In today's day and age, there are a number of ways to get in touch with your customers. As a business owner or marketer, you need to know how to utilize these communication methods to your advantage. But if you want to be able to reach your target audience effectively, there's no denying that email marketing is still the top choice.
For years, marketers have used email as a way to engage with their target audience. The main reason behind this is because they are able to generate leads at a reasonable price. You can convert more leads when you follow a strategic approach to your email marketing efforts.
But how can you use email to generate leads for your business? Before coming up with an email marketing strategy, it's best to discuss its significance to any business. 
Why Should You Have An Email Lead Generation Strategy?
Even though email marketing does not cost a lot of money, it can make or break your strategy. This is why you need to make sure that your efforts pay off in the end. You’ll need to have a plan so that you’re able to target the right people and convert them into leads.
Unfortunately, you also need to know that not all of your leads will convert into a paying customer. Some of the leads you generate may never spend a single cent on your business. Despite this, you need to know that lead generation is a numbers game.
Even if you gain an average conversion rate of 5 percent sales from the 500 leads on your email database, it still means that you have converted 25 people into customers. But what if you had 10,000 leads? With the same conversion rate, that means you’ll sell to 500 people. Not too shabby!
1. Come Up With An Email Mailing List
Any successful email marketing campaign usually begins with an empty mailing list. It’s an opportunity for you to reach out to individuals who would possibly be interested in what you have to offer.
The best way to start building a mailing list is to invite the ones who are close to you. The trick here is to avoid being too pushy about asking for their contact information. You want to make sure that you make them feel comfortable and actually have something to offer that will help solve their problems.
2. Be Genuine In Your Approach
There are many who recommend personalizing your emails by addressing your audience by their first names. Unfortunately, this might not always be the best approach since it might make your email sound fake or awkward. Instead, make sure to send them something that is tailored to their interests and needs.
The good news is there are tools that you can use to personalize the emails that you deliver to your recipients.
3. Figure Out The Best Time To Send Your Emails
When it comes to figuring out what the best time is to send out your emails, there are plenty of statistics out there that will give you useful information. But it's important to do some testing and figure out what works best for you subscribers.
The biggest issue with these statistics is that they are often being read by other marketers. And if these marketers start to implement the same times into their own strategies, recipients could end up feeling bombarded by emails—all hitting at the same exact times. Take the unconventional route and see what schedule works best for your recipients.
4. Write Content That Gets Results
When you're reaching out to your recipients via email, you have to remember to keep things short and to the point. There is no room for fluff and wordiness in your email marketing strategy. Be upfront with your purpose and let your reader relate to this purpose. Email can be a good medium to use for lead generation, but only if it is used properly.
5. Think Of Your Users Reading From A Mobile Device
A recent study shows that over 60 percent of emails are opened or read on mobile devices. These individuals are always on the go and do not have time to access their emails on a desktop computer. As such, they open the emails they receive, immediately deleting those they are not interested in or that don’t render properly across a mobile device.
Because of this, you have to make sure that the emails you send out have been optimized for mobile devices. Most smartphones nowadays have a small screen, which is why you need to follow a format that works on both mobile and desktop computers.
6. Have A Striking Subject Line
Since most users are on the go, you need to make sure that you’re writing subject lines that break through the clutter and catch their attention. Even if you wrote the perfect email for your audience, it won't work if they decide to junk the message before the email is even opened.
Make sure to have an intriguing subject line that appeals to your audience right when they need it. This way, you can pique their interest enough to open the email you send out.
Wrap Up
These are just six tips on how you can use email marketing for lead generation. You can follow these tips as a guide to reach your target audience. 
Ash Salleh is the Director of SEO at Campaign Monitor, where he works closely with content, copy, and analytics teams to improve site-wide optimization. Prior to his time at Campaign Monitor, he also provided SEO and digital marketing expertise at Zappos and Axiata Digital. You can find him on Gravatar.
