During a time when many businesses are closed to the public and only online shopping or curbside options are available, email marketing may be a great choice for you to keep up your sales while using new ways to reach your normal audience and also extend your reach beyond your normal customer base. Email marketing done well offers many opportunities for increased sales, better advertise your online store or website while your storefront or office is closed, and turn potential customers into genuine customers. More people than ever are on their computers or phones looking for the things they used to shop for in person such as clothing, food, services, and more. Here are a few steps that can help you create a successful email marketing campaign:
- Build an email list of subscribers who have signed up to receive your emails. To gather these emails, consider a pop-up message offering a chance for site or social media visitors to sign up to receive your emails. Often, a discount or early access to products can help to prompt potential customers to give their email and at least first name. This is a great way to gain the email addresses of people who are genuinely at least somewhat interested in your products or services.
- Understand your goal and the types of emails you would like to send. If your goal is to make more sales online, promotional emails are the obvious choice. You can offer subscribers a discount code, free shipping, early access, and more through promotional emails. However, if your goal is to build a relationship or offer information, a promotional message may not be the ideal medium, and you might consider sending a weekly newsletter instead.
- Plan follow-ups. After people have subscribed to your emails, what is the next step? Will they receive a welcome email, weekly promotions, early product access? What are the incentives for them to receive emails from you? Planning the frequency and content of additional messages helps you to keep subscribers engaged and clicking.