The Email You're Not Sending Is Costing You Money

Most business owners know email marketing matters.

So why are so many still avoiding it?

In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, Kendra shares two recent conversations with business owners from completely different industries who were facing the exact same challenge: email marketing. One business wasn't sending emails at all because they were worried about annoying customers. The other, a multi-million-dollar company with a long sales cycle, viewed email continuity as one of their most important marketing priorities.

The lesson? Whether your customers buy every few weeks or every few years, staying top of mind matters.

Kendra breaks down the biggest misconceptions business owners have about email marketing, why open rates aren't the whole story, and how simply showing up consistently can make a significant difference in your growth.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels available

• The real purpose of email marketing beyond clicks and conversions

• Why fear of being annoying is holding many businesses back

• How staying visible helps customers remember and choose you

• A simple action step you can take this week to reconnect with your audience

If you've been putting off sending emails because you don't know what to write, you're worried about bothering people, or you're waiting for the "perfect" message, this episode is for you.

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Transcript

Welcome To Imperfect Marketing

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Kendrick Corman. If you're a coach, consultant, or marketer, you know marketing is far from a perfect science. And that's why this show is called Imperfect Marketing. Join me and my guests as we explore how to grow your business with marketing tips and, of course, lessons learned along the way. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing. I'm your host, Kendra Corman. And before we get into today's episode, I have some really, really fun news to share with you. We are recording in a new space called The Click. The Click is the new digital marketing lab here at Rochester Christian University, and it is the new home of Imperfect Marketing. Super excited. The Click is presented by Chief Financial Credit Union, and I am super excited to have access to this amazing studio. Best part, the studio is available for rent to the public. So if you're local or you're traveling through or

A New Studio Called The Click

SPEAKER_00 0:58

you just want to check it out, reach out to me. I would love to show it to you. It is a really fun space. Okay, now quick heads up because next week's episode is going to be in my old studio because I batch record my episodes. So you're going to be seeing that office set up for a couple more episodes if you're watching on YouTube. And that's going to happen before we fully transition over. This one got recorded sort of in between the releases. So just know the new setup is coming and you're going to be seeing it a lot more often. So now let's go on to today's episode. I had two conversations recently with business owners that could not be more different. Right? They're different industries, different revenue levels, different customers, completely different sales cycles. And somehow both conversations landed on the exact same problem. Email, right? Or more specifically, the emails that they aren't sending or are terrified of stopping. So today we're going to talk about why email marketing is still one of the most underused tools for growth, why business

The Hidden Cost Of Not Emailing

SPEAKER_00 1:59

owners resist it so hard, and what it's actually costing you when you don't send. So let's get to it. The first conversation was with a prospect who reached out because they wanted to hire a marketing firm to help them grow. On paper, they're doing everything right. They've been in business almost a decade. They have great service. Their SEO is fantastic. They're getting business off of Google Search. They're even getting business off of TikTok. When people find them, they're converting. So I asked the obvious question if all of this is working, why do you feel like you're not growing?

