Email marketing is, without a shadow of doubt, the most inexpensive way to help your product make some noise in the market. However, the whole exercise isn’t as simple as it seems – with the majority of people not sharing email addresses with anyone that crosses by. Therefore, if you’re keen on having email newsletters for your small business, the following tips should come in handy.
Make Subscribing Easy
Have an email sign-up form on your site’s homepage, social media page, or anywhere else you find your customers the most active. Collecting birthdays and names or inviting readers to participate in groups could be considered, but tread with caution. Lengthy subscription forms are not ideal.
Make the Value-Offering Obvious
Whether you’re planning to send company president letters, business updates, daily deals, weekly tips or e-commerce sales, it is important to let your readers know in advance the things to expect – in terms of actual content and frequency. Let your sign-up form provide the maximum information possible, which should help readers determine if your list makes sense or not.
Welcome Email
Welcoming new people on-board and reminding them about the purpose of the list is always a smart thing to do. You could even provide new subscribers exclusive content or a special offer, to thank them for their patronage.
Fit the Newsletter to Your Brand
Your email marketing campaigns must match the feel and look of your brand. In case you have a template, customize it to have your company’s logo and colors included in the header. Such consistency would ensure your readers feel much more familiar and at home with your content.
Scannable
Business email subscribers are often busy, so getting their undivided attention is practically impossible. Therefore, make your emails as simple and easy-to-read as possible. For instance, have multiple short paragraphs instead of a huge single block. Include images and subheadings for guidance and make the content easier to scan. Have a teaser atop the newsletter to give subscribers a hint of what’s in store. Also, your email’s subject line must be succinct and precise. Play with different subject lines to filter out the ones performing the best.
Have a Publishing Calendar in Place
A routine newsletter campaign is no easy task. If your customers don’t hear from you through emails for several weeks or months, you’re likely to be forgotten. In fact, when your next email arrives, they’ll be reminded of your unprofessional behavior and may end up unsubscribing your list. Most would, however, delete the long pending email without giving it a brief glance. Therefore, planning, writing, designing and sending newsletters regularly are vital elements of email marketing for small businesses.
