Small Business Email Marketing
In Tuesday’s USA Today there is an interesting article about Virtual Response, one of the third party email transmission services we use. One of the main things that I took away from it is that most businesses still do not use email to keep their customers informed. As a matter of fact, they estimate that only 4% of small businesses use email marketing. It is no secret that we are huge fans of email marketing for small businesses. It is cost effective, easy to use and environmentally friendly. But we have heard from several businesses that they don’t know why or how they would use email marketing, so we put together some scenarios. See if any of these makes sense for your business.
Neighborhood Restaurant: Restaurants rely so much on repeat business. An email marketing campaign would be deployed to keep customers coming back and recommending the restaurant to their friends. We would collect email addresses in store through a free giveaway; drop your business card in the bowl for a chance to win a free lunch. The winner would be announced every week on Monday through an email newsletter to everyone who dropped their business card. The email would also include the weekly specials, any upcoming events and coupons designed to push traffic at slow times of the day. It could provide news and hours as well as contact information. Who wouldn’t want an email like that from their favorite restaurant?
Lawyers Office: Lawyers could use email marketing to stay top of mind with their clients and provide relevant news. For professionals like lawyers, accountants or doctors we recommend an informative newsletter that educates the consumers about industry news and changes. These are used to establish the firm or practice as the ultimate authority in the field. We would only send out about one per month with a general interest article, news about the firm and any upcoming events, like tax season, that clients need to consider.
Mechanic’s Shop: No self respecting mechanic would market through email, right? Well we can think of several ways a mechanic or other service professional could use email to improve their business. Any business that is seasonal at all can use email marketing to push services and remind customers of needs. Just before it gets warm a mechanic could let all his customers know about a special on air conditioning inspection and service. Just as it got cold he could run a special on batteries and offer free testing. Email can also be used to drive traffic to more profitable areas of the business or to let customers know about new services.
Realtors: Many Realtors already use email marketing and the Realtors who don’t should. It is a cost effective way to deliver market information and news to a wide range of audience. Any business that has a long product cycle can benefit tthrough staying top of mind with customers. If the clients thought the Realtor did a god job when she sold them a house they should be more likely to trust her when the are ready to sell. Staying in touch with an email newsletter every couple of months that is filled with market news and information will keep her in their thoughts and position her as the expert in the field.
Vacation Homes: Many people have a second or investment home that they rent out through sites like Vacation Rental by Owner. These homeowners would be wise to collect email addresses from everyone who stays at the house and keep in touch with a monthly email newsletter. The newsletter can highlight specials on weeks, show vacationers pictures and remind people of the great time they had at the house. This makes it more likely the client will come back the next time they are going on vacation.
Neighborhood Associations: Many neighborhood associations have no idea how to share important information with homeowners. Mail is too expensive, nobody wants to print and hand deliver 200 newsletters. Why not get everybody on board with email? With the click of a button the association can let everybody know about neighborhood news and events at a very low cost.
These are just some examples of people that we have worked with or ideas we have pitched in the past. The key to every successful email campaign is to deliver relevant useful information to people who want it. You don’t want to send out emails every day or with no information. This will antagonize your customers make them think less of your business. Its important that the emails look good and that they are professionally written. Make it easy for them to unsubscribe. Watch how many people open the email and how many click through to the website to make decisions on future emails. This is a much different idea than SPAM or direct mail marketing through email. That has its place, but we have found email to be most effective when used to increase repeat and referral business. We are happy to share ideas with you on email marketing for small businesses, just give us a shout.