Is your small business embarking on an email marketing campaign but has questions on precisely how to handle it?
These five tips can really help you get a handle on the campaign and steer it in the right direction. Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated when you understand the concept.
Always remember to:
Keep it Friendly and Gender-Neutral
Unless you have a women-only list (for example) or a business truly specific to one sex, always keep your emails gender-neutral. Nothing is going to rile Bob up more than being called Ma’am. You should also remember to be friendly, a little less formal, with these type of campaigns. Remember they gave you their information, it isn’t a “cold call”. However, there is the line between being friendly and being inappropriate. Keep the jokes and anything that may be misinterpreted out.
Don’t Email Just to Email
Unless you have something direct to say, don’t just email them to be emailing them. Your customers are busy and only want to hear from you when you have something that is going to benefit them. Having a sale? Great idea for an email. Just wanting to say hi because it is Spring? Not a good idea for an email. Convey your message well, give your customers a benefit, and say it succinctly.
Have Them Opt-In, Don’t Spam
Make sure you are only sending emails to customers that have specifically opted-in to your messages. If you know you have a great customer in Joe Young, don’t send an email to every version of that name to hope that “one is him”. That leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Get their permission, make sure they know what to expect and the frequency that you’d email, and keep it at that. Don’t tell them one a month if you are sending out one every other day, that is a sure way to get your customers to hit the “unsubscribe” button.
Brand it Right
Don’t have an email campaign where your topics and range jump all around. Your emails should be templated in your company’s colors and logo, easy to distinguish, and in line with your business. Don’t send how to lose weight tips to those signed up for your pet store email campaign.
Go Mobile
Lastly, make sure your emails are easily viewable on mobile devices. A stunning 63 percent of people will delete an email they can’t read on their phone. Do you really want to have those odds? Maximize your success with easily scannable emails (meaning bullet lists and text that is broken up into subheads, not walls of text no one reads) that are easily read on any smartphone.
Email marketing campaigns can be an easy way to drive business into the store and increase your profit margin. Don’t think your business is too small to start email marketing; the best time to start one is while your business is still growing.