It’s true, there are many things small businesses can’t afford. Advertising, at hundreds or thousands of dollars per inch for newspapers and magazines, is one of those unaffordable things. You might think that because you can’t afford print or radio advertising, you can’t afford advertising, period.
While it may be that you can’t afford traditional advertising, even if you don’t have a website you can take advantage of e-mail marketing to increase your revenue from existing customers, and even find new customers. The secret to making the most of e-mail marketing is simple: doing it well.
Creating a customer contact list can be as easy as putting a pad of paper next to your cash register. You can ask for as much demographic information as you like, but the less information you request, the more people will sign up. Most people will be willing to give you a name and e-mail address.
You’ll need to purchase a program that supports e-mail marketing in order to comply with spamming regulations. The program will allow anyone who has given you permission to send them e-mails to be entered into the program. Most will also include an e-mail designer with attractive color schemes and easy-to-use templates. This program will double as a way to manage your contact list. Web-based e-mail marketing programs are offered by most web hosting companies and are very inexpensive.
Once you’ve gotten your list started and you’re ready to start sending messages, follow these guidelines to make your efforts more successful:
Do: Tell customers why to sign up. Will they receive special discounts? Sale announcements? Special event invitations? Updates?
Do: Assure customers that you will not sell or share their contact information with third parties.
Do: Consider offering a “thank you” to customers who sign up. You can e-mail them a code for a free or discounted piece of merchandise, or something more personalized like a gift for visiting you during their birthday month. (Note: For this last option, be sure to ask for the customer’s birth month and day, but NOT the year, when they sign up.) Tell people about this incentive when they sign up, and this will encourage them to open the first e-mail they receive, which hopefully sets a pattern of interest in your e-mails and keeps you on customers’ safe lists.
Do: Tell customers your e-mail address so they can add it to their safe lists. Also, be sure to include a reply-to address in every message.
Do: Tell customers how often they will receive messages. (Never send more than one e-mail per week, unless the content is completely unique.)
Do: Keep your messages short (preferably under 300 words). Organize your messages in lists and short paragraphs, like a web page. Use formatting such as bold type and headings to help customers find the most important information quickly.
Do: Get right to the point in your writing. If you’re having a sale, don’t waste a paragraph introducing it. Remember, most people will scan your message rather than read it word for word. That said, be sure to include exceptions, expiration, special conditions, and other details of any offer you describe in an e-mail.
Do: Encourage your readers to forward the e-mail to friends who might be interested. Also, include an opt-in link so that people can remotely subscribe to your list. Your e-mail marketing program will help you with this.
Do: If you aren’t a good writer (be honest with yourself!), find someone else in your company to write your e-mails. If you have to, hire someone who can do the job well. If the writing is awkward, misspelled, or otherwise unprofessional, readers will be distracted from your message.
Equally as important as what to do is what not to do:
Don’t: Sell or share your customers’ contact information, under any circumstances.
Don’t: Include duplicate text in your messages, or customers will quickly stop reading or even opening your messages. Most people can recognize a quick “cut and paste” and they won’t appreciate it. If you just want to remind customers to visit your business but you don’t have a special event to advertise, consider running an e-mail promotion like a special discount. Don’t send a message unless you have something to offer.
Don’t: Paste articles or secondary source material into your messages. It just makes the message overly long. Instead, add a sentence or two and a hyperlink to the original source.