Email Marketing for Local Businesses
Email marketing is one way you can stay in touch with your customers. You can:
- Send a monthly newsletter
- Send information about special offers
- Send out coupons
- Send updates on program changes
And much more.
But, before you can do any of that, you have to build a list of people who want to receive your information on a regular basis. This is called opt-in email.
It is important to have opt-in subscribers rather than send out mass emails. This is because it is critical to comply with the CAN-SPAM act which prohibits spam.
But, it’s not all that hard to get qualified opt in customers. You simply offer your customers a freebie in exchange for their name and email. The freebie can be a 2 for 1 dinner, a free desert with dinner, a special report, an ecourse, or whatever you would normally offer customers in the course of your advertising.
Once they opt in and confirm their subsription, you can regularly send them information and offers about your business. Done right, this can strengthen your relationship with your existing client base and bring you new customers.
The average number of subscriptions that American internet users have jumped from 9 to 10 in 2008, indicating a growing willingness to recieve offers through people they know and trust.
You can get subscribers in a number of ways:
- Capture their information when they come to your website
- Direct them to your website through media such as cash register reciepts, stationary, business cards, etc.
- Ask for emails in the normal course of business and then send out confirmation emails individually which is in line with CAN-SPAM.
While you don’t want to spam your customers, email marketing is an accepted and valuable way to stay in touch with your customers and potential customers.
