The popular four email vendors (ConstantContact, iContact, VerticalResponse, MailChimp) addressing SMB market together claim some where around 2million customers. Even if we consider all of theses to be SMBs (and not consumers or large companies), this is a still a small percentage out of the registered 25million SMBs in US.
When talking with SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) and SBO (Small Business Owners), most of them seem to have heard of ConstantContact and are aware that a Google search on 'email marketing' might list the new players in this space. Some have tried these services and some plan to.
However, very few of them seem to know that there are four distinct ways to use emails to promote your business.
- eNewsletter
- eBlast or ePromotion
- eCard with coupon
- Survey
eNewsletter
This is by far the most common form of email marketing. Unfortunately this is also the one that requires more marketing / writing skills. It is true that writing a short promotional statement is harder than writing a long story of why you are great! However, many newsletters tend to go off talking about the business and miss the point of talking about customers's specific interest in your business.
If you do want to use the traditional eNewsletter, keep it short, know what the customers is seeing in your business compared to your competition and make them feel good about of their choice of coming to you for their service. Use relevant, business centric, photos to keep the reading interesting.
eBlast
This is probably the easiest to do. Almost all SBOs think about promotions, think about letting customers know about their recent product/service addition and think about letting people know about recent price reduction.
A short email that is designed to catch attention (20% off on...), even when not well written or designed is sure to catch attention of your email readers. Such emails are also target for SPAM filters. However, if you have done your work to opt-in your customers and use some SPAM check (check our www.spamassasin.org), then eBlasts are very effective.
Some of the vendors provide integration of PayPal or other online purchase. If you have an eCommerce site, you can capitalize on impulse purchase and get people to click and buy right from the email.
eCard with coupon
Oh my! By far the most effective email you can craft. When getting your customer emails, at least for your most loyal ones, start getting their birthdays. If not, at least find out about their special holidays (their original nationality or religious holidays). Without being direct or specific, send an email to them - 'On your special day, we wish you... and here is a coupon to make it more enjoyable'. Send it a couple of days before. This is a personal card with a gift personalized for them.
What it takes is a keen eye on each of your top customers, their buying habits, their personal likes and dates. Such personalized eCards can turn them into your best marketers.
Some email vendors provide easy way to add a coupon to the email. Look for a vendor with such features. Even if you don't use it right away, don't lock your templates and email addresses with a vendor who is not forward looking.
Survey
This is the one you should avoid unless you have mastered the art of asking for people's opinion by genuinely making them feel to be part of the final out come of the survey. For SBOs, with real fronts, I would strongly recommend talking to the customers directly instead of diluting relevance of your email by sending surveys.
Hope you are geared up to move away from eNewsletters to eBlasts and eCards :-)
