With the holiday season fast approaching, your business needs all the tools it can access to stand out in a sea of competitors.
An effective email marketing strategy is one of the most powerful tools you can deploy to bring together all the pieces of your digital marketing strategy – linking your promotional emails, special event emails, or monthly newsletter to social media accounts, websites, or online review sites.
The impact of a well-designed email marketing campaign can be immense, driving customers to your website and physical store for holiday gift buying.
Studies show that 91 percent of adults want to see promotional material from businesses they follow – a small business can’t afford not to engage with their customers through email.
With the holidays nearly upon us, most small business owners are too busy to spend countless hours creating engaging and effective email marketing campaigns. Fortunately, there are convenient templates that make it a snap to quickly and easily create emails that will reach your entire mailing list.
Email marketing for local businesses is effective not just in the holiday season, but all year round. It’s a great way to inform your customers about promotions or upcoming events… or simply to wish your customers ‘Happy Holidays!’
Why do small businesses need email marketing?
Email is an important channel in your small-business marketing strategy. Its costs are relatively low – or even free, depending on the size of the audience – making email a very attractive option for promotions and campaigns when compared to other paid avenues.
Some of the major benefits of email marketing include:
- Brand awareness and loyalty: Your business brand awareness and customer loyalty get a boost when you keep your customer base in the loop for upcoming events or promotions. While nearly 90 percent of internet users in America have access to email, only 70 percent have social media accounts – for small business who want to reach a wide audience, email marketing is clearly the best digital marketing solution.
- Leveraging device trends: Consumers are using mobile devices – phones and tablets – more than ever, which means they’re increasingly likely to open your promotional email. As they spend more and more time on their phones and tablets during long commutes or coffee breaks your access to them as they shop or read promotional material becomes far greater than the amount of time they spend on their computers.
- The lifespan of email over social: While social posts may technically be as permanent as emails, customers view them in a more fleeting way. While an email stays in the customer’s inbox, a social post soon disappears into a newsfeed.
Types of email marketing for your business
Whether you want to help promote an upcoming event, connect with the local community through a newsletter, distribute coupons, or simply welcome new customers to the mailing list, an email marketing tool or campaign makes connecting with your customer base simply and effective.
Here are some types of email marketing to leverage:
1. Newsletters
Many small businesses use email marketing to communicate with their subscribers through a newsletter or simple updates. A monthly newsletter is a great opportunity to reach out to your customers with promotions or coupons – that will, of course, bring them back to your store when it’s time to buy.
2. Sales email campaigns
Got a new deal starting next week? Want to reward customers with a coupon for their loyalty? Email is an effective way to promote deals, specials, and new products without a hefty advertising budget.
In fact, emails sent out during the 2017 Black Friday weekend demonstrated the highest conversion rate of all marketing channels!
3. Holiday email campaigns
Do you have holiday deals coming up? Or simply want to reinforce your branding and customer relationships? Leverage your email channel to get a head start on consumer holiday gift buying in November and December.
Time-sensitive holiday emails can help you connect with your customers on a more personal level. This helps your business feel more “friendly” and keeps you top-of-mind during the holiday season.
Special promos for a limited time during the holidays leverage FOMO (fear of missing out) and a sense of urgency to encourage customers to action. With holiday season fast approaching, you’ll want to lock in your winter campaign strategy right away!
4. Event emails
Is there an event going on in your local community (like participating in a local charity event) that you want consumers to know about? Use email to let local customers know how involved you are in the community!
Getting started with email marketing
No matter the message you want to convey, a savvy email marketing solution will strengthen your digital presence and marketing strategy. Email marketing improves customer engagement and brand awareness by encouraging customers to interact with your business.