Email Marketing

I can’t tell you how many times our company is contacted regarding email marketing. ‘How to grow an email list‘ or ‘how do we grow an email list for marketing?’ This is not as hard as it sounds. For some reason in business it is easy to get a brain block on specific topics and not think through the process. I am going to break it down into a few simple ideas for you to try. If you would like more specifically designed email marketing plans for your specific business you can contact us for a more detailed plan.

How do you get their email?

ASK. Seriously it is that easy. Let me walk you through a few examples. I take my kids into Old Navy and guess what the store says when I check out? Can I have an email address to send your receipt to? So you think a massive corporation like Old Navy is trying to cut down on printer paper expenses? No. They want my email not to send my receipt to, but to market to me later. Set up the perception that you can’t give them a receipt. I’ve told them they already have it and guess what they do, they print me a receipt. Now I do get email receipts from Old Navy because I want them to send me email marketing so I know when the deals are. When I checkout at the self checkout at Home Depot the credit card machine says, “Email receipt?” Once again they are not trying to cut down on paper, they want to market to me.

Create a perception that you can’t function or they can’t get their service without their email. Realize that email marketing is all about obtaining the email. So make it so it is required, sometimes that is all in the sales pitch. Your employee behind the counter can create a sales pitch that even blames your software system. “I’m sorry Mrs. Jones but our software won’t let me complete your transaction without an email in the system.” Most software out there can be tweaked so that isn’t even a lie.

I play golf at a golf course that requires me to give them my email when I make an online reservation. One downside is that when one person makes a reservation for 4 players, the company misses out on 3 email addresses per transaction. Sometimes when I’m even standing at the counter to just ask if I can play, they don’t ask for my email. I stand there thinking how many email addresses they miss out on because they are basing their email marketing on online reservations only.

Create Reason for them to give up their email.

SEO internet marketing Create a reason is the number one rule in email marketing. Like the golf course I mentioned earlier that relies on online reservations to grow their email list. Let’s say I walk in and ask if they have any open tee times, then say I can play now. This is the time when they need to grasp my email instead of sending me out to the course. Maybe it should be ‘can I have your email to send your receipt to’ or ‘can I have your email for me to send a discount coupon to?’ Ask for their email so you can see if it is in your system. Tell the client, let me look you up by your email address. If they aren’t in your company system, wouldn’t it be worth sending them a 10% off coupon to gain that email for future marketing? The ROI on that 10% could be ten times or more.

Creating opportunities is another key to getting the email. If you notice many times online when you are shopping a pop up box asks if you want 15% off or 10% off. Of course you want that discount so you click yes for the offer. What you find out is that it asks you to enter your email address to receive 10% off. The ROI of that 10% off is worth it to them to get your email address for future email marketing. I go back to some of the higher end golf courses that I’ve played. Many have a gps or digital scorecard in the cart. At the end of the round it will ask if you want that scorecard emailed to you. Perfect opportunity created where the customer wants their scorecard and the business grasps the email. Creating these opportunities all around your business grows the email marketing list extremely quickly.

Working with other companies to grow your email list

Finding another company to work with can grow your email list. A different company I own was a start up company. Growing the email list took many creative avenues. Some of those were going into local restaurants or businesses, creating opportunities there. Some restaurants would allow us to place ads on their tables or stores that if the client signed up at my business online at (xyz.com) they received an email with a 10% coupon to that restaurant that day. Then I paid the restaurant the 10% of those meals. We worked with other companies to say would you email your clients that if they sign up on our email list they could receive discounts. We then shared a tiny percentage of profit from these jobs with that other business. Giving up 1-3% of profit on the jobs that came over from that other company were worth the ROI for grasping more emails to market to.

Get creative! Who do you know that could increase your email list if given access to their email list? Could you run a joint campaign together where the client could get a discount at either company? All they need to do it sign up with their email at your webpage to receive that discount. Now you’ve increased your email marketing list by using the other company to email their list for you.

Timing is the key

Email Lists Companies that email every day or multiple times a day feel the more pitches the more chances of a hit. I agree and disagree. Sure there are companies that email me 3 times a day with advertisements for clothing deals. I tend to delete them before opening them, but if the subject line catches my eye or sounds good I will open it. So make sure it is a subject line that makes the client want to investigate. But if you aren’t a retail store bombarding your clients will annoy them. Emailing them once a week is a good habit to get into so you are fresh on the customer’s mind. Emailing once a month keeps the customer aware that you are still there, but you are easily forgettable once a month. Emailing the client doesn’t have to be about a sales pitch each time. Many clients enjoy to be informed or thanked. One of my other companies we email the clients each week with information about things going on around them or things to look for. We also send out thank you emails to our entire list when we reach goals or are recognized. Don’t forget that the customer is the reason you received an honor, recognition, or goal. Inform them about things in your industry even if you aren’t trying to sell your company in the email. Educating a customer makes them a better client.

