivate. Email marketing is one of the best methods to make that happen.
Now I know what you’re thinking…
“My Email List Is Too Small to Matter”
Your email list is never too small to matter.
Even when you’re just starting out, you’ve got three people on your email list and one of them is your mother. (My mother is still on my email list, BTW. That’s the two of us in the picture above.)
Just like every customer matters to your business, every email subscriber matters too.
They’re honest to goodness real human beings who signed up for your email list because they’re interested in what you’re doing and want to support you and your business.
You send nurture emails to your email list because these are all people who are asking for your help. Whatever business you’re in, these people believe that you have the solution to their problem.
So tell them about that solution. Commiserate with them about the problem and show them how you can help.
In turn, these people want to help you by buying your product or service, supporting your business monetarily, and by sharing their successes with their friends and loved ones.
They believe in what you’re doing. They support your mission and they want to help you, just like you want to help them.
Every business starts small. Your original subscribers will be proud to say, “I knew her when she just started” to everyone who joins your community when your business is a huge success.
I talk about this in depth in Issue #45.
“I Don’t Want to Come Across as Pushy or Salesy”
“Many of my customers and email subscribers are my personal friends and selling to them feels wrong.”
Your friends want to support you. They believe in what you’re doing and they want you to be successful.
What’s more, everyone on your email list is there because they feel the same way.
What you’re doing resonates with them, whether it’s the solution you offer to the problem they have, or it’s the mission you’ve set out to achieve with your business.
I’ll also give you a Very Important Writing Tip here: Every email you write should feel like you’re writing it to your best friend. It doesn’t have to be “salesy” or pushy. It can just be you, honestly sharing how your product or service can help your friend.
It’s also a lot easier to write when you use this frame of mind. You don’t have to think about all the “tactics” and “tricks” marketers recommend you use to “make the sale.” You can just say, “Hey, I’m sorry that you’re going through this right now. Maybe this will help.”
“I Don’t Have the Tech Skills to Set Up My Email Marketing Properly?
This is where I get to model exactly what I just told you to do when writing to your best friend…
I’m really sorry that a lot of email platforms are confusing and don’t come with great instructions.
I’m also sorry that it can be overwhelming to try to wade through the entire process by yourself.
Especially when you don’t understand the mechanics of email marketing automation, you don’t know whether what you’ve written is “any good” and you don’t like selling very much.
I get it. A lot of these systems are sold as “easy to use” but really aren’t.
And figuring out how to write an email welcome sequence, then automating the whole thing, is just daunting. It’s the main reason a lot of small businesses never get a lead generation funnel up and running to grow their email lists.
You too, huh?
Maybe this will help…
I offer a monthly Done-With-You Funnel building service where I help you build your own lead generation funnel, step-by-step.
You do the actual building part, the writing, the automation, the connecting everything together. That way, you know how it all works and you can do it again in the future.
I help you determine your email marketing strategy, so it fits your business and appeals to your ideal customers.
I give you feedback on everything from the emails and landing pages you write, to the way you automate your system.
And I keep you accountable for getting the work done every week, until your funnel is built.
Then we stress test your funnel together, to make sure it’s working properly before you launch.
You get a fully-functioning lead generation funnel, and the skills to build more of them in the future. You also get expert guidance on the strategy and messaging in your lead magnet, follow-up emails, sales pages, and more.
Most importantly, you get a thinking partner who can ask the right questions, so you can turn your ideas into compelling language that will resonate with your ideal customers.
That way, you can grow your email list and welcome new members into your community who want to support your business and your mission.
And it’s a lot cheaper than having me build it for you.
Find out more about my Done-With-You Funnels service and book a call to see if this is the right path for you.
Then, you’ll be able to harness the power of email marketing for your business too.
I look forward to talking with you about your business and how I can help, very soon.
Finally, today’s pictures (besides the one of me and my mother) are from a recent trip to the beach here in Ventura. The first bird pic is of two Willets and a Curlew strolling along the beach. The one below is a flock of Terns.
To everything… (Why yes, I did just make a silly bird joke.)
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