Email Marketing: Friend or Foe to Business?

Posted by Sarah Martisek

I bought my mother a sweater this Christmas from a company which will remain nameless and I have thought of them every day since. Why, you may ask? Once a day I receive an email from this specific company among my other general daily emails. Every day I physically read the headline and then click to delete but even though I am deleting that company is still sending a visible daily reminder to me that I have to take action on to remove.

So the question is, why do people still sign up for these and how do they benefit the consumer and the business?

Email is King

If you are a social media member of society, you know that you can see thousands of posts a day! If you also use email, you may receive a total of 100 emails in a day. The proof is in the pudding – having your content be one of 100 messages will give you a much better chance of being read and seen than being one of 1000 scrolled through on a social media site. The majority of people own an email account and check it daily, making email an easy and FREE way to directly speak to your consumers and demographics.

Did you know you do NOT own any of your social media accounts?

If Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all closed their sites and platforms tomorrow, your photos, comments, advertisements and human connects would all be deleted without any chance of recovery. However, when you start to build an email list internally you grow an “address book” of consumers and friends of the business. Many people keep their email address for years and years where as they will often switch which social media site they frequent depending on trends and popularity.

When should I start?

Now. Last week. A YEAR AGO! You should have started yesterday, but if you haven’t jumped on the email list train then start right now! Every interaction with a customer without politely asking for an email address is a wasted opportunity for follow-up marketing. Your customer will not be offended that you would like to share tips, coupons, and offers and can always decline your invitation to join the email list.

How do I make sure I live up to the expectations?

The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” should be the mindset when sending emails to your consumers. If you received a monthly email, what would you like to see? What would pique your interest, draw you into reading emailed content and make you believe that business has your best interest in mind? A few ideas:

Exclusive coupons to save money on goods and services
Articles of interest
- I am a firm believer that these can have NOTHING to do directly with your business, a laugh is a laugh and if it is something you think a consumer would enjoy and remember then add it! Maybe they will pass it on to a friend!
- Updates about your community or business
  - Community events
  - New additions to goods, services, staff, community involvement, business achievements and if you would like to share, personal achievements!

How do I begin?

If you are lucky enough to have someone or a service that offers to maintain this list and the emails for you then you should utilize that and PROMOTE IT! While your account manager can maintain a list, place signs in the right places to gain the most attention and help with ideas, only you personally know and interact with your customer. With this relationship you can suggest a funny article that made you smile, brag about the business achievements and hint that you will have a booth at the charity event. Ask your account manager to include these in your email. Make sure to work with your email manager and keep an open conversation about your topics! BE INVOLVED!

The best time to suggest an email is at your point of sale. For example:

“Thank you for your business, we appreciate it. Would you be willing to share your email for our monthly newsletter that has exclusive savings, tips and updates about our business and community?”

The benefit of an email list is that it provides many advantages and opportunities to increase your business on such a personalized level so make sure you are making the most of this opportunity today!

If you have any questions contact your account manager!