The key to establishing –and maintaining– relationships with current and potential customers is to keep in touch with them. By constantly engaging with your customers, you are building a solid foundation for a relationship with them, as well as staying “top of mind” at all times.

In today’s day and age, there are thousands of ways in which you can stay in touch with your customers → Social media, websites, print advertising, hosting events, trade shows…the list goes on and on. But, you may find yourself asking, “Which one will be most effective for my business?” Well, it varies.

Typically, we recommend a combination of multiple touch points so that you are constantly staying connected with a multitude of customers across various channels. One channel that we personally have found to be extremely effective to businesses is email marketing.

What Is Email Marketing?

Email Marketing is considered any and every email sent to a potential or current customer. These emails can range from sending out special promotions or discounts, information about upcoming events, links to new blog articles, or simply saying “hello.” The emails being sent are meant to build trust, relationships, and positive feelings between the company and customer.

5 Tips for Staying Connected Via Email

So you want to start using email to keep in touch with customers, but how do you do that? Below, we have outlined 5 easy tips to help you get started and begin implementing email marketing today.

Choose an email marketing system and get started. There are plenty of FREE email systems out there, such as MailChimp and Constant Contact, that allow you to quickly, easily, and effectively send out emails all while being cost efficient. These two sites offer both FREE and paid memberships.

Send out a monthly eNewsletter. This is an easy way for you to stay connected with a large audience, without having to personalize each email. Once a month, send an email that provides your customers with helpful information. For example, send them to your newest blog post that offers tips on how they can enjoy the summer sun, or any other information that pertains to your business. You do want to make sure this email is not overly promotional, however. This monthly email should focus on giving your customers information without asking for anything in return. Let them know you are a resource for them.

Keep them in the loop with timely information. Aside from your monthly email, be sure to let your current and potential customers know when any upcoming promotions, events, etc. will be occurring. This can be done more on an “as-needed” basis, rather than on a set date and time each month.

Personalize your emails. This is usually pretty simple to do in any given email marketing platform. You can set up a form letter which will allow you to easily change the name, job details and any inquiries to the client.

Don’t over-do it. No one likes to be blasted with a slew of emails. Don’t do it to your customers. You will increase your chances of having a strong amount of “unsubscribes” or people marking you as “SPAM.” Send emails once a week, if necessary, but no more than that. Let them know from the get-go that you will not bombard them with emails, but instead will only send emails when you have information that will benefit them.

The most important thing you can remember when beginning to implement an email marketing strategy for your business is to be patient. Building your email list and trust with current and potential customers takes time. If you don’t already have an established brand or email list, you will have to start out small and slowly climb your way up the ladder. BE PATIENT.

Aside from our tips on how to have successful communication with email marketing, we would like to offer some quick tips for major email marketing “NO-NO’s” below.

5 Things NOT to Do with Email Marketing

• Don’t purchase an email list
• Don’t be overly promotional
• Don’t conduct email marketing without a well thought out plan
• Don’t stuff your email template
• Don’t forget to test

And as always, remember that your email should bring value to your customers’ lives. Let them know that you are here for them as a resource, friend, and trusted business partner. Customers want to feel like they matter, so let them know that they are your most important customers by taking the time to stay engaged with them.

Need help developing a strategy to obtain and retain customers? Contact the marketing experts at Brand It today by emailing hello@branditonline.com or giving us a call at 419-363-2817.