Before Markitors morphed into an SEO company, we completed 100+ Mailchimp projects for companies in 8 countries on 4 continents. 

We learned a thing or two along the way about how small businesses can utilize Mailchimp. 

The great thing about MailChimp is that small businesses can get a great email marketing tool for free! MailChimp’s basic plan – which is used by the majority of customers – lets a company send up to 10,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers per month, which tends to be enough for most small businesses. We gathered advice from MailChimp’s experts on the best ways small businesses can leverage this tool.

Here are 7 ways small businesses can utilize MailChimp:

Build your list.

The best thing small businesses can do is to start building their list of subscribers. Even if customers bought from a physical store, ask for their email address! Being able to promote your business to people who have already bought your products is a great way to start because you know they are already interested in what you have to offer.

Do your research.

Start by studying tutorials and how-to videos. You’re already reading this article, which is a great start! Check out other small businesses to see what they’re doing right, and incorporate those elements into your own emails.

Have a sign-up form.

Having a sign-up form for visitors to join your mailing list is an absolute must for your website. The experts recommend giving an incentive like a small discount off the first order as a reward for signing up to help increase conversion rates.

Make it clear.

What are you trying to accomplish with your message? Identify the outcome you want and craft your content around it. Include a clear and compelling call to action.

Drag and drop.

MailChimp has a wonderful drag-and-drop editor that makes building mobile-optimized campaigns extremely easy. This tool is pretty intuitive and helps you design consistent, effective emails. Since it’s such a widely used platform, there are a number of integrations included. This makes it easy for small businesses using outside CRM tools like Salesforce to set up integrated automation.

Personalize it.

Personalizing your email builds a sense of trust with your consumer, and the experts agree that personalization helps increase engagement. Personalize your email’s subject line and body text to include the recipient’s name.

Track your performance.

A great perk of email marketing is the analysis that comes with it. MailChimp offers reporting tools with lots of valuable information like graphs, maps, and trends to help improve your future campaigns. Use these tools to fine-tune all aspects of your email marketing.

How will your small business utilize Mailchimp? If you need some help, Westfield Creative has got you covered. 

Brett Farmiloe is the Founder & CEO of Markitors, a digital marketing company for small business. Brett is a former auditor turned marketer, and offers a free SEO audit to any small business looking to better optimize their website online.