Purchasing email lists

You can purchase email lists just like we used to purchase mailing lists back in the day. Unfortunately people are going to consider you spam because they don’t remember asking for your email since THEY DIDN’T. You might pick up a couple from a purchase like this, but your efforts can be focused in better areas for higher success.

Email Marketing Success

Remember your success and growth of a marketing list will be based on your efforts and customer base. Making simple changes will grow your list quickly if you have a large amount of customers that visit your establishment. If you do not have a large customer base then it will take other creative ways such as working with other businesses.

Right now would be the perfect time for me to end this article and ask for your email address for you to learn more. Right? HA! Nah, I’m confident enough that you have read this and are already thinking of the ways you can tweak your business process to gain email addresses. But honestly if you need more specific ways or want us to design multiple email opportunities for your company we would be glad to. Email us or call us for help with your email marketing needs or SEO for your website.

SEO vs. Marketing

Recently I was asked to review a company’s marketing plan and SEO they were paying for monthly. The owner of the company was unhappy with the results from the money invested with this marketing company and was trying to part ways. The marketing company gave the owner a list of citation sites (ex. yellow pages, yelp, etc) and the showed a screen shot of how they Googled the business name showing the first 7 sites are that business. I would sure hope if you Googled ‘Pacifica Marketing’ that Pacifica Marketing is what popped up on Google. What I want to see is if I’m doing SEO for a laundry mat I don’t want to see that if I Google ‘Kevin’s Laundry’ that Kevin’s Laundry shows up. I want to Google ‘Laundry Mats in Indianapolis’ and “Kevin’s Laundry” pops up on the first page in Google. That is SEO marketing, not listing the business on a bunch of yellow pages type of sites and “managing them.”

There is a major difference in SEO and Marketing, remember the second page on Google is where things go to die.

Until next time… Do your research. -Brian

With so many businesses, who is first?

There are so many businesses to choose from how do you make sure the customer sees you? LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. How many hundred of times have you heard that phrase? Maybe thousands. If your business has a physical address or a physical footprint in the city than obviously you want to be where people can see the business. Billboards behind trees don’t advertise as well as billboards on main intersections, right? If money wasn’t an option we would all have a business on Park Ave that is driven past by thousands of customers. But money is an option, in business the goal is spend as little as possible to maximize profits.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, is also important in today’s technology world. Do you want to be the webpage at the top of the page or the webpage that is on the second or third page? SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is extremely important in marketing today. I know personally I don’t search past the fist page on most days when I am looking for something. I want what I am looking for to be quick, easy, and at the top. Having a marketing company to do SEO for your company can increase customers and clients almost immediately.

The abyss of the missing customer

Being in business can be super rewarding and also the hardest thing you will do. Business doesn’t happen if there are not any customers or not enough customers. It can feel like staring out over an empty sky or the desert as you wait for customers. Business can be a lot more fun or let’s be honest, less stressful when there are plenty of customers.

The phrase we all love to use in the business world is, “It’s a good problem to have.” We use this phrase for one reason…because we have so many customers it is hard to keep up. But if you are not getting to use that phrase it can feel frustrating or even hopeless. It’s time to roll up those sleeves in that case and find out what marketing strategy can get you the customers you are looking for. Meeting with a marketing professional can help your find that plan, but sometimes it is just the need of starting with “leads.” Finding a marketing professional that can generate leads for you can take all the stress away for you and your company.

Imagine coming to work every day to find a list of customers that need you to call them for a quote or service or for your product. Did you have to go look for them? No, while you were sleeping or having breakfast customers were getting in line to request your service. A marketing company that can generate leads for you takes away all the hard work so you can enjoy business you created.

Is your marketing lost in the wilderness?

Does it ever feel like you are not sure what your marketing is? Have you created what feels like the perfect business with exceptional customer service, but where are the customers? How do we show more people how great our company is sooner or faster?

Many times it is spoken that the best advertisement is word of mouth, a previous customer telling a potential customer how great your company is. But what if that potential customer doesn’t need your service or product for a few years? Word of mouth can sometimes be too slow in today’s technology driven world. Sure you need customers in a few years, but what about needing customers today or this month or this year.

Devising a marketing plan is exactly what you need, but many times if not most of the time developing your own marketing plan can feel like being dropped in the wilderness. Ever have that nightmare of being dropped in the middle of the wilderness and not knowing your way out? It is important to determine what you are lacking in your business marketing. What is it that is missing? Maybe it is customers, maybe it is returning customers or connecting with customers. Maybe it is communication or lack of internet presence. Whatever it might be, the first thing is to locate what you need. Once this has been determined finding a marketing professional to help you set a plan into action will be well worth the time. Give your business the opportunity to show clients why you are the best in your industry.