Seasonal Businesses Need Reminders

SPEAKER_00 2:34

And we started to go through the list of what they're doing. SEO, check. Social, check, website, check. Then I asked, what are you doing for email marketing? And it was crickets. Nothing. Not a newsletter, not a promotion, not a hey, remember us kind of email, nothing going out to past customers. Now we're going to change the names here to protect the guilty or the innocent, depending on how you want to look at it. And let's just say they're a florist, right? Something seasonal, something people don't buy all the time. But when they need it, they really need it. Think birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, sympathy flowers, weddings, every single one of those is a reason someone might need a florist again, but probably not for weeks or months after the last time they bought. And here's where I'm going to go pick on myself for a second because I am the customer just like this. I love them. I love what they do. They do a fantastic job. I've told other people about them. And when they when I needed their service again recently, do you know who I thought of first? Yeah, not them. Because I never, they never reached out to me. They never sent a hey thinking of you. Here's what's coming up this season. Nothing. Out of sight, out of mind. And that's the problem. They're relying on me to remember that they did a good job last time and that I should come back. I don't remember what I did yesterday sometimes. Nothing they're doing is reminding me about that. Absolutely nothing. So here's my question for you. How many of your past customers are out there right now needing exactly what you sell, provide, do, right? And they're buying it from someone else simply because that someone else showed up in their inbox. The numbers probably bigger than you want to admit. Now, when I brought up email with this prospect, I got the response that I get, I would say, almost every single time I have this conversation. And I want you to listen closely because I'm betting some of you have said this with your outside voices too. Oh, I get so much email, I delete most of it. I don't want to be that person sending it to people. Sound familiar? Here's what I said back. Okay. When you delete those emails, did you see the name of the person that sent them to you? Do you sometimes open some of them? And the answer every single time is yes. And I go, Great, because that's the whole point. Now, because like here's what happens with most business owners, right? And they don't understand about email marketing. You're not trying to get every person to open every email, right? You're not trying to get every person to reply. You're not trying to get every person to click. Those are nice, right? We measure those things, but that's not the actual win. The actual win is when I see your name in my inbox, I remember that you exist. That's it. That is the job of most of your emails. Keep you top of mind so that when the need shows up, I think of you first. Here's the alternative, right? Hope. Hoping I remember you did a good job. Hoping that I wrote your name down somewhere I can find it. Hoping that I don't Google florist near me and pick whomever shows up first. Hope is not a marketing strategy. I'm gonna say this again. It is not a strategy. And here's the other piece I want to unpack because this is where a lot of people get stuck. I don't want to be annoying. I hear this so much. I don't want to send spam, right? Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you unsubscribed from a business you genuinely liked just because they emailed you? It's probably pretty rare, right? People unsubscribe when the emails are bad, not when the emails exist. So the question isn't, am I going to annoy people by sending? The question is, am I sending something worth landing in the inbox? Those are two very different problems. And only one of them is a reason not to send. If you're not sending because you don't know what to write, that's fixable. Don't have a good offer, that's fixable. If you're not sending because you're scared, we have to work on that because you're leaving real money on the table. Now, I want to tell you about the second conversation because this is where it gets really interesting. So I have a client that's coming back to work with me. Their revenues are in the millions. Yes, M millions. They're a B2B company. So business to business, not business to consumer. Their sales cycle is long, like really, really long months to years. Because what they sell is a big purchase. We're not talking about a bouquet of flowers. We're talking about a decision that takes months, sometimes

A Nine Figure Company Protects Email

SPEAKER_00 7:08

longer, and is life-changing. Their marketing person gave notice. And when they reached out to me, you know what their number one concern was? Not their website, not their Legion, not their ads. They didn't want their emails to stop going out. I want you to sit with that for a second. This is a nine-figure business, long sales cycles, big ticket purchases, business to business. And the thing that keeps them up at night is email continuity. Meanwhile, I have a similar seasonal business-to-consumer company telling me that they don't want to send emails because they're worried about being annoying. Two businesses, completely different industries, completely different customers, completely different price points, completely different sales cycle. Same underlying truth. Whether your sales cycle is two weeks or two years, staying top of mind is how you win when the moment comes. The big company knows it, they're protecting it. The smaller company is resisting it and it's actively costing them growth. What does that tell you? It tells me that the businesses that really understand how buying works do not treat email as optional. They treat it as the thing that keeps the pipeline warm between all the other touches. Now I want to leave you with one more reframe and then we'll wrap. Every email you send in an event-based business or seasonal business or really any business shouldn't be trying, should be trying to bring in money, right? Not every email is going to, I want to be very clear about that. Not every email is going to convert. Not every email will drive a sale. But that should be the intent behind what you're sending. The reframe actually takes the guilt away because if you're sending with a purpose, you're

The Reframe That Removes The Guilt

SPEAKER_00 8:47

not spamming anyone. You're doing your job. You're running a business. You're reminding the people who already know, like, and trust you that you exist and that you can help them. There's nothing wrong with that. So here's what I want you to do this week. Okay. And I'm going to make it as simple as humanly possible. Send an email. That's it. That's the whole action step. I want you to pull up your email list. If you don't have one in a pop or platform yet, pull up a spreadsheet of your past customers, 20 people, 50 people. Whatever you've got, write something useful, something seasonal, something that reminds them that you're here and hit send. Don't overthink the subject line. Don't rewrite it 14

One Simple Action Step: Hit Send

SPEAKER_00 9:28

times. Don't wait until you have the perfect template. Just send. And then I want you to ask yourself the question that I've been asking my prospects, right? And sometimes myself. What was actually stopping you? Was it your own perception that the emails aren't any good? Was it a fear of being annoying? Was it that you don't know what to say? I really want to hear from you on this one because I think that's where so many small and mid-sized businesses are leaving growth on the table, right? If this episode hit a nerve, reply to one of my emails. Yes, I practice what I preach and send emails, or send me a message, DM me, let me know what's been holding you back. That's it for this perfect episode of Imperfect Marketing. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. If you found this useful, share with a business owner who needs to hear it and go send that email that you've been putting off. And if you're ever in the area, Metro Detroit, and want to check out The Click, our new studio at Rochester Christian University, presented by Chief Financial Credit Union, reach out because I would love to show you around.