Email Marketing: How Communicating with Your Customers
Sets Your Business Apart
Submitted by: James Johnson, Owner, Philly Sudden Values
Remember when you sent a thank you card to your aunt for the present she sent you on your birthday? Or the Christmas cards you send to your friends and family? How about birthday, Mothers, and Fathers Day cards? Think about what emotion it brought them when they read it. What if we can bring to every one of our customers that feeling of importance, of appreciation, of feeling special for making the choice to shop with you and your business?
More often than not, we as business owners have so much to do daily from managing our inventory, maintaining our employee relations, and watching the money, that we rarely consider what our most valuable asset is...our customers! Many of us become so complacent in our day to day routine that we simply take for granted when customers walk through our door.
Email marketing is nearing saturation, so the question is: What will set you apart? Ninety percent of the US population has an email address: Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Verizon, Comcast, the list goes on…and many people have more than one! Why? Spam, that's why! But wait there's more. Approximately 82% of the US population has an internet connection (72% High-Speed). Of that 82%, 75% are between the ages of 12-64. That's moms, dads, teenagers, pre-teen children, and retirees who all have access to discretionary income and hold immense buying power. The internet is a massive force of information for our use with marketing and advertising everywhere. Would you believe the average American spends 32.1 hours on the internet each week! You can't search Google without your results being linked to probable product and service you may want or need! Who can track it all?
We are bombarded with so much information that Hotmail has just introduced a service that allows you to delete all emails from the same sender you have or haven't read yet. Why not unsubscribe? Each of us can explain our own reason, but really we don't want to miss out on important information. Some may say it is a service to our ever evolving society, others may say it borders on invasion of our privacy when the sharing of personal info helps create profiles for product placement in our email, Facebook, or Twitter accounts. Either way, the consumer world has embraced it.
There are many national brands who daily use email marketing and social networking to retain customers with award, reward, and loyalty programs and clubs. Why? Because people want to make an emotional connection to their preferred brands which encourage purchases more often. The 80/20 rule - 80% of revenue is derived from 20% of your customers – is an adage from the early days of business, and it is still true. We all hope for repeat, referral, and loyal customers, but how do we know? Using email marketing is an easy way to stay in touch and completely account for the customers who make your business a success.
But how do we set ourselves apart? KISS – Keep It Simple Stan.
- Get permission. No one appreciates getting an email from somewhere they never heard of. It creates a negative impression of your business that may produce bad word of mouth.
- Partner with a company that insists on simplicity. Small business owners and large companies who employ busy, intricate, and difficult websites and email campaigns are not thinking about their customers and their attention span. If it takes more than three clicks to get the information we seek, we bail to find another resource. Lose a sale because it was difficult to read or navigate? Don't be the first.
- Clear, concise, branded message. You have a logo, motto, or business theme? Maintain consistency and recognition when you decide to use these mediums. Don't change midstride because of something “cool” that is suggested.
- Professional – be careful using your Gmail account with a business name in an attempt to do a DIY. Customers may question your business quality or relegate you to spam or junk mail. Creating a message with information about your business (pricing & hours), it's commitment to the community, quality of product or service, and a relevant back story will set the right impression with any customer, new or loyal.
Remember, keeping in touch with our loyal clientele with a quality presentation, providing insightful exclusive information will bring that customer through your door more often spending more money. Give them the emotional response of being appreciated for their consistent patronage and they will tell their friends and family creating new business. Choosing a full-service firm to assist your business is cost effective and consistent in serving your needs, because for every time you don't identify and communicate with your customers, $20 walk out the door! If the Fortune 500 utilize it, then you should too!
James Johnson is the Local Owner of Philly SuddenValues. SuddenValues is America's fastest growing media company that exclusively partners with small business owners to provide flexible tools for growth that are cost effective and provide targeted results. For more information about how to become involved with Philly Sudden Values please call 215-554-1308 or Email james.johnson@suddenvalues.com. Visit philly.suddenvalues.com to shop local and save big!
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