As a digital marketing tool for small businesses, email is 40 times more effective than Facebook or Twitter at acquiring new customers. Plus, email marketing is affordable, and there is a platform for every type of business. Of course, email marketing works best when small business owners cultivate their email lists and send consistent, relevant messages, so creating compelling email marketing campaigns is essential.
While email newsletters are a great way to reach your audience, there are many other ways to use email marketing in your small business. Here are 10 non-newsletter email messages you can send to your list to keep it fresh and engage your customers.
1. Free Download Emails
A free download can help most businesses engage their email list. You can provide a template, a cheat sheet, a video tutorial, or even a computer or smartphone wallpaper. A free download can be used to thank current subscribers or to entice new subscribers. Just make sure your download is valuable to your subscribers and branded for your business.
2. Sharing of Company Announcements
Your first instinct may be that company announcements are boring and irrelevant to your subscribers, but there are many ways to make them appealing. Do you have a new product line? Give your subscribers a free trial. Are you announcing a company award? Offer a limited-time discount to your customers. Consider how to turn company news into something valuable for your customers by asking: what’s in it for them?
3. Special offers and Coupons
Who doesn’t love a good deal? Most people do, which is why special promotional emails are a great way to increase email list engagement. This type of email message also encourages subscribers to stay on your list. If they value this message, they are more likely to open your next one.
4. After-Purchase Check-In
Do you follow up with customers to gauge their satisfaction and ask if they have any questions about the product or service they purchased? A short but personal check-in email shows your customers you value them and care about their purchases. Consider including a link to your customer satisfaction survey in your message so you can collect data and customer feedback to improve your business over time.
5. Reminders for appointment
Sending reminder emails a few days to a week before an appointment is a great habit to get into if your business is service-based. These email reminders can help prevent no-shows while also providing added value to your customers. For example, you can provide a list of items needed for the appointment or links to documents that need to be completed.
6. Greetings for Birthdays & Anniversary
Sending birthday or anniversary emails to your subscribers is a great way to personalize your email campaigns. Increase engagement by celebrating the customer’s birthday with a free gift or discount. In a restaurant or a popular birthday party location, you can send parents messages offering a free dessert, special toy, or a discount for their child’s birthday party.
7. Invitations for Events
Do you regularly host or attend business events? Getting your customers there often determines the event’s success. Don’t assume your customers saw your flyer posted on the door as they left. Send them an email inviting them to the event.
8. Transactional Emails
Businesses that accept online orders must use transactional email messages. Order confirmation, order status, and shipping confirmation are transactional emails. If you run an e-commerce site, automate transactional emails at each stage of the order process. You can also include sales-boosting information like related products or top-sellers in these transactional emails.
9. Blog Post Digest to Customers
Sending out a weekly or monthly digest of the most recent posts is a great way to keep readers interested in your blog. The title and a sentence or two summarizing each post with a link to the full blog post are sufficient. Content with images gets more views than content without images, so if you use them in your posts, you should use them in your blog post listings as well.
10. Updates and New Releases of Products
Returning customers are the most cost-effective way to generate new business, so don’t be afraid to notify them when a product is updated or a new and better version is on the way. Create a dual-purpose email that announces a new release while offering an immediate upgrade discount.
Ensure that your contact information is easily accessible and that people can unsubscribe easily as required by CAN-SPAM rules. You may also want to include social media icons so you can connect with your customers on all platforms where your business is active.