If you ignore your customers, they will keep returning and continue to be happy, paying customers for as long as they live.
Doesn’t make much sense does it? But this is happening every day in countless small businesses across the nation.
Most business owners don’t pay much attention to their customers if they aren’t already in their store. After all, how is the business owner suppose to keep in contact, and build a relationship with his/her customers when they aren’t in the store.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to build a relationship with your customers and prospects with regular contacts. A way to say hi, educate them, offer specials, and keep them updated with what is going on with your business.
Well, there is a way to not ignore your customers, so that they do keep returning.
It is called Email Marketing.
Here’s my definition of email marketing:
Email marketing is the continuous contacting of your customers, and potential customers, (with their permission of course), with the goal of building a lasting relationship with them. This relationship is about being of service to them, so that you can maximize your sales to them.
It is not blasting out 100,000 emails from a list you bought or rented. That’s probably spam. Something you want to stay away from at all costs.
Numerous studies have shown that email marketing is one of the most successful and productive marketing strategies a business can pursue.
Consider the following findings:
A majority of survey respondents (57%) said they have a more positive impression of companies when they receive emails from them.
40% said that simply receiving email has a positive impact on their likelihood to make a future purchase from a company.
An impressive 71% remember email communications when making purchases at a company’s Web site.
50% said they are more likely to buy products from companies that send email, whether they make their purchases online or at a place of business.
Here are some additional thoughts to consider.
Email marketing is far reaching.
Almost everyone has an email address. Most people will share theirs, given the right incentives.
Email marketing is proactive.
Customers and potential customers do not find your material by accident, you sent it to them.
Email marketing is targeted.
You aren’t sending emails to people are aren’t interested. They have given you their permission to email them because they are interested.
Email marketing is measurable.
You can measure the success of your email campaigns by tracking opens, clicks, forwards, and other actions.
Email marketing builds relationships.
When given a choice, people buy from other people they know, like, and trust. You can build that kind of relationship with your customers, and potential customers with email marketing.
Email marketing works.
According to the Direct Marketing Association’s research, email marketing generated a return on investment (ROI) of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009. Its not likely you’ll find that kind of ROI from any other form of marketing.
Email marketing is cost effective.
Compared to mailing through the post office, email marketing is much cheaper.
You do not need a website to take advantage of email marketing.
That’s right. If you don’t have a website, no problem.
When properly crafted, email marketing helps you to become, and remain visible to your customers and prospects alike, with highly targeted messages at minimal cost.
When all is said and done, there are only 3 ways to grow your business:
1. Increase your number of customers.
2. Increase the average size of the sale per customer.
3. Increase the number of times the customer returns and buys again.A properly designed email marketing campaign works in all 3 ways.
Like everything else there are ways to do email marketing, and ways that you should not do email marketing. The articles found here cover many of the do’s and don’ts, and give you some ideas to think about when exploring if email marketing is right for your business.
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If you have any questions about email marketing, or would like to explore how it may be able to help your business contact me at 303 280-3451, or email me lorensquires@gmail.com. I am not going to tell you that email marketing is for every one, but I do know that for the right business, with the right circumstances, email marketing will make a very real difference.