If you run a small business, you might be wondering how email marketing can benefit you. Many small business owners are under the misconception that email marketing is only successful for big businesses that already have large customer bases. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Email provides an excellent marketing method for smaller business. It’s affordable, highly personal and can help build strong and long lasting customer relationships. You can even use some of the email marketing techniques that big businesses use, and make them work for your small business. Here are some ideas:
Welcome Emails
Welcome emails provide a great way to establish a relationship with your customers. While it’s a common technique used by big businesses, welcome emails are equally as valuable for small businesses. They give you a chance to let your new customers know about everything your business does, show them what sets your apart from the competition, and give them that personal touch that small businesses are known for.
This example, from Mint Velvet, shows everything a welcome email should contain. Its friendly tone attempts to build a relationship with the customer. The body of the email contains everything a new customer would be interested in, including a store finder and customer service information:
New Arrivals
As well as building relationships with your customers, emails can also be used to give your sales a boost. By using email to let your customers know about the products or services that you offer, they will soon get a clear picture of what your business does, and will start to see how valuable you are.
While, technically, any promotional email could give you a sales boost, there are some that are more effective than others. New arrivals emails are particularly effective. They help keep customers interested in your company by showing them that you’re constantly changing, and they help spread the word about your new products. They can also build excitement and anticipation in your customers, pushing them a little closer towards making a purchase.
Apple are particularly good at building anticipation with their new arrival emails. This email also lets their customers know clearly how they can get their hands on their new product:
Spread Your Knowledge
Sometimes, customers can be reluctant to shop with small businesses because they feel that they don’t have the authority that larger businesses have. With email marketing, you can establish you authority in your particular field, inspiring more confidence in your customers. Emails containing tips or ‘how to’ guides can be particularly effective at achieving this. Emails like this that contain valuable, useful information are more likely to be shared, further expanding your customer base.
An email establishing your authority isn’t complicated. It should just contain a few tips that are useful to your customers, and show that you know what you’re talking about. This email, from Bentalls, offers some beauty tips, and suggests products that may help their customers with issues they’re having:
As you can see, there are many ways that email marketing can benefit small businesses. By taking inspiration from larger businesses, you can come up with a campaign that will increase your customer base, and improve upon the relationships you have with your existing customers.
