Did you know that 81% of small business owners rely on email for customer acquisition, and 80% for retention? Additionally, the average expected ROI is $40 for every $1 you spend on email marketing
How should you use email marketing to grow your business? Check out these 5 email marketing tips & tools to help you promote your local business:
Build Your List
If you are just getting started with email marketing, the first step is to build an audience. Your current customers are a great place to start – but focus on other ways to build your list.
- Add sign-up links on your website and social media – or launch a blog and add a sign-up link for an enewsletter.
- Capture emails at checkout at your physical store location or your online checkout page.
- Cross-reference your marketing initiatives! Post a sign-up link for your email newsletter in your social media – and link to blog or social posts in your email newsletter.
- Email new movers in your community. 90% of new movers are willing to try a new brand and are 5X more likely to become long-term customers if you reach them first – Porch Group Media New Mover Trends Report
Include Email Content That is Valuable for your Customers
Try a variety of email campaign messages, depending on your customers and your objectives.
Consider sending a monthly newsletter to share an assortment of news and updates. Get creative and try different approaches to see what resonates best with your customers.
Looking for ideas for your newsletter? Try the following:
- Give updates on your products and services.
- Promote current specials and offers.
- List your business hours, physical location, website, and social media links.
- Feature an employee of the month.
- Share stories about current good works and outreach your business may be doing in the community.
- Provide a link to a downloadable brochure/toolkit that will provide useful information or solve a problem for your customer.
- Host a contest and post the results in the next email newsletter.
Personalize Your Outreach
Consumers love a brand that shows they care about them and one of the best ways to do this is through personalization. Use the data you have on your subscribers such as name, hometown, etc. and insert it in an email. Most email programs allow for these personalization fields to be added to your email templates as a merge field.
Consider greeting your subscribers by their first name in the body of the email or subject line. Or collect information on their birthdays on your subscriber forms so you can send them a personalized offer during their birthday month.
Check out these statistics on the power of personalization:
- 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. – Epsilon
- 90% of U.S. consumers find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing. –
72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging. – SmarterHQ
Be Mobile-Friendly!
According to Hubspot, 49% of emails are opened on mobile devices s be sure to use responsive email templates that render correctly on mobile devices. Additionally:
- Subject lines need to be shorter to avoid being cut off on mobile. Always test your emails to see what works for you – but 41 characters/7 words had the most success in a recent study. –
- Use Preheader text in your email template so your customer can preview the message – this can drive engagement even if the email is not opened.
- Ensure your email message comes thru even if images are blocked. Include text in the body of your email – avoid image only emails.
- Mobile users are busy, so keep Call-to-Action buttons near the top of the email and leave enough white space around Call-to-Action buttons to make them easy to access and click.
- Send a test email to yourself and view on different email clients (Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, etc.) and different devices – including mobile – to review how they are displaying.
Segment Your Audience
Audience segmentation allows you to tailor your emails to better match your audiences based on their specific needs and preferences.
- Divide your email list into segments by interest type, purchase type, geography, demographics, etc. Send targeted messages to each group.
- Create a Pre and New Mover Segment. Get your customer list analyzed through MoverMatch ™ to flag recent movers. New movers are more likely to make a purchase and spend $11,000 per move – Porch Group Media.
Interested to learn how Welcomes Wagon can help you promote your brand in your local community?
