For small and local businesses just like yours, email marketing is still the most effective way to reach and engage your customers. For one thing, its inexpensive to get started, and most people read their email every day. Email also allows you to make a more personal connection with your customers. If you’re not using email marketing for your small or local business or you’ve let it go by the wayside, here are 10 reasons why email marketing should definitely be in your toolkit.
You Own the List
This is a biggie and a key advantage of email marketing. Your customers are signing up with you and your business. On social media sites they can like your page, but it’s not quite as personal. With email marketing, you don’t share the list with other businesses and can use it in whichever way you want (be sure you comply with applicable regulations regarding sending mass emails).
Email is More Personal and Private
Your communication with your customers is very personal. A customer signing up for your email list is more private as opposed to following your social profiles. Email marketing also gives your local or small business the option to target your email audience and personalize your message. You can even make personalized offers to different customers which is great to deepen the connection even more.
Email Brings Customers Back to Your Business
When your customers first sign up for your list, they also give you permission to contact them. This is their way of telling you that they are interested in your business, product, or service. The truth is, consumers do want to hear from local and small businesses in their area.
They want to:
- Find out what’s new with your business
- Take advantage of coupons or other promotions you have on offer
- Participate in events either at your business or that your local business is a part of that aligns with their interests
Connecting with your customers via email is a great way to win back customers and gain some new ones in the process.
Email Can Help Extend Your Social Reach
Your list can be a powerful asset for your social media reach and brand awareness. You can upload it to Facebook to invite your customers to like and follow you on Facebook. This helps grow your social reach and you can encourage them to share or like your posts to your page. You can also use your mailing list to build audiences for paid advertising on Facebook
You Can Reach More Customers on Desktop and Mobile
Once upon a time you had to create campaigns for mobile and desktop separately. You don’t need a separate mobile campaign to reach your customers on their phones anymore. More than 60% of emails are now viewed on mobile devices and all email tools optimize for mobile phones.
You Can Measure Email Performance
When you use an email marketing platform you also get access to very detailed reports—for example how many recipients you emailed, how many of them opened your message, find out how many of them clicked on links or your calls to action (CTA) in your email and so on. When you have this information, you are more informed about how to proceed with your marketing efforts and you learn which types of messages work and can refine your email marketing process to get better engagement.
People Check Their Email – Several Times a Day
We all know that email has been around for ages, but even now it is still highly popular. We all check our email, and a great majority of us several times a day. That means your customer is doing the same thing, whether its an email from their boss or they’re just browsing their phones while waiting in line. Take advantage of this and capture their attention, be where your customer is, and where they are on their phones checking their email.
Email Strengthens Your Brand
Email allows you to leverage the opportunity for your local or small business audience to get to know your business more. Every time you send out a message is a chance to create familiarity with your business. The more familiar your local audience is with your business the more likely they are to engage. Show as much as you can about your business, not just promotions. Tell your story, share your expertise, share your business values, it all helps to create familiarity with your local or small business.
You Can Make Your Emails Visual
Gone are the days when email was just plain text. Consumers are very visual and your emails should be too. Your email, like all good marketing emails, will have visual elements like
- A branded header and footer usually with your logo and/or brand colors,
- Appealing images to capture attention (however you want a balance of images and text)
- Call to action buttons (people are drawn to buttons, so use them appropriately).
Consumers really appreciate and engage with attractive content from businesses that are visually appealing and whenever possible, personalized.
Conclusion
Email is a tried and true marketing strategy that is still very viable today, and local and small businesses can benefit tremendously by using email marketing. If you’re not using email to market your local or small business, now is the time to start.
