Email can get forgotten in the distraction of facebook, websites, instagram, sms, seo and so many other acronyms or services. Yet, email remains to be a very strong and affordable form of marketing.
How are you going to collect emails?
Are you going to collect emails from customers in your business? Many businesses do ask for email at the cash register, although this will slow down checkout and may cause some ill-feelings from some patrons.
I highly recommend having a sign-up on your website, but you need to be clear about what is being signed up for. Trust is easier to lose than gain, so if it is a newsletter or a weekly coupon, it needs to be clear, so they don’t “unsubscribe” after the first email.
If you are a restaurant or location that has customers use wifi from your location, you could consider our Pro Wi-Fi platform, which we are always happy to come talk to you about and answer any questions.
Which service to send?
Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc… There are many quality email campaign providers. For the extremely limited budget, I would recommend MailChimp as they have a free option, but it depends on volume and features you will need on which provider will work best.
To help, you could google “mailchimp vs constant contact” and compare. If you switch to images, you may find a easy graphic that makes the side by side easy.
If you do not want to choose, sign up for the free MailChimp and just start with that. As you see results, you may decide to look further into which provider will serve you best. Also, as technology changes, there may be a new competitor or a change in plan types that make the decision for you at that time.
What and how often will you send emails?
Planning what and how often you will send emails can save you a lot of time, headache and frustration moving forward.
If you are looking to do a newsletter, whether it contains a deal or not, it is customary to send these once per month.
Coupons and deals, tend to be better received with increased frequency, but it is still a good idea not to over send.
Cross promotion
One thing we recommend is to promote your social media presence or presences in your email. While email is a great communication method, encouraging followers to see daily specials and other social media posts, will allow you to engage with your customers more frequently.
Conclusion
Start email marketing, or at least begin to plan to begin. If you are not sure where to start, contact us for help.