Strengthening Customer Relationships with Email Marketing

Lead generation is an important aspect of marketing; but it should not be the end all and be all of all your advertising efforts. True, getting new customers interested in your business raises your chances of conversion; but repeat customers are also a crucial part of your client base. This is where email marketing comes in. This allows you to complement your lead acquisition strategies with tactics to cement your relationships with existing customers.

Enhance your business with the help of email marketing. It is a fundamental technique, one of the earliest digital advertising strategies to exist that continues to find relevance in the growing field.

Email Marketing for Building Client Relationships

With the help of email marketing, you can:

• Enhance your reach

With the help of a few online tools, like MailChimp, you can send your message to hundreds or thousands of people across the world. While social media allows you to reach a general audience, you can target those interested in your brand.

• Expect higher conversion rates

Email marketing offers businesses a channel to reach an audience that is already interested in your offers. It’s why many subscribe to your emails in the first place -- they either desire or are willing to make a purchase. This increases your chances for conversion.

• Improve customer service

Show your customers how much you value them through your emails. You can send them:

• Updates on products, services, and promos
• Prompts to checkout their cart (or online shops)
• Reminders for scheduled appointments (for medical providers)
• Reminders for regular maintenance (for car dealers or HVAC suppliers)

Customers will appreciate these efforts and how you are willing to take your customer service a step further.

• Stay at the top of your client’s list

Sometimes, despite consumers having relied on a brand, they can forget about it during an emergency or when another company pushes its way to the fore. Make sure your business is the first thing they turn to the moment they need a product or service by reminding them you exist with a simple email.

• Share your content

Don’t let your blog posts and other content sit idly on your website; share them across the various online platforms to make the most of them. Make sure that the content you share is timely and relevant so they do not remain unopened. Some of the most useful content are guides and how-tos.

Online clothing shops, for example, can share posts about the latest summer fashion trends during the season. Car dealers or repair shops can send clients tips on preparing their vehicles for winter before the frost sets.

Email Marketing in Canada

Before you start drawing plans to implement your campaign, there are a few things you need to take into account when doing email marketing anywhere in Canada.

In 2014, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) was put into effect. Its objective is “to encourage the growth of electronic commerce by ensuring confidence and trust in the online marketplace. To do so, the Act prohibits damaging and deceptive spam, spyware, malicious code, botnets, and other related network threats.”

Essentially, it protects Canadians from unsolicited emails that may contain harmful programs. What were previously common and popular methods of email marketing are no longer acceptable. This includes scraping email addresses from various sources (e.g. websites and files). With the new legislation in place, companies need the explicit permission of individuals to send them commercial emails. If an individual or company (including its directors and officers) violate this law, they can be fined up to $10 million (per violation).

There are, however, a few messages that do not require the consent of the recipient including:

• Replies to inquiries sent within the past six months by an existing or potential customer
• Product or service details (e.g. warranties or safety instructions) recently purchased by a customer
• Information or updates regarding deliveries, memberships, purchases, loans, and other continuing transactions
• Correspondence directed to individuals outside of Canada (with the exception of some countries)
• Solicitations for fundraising or contributions for charitable or political institutions
• A message sent to an individual referred by a client or employee (message must include the full name of the referrer)

Collecting Emails and Subscriptions

CASL makes collecting your list of email recipients more challenging. However, there are a variety of creative ways you can get people to sign up for your emails:

• Ask clients directly, whether in person or over the phone
• Maximize your website with sign-up opportunities by:
• Adding a subscription form on your website
• Placing a link to that form or a call-to-action at the bottom of every blog post, service page, or in the “About Us” section
• Take advantage of social media by:
• Posting eye-catching images on Instagram with instructions and a link at the bottom to subscribe
• Adding a sign-up button on your Facebook business page
• Sharing blogs, announcements, videos, and infographics with a call-to-action in your social media pages (like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter)
• Include a link to your subscription form in your professional email signature
• When hosting company events, like an anniversary or an open house, request visitors to subscribe to your list
• Entice customers with giveaways, samples, or freebies if they opt into your mailing list
• Get referrals from your customers or employees; incentivize this with free offers to generate interest

A Few Tips for Your Campaign

• It’s not a numbers game

Remember that your clients can be picky about the emails they receive. If they feel that a company is spamming them with irrelevant messages, they could end up pushing that “unsubscribe” button.

If you run a news site, daily emails and updates are acceptable. However, if you’re a goods or service provider, they may not be open to as many emails. Most people can accept one email a week from a company.

Of course, it also depends on the content. If you need to announce an event, a promo, or exclusive deals, go right ahead. They would be happy to receive those. But limit these announcements to one email and a reminder or they will consider it spam.

• Make it eye-catching

Use pictures or graphics to entice them to read further. Don’t send long blocks of text. Give recipients previews or excerpts of longer content to make them want to click a link to your site for more information.

• Add calls-to-action

Help your customers along by adding a CTA. If you’re advertising new products, include a “Shop Now” button. If you’re sharing content, add a link or a button saying, “Read More.”

• Pay attention to your email stats

Online mailing sites will let you view how your campaign is doing. Pay attention to the statistics (e.g. unsubscribe rate, bounce rate, and the number of unopened emails). These details will guide your next steps.

If, for example, your bounce rate is high, you can work to improve your content. If there are a number of unopened emails, you can resend it to them (once only or risk recipients unsubscribing) just in case they did not receive it or it got lost under their pile of emails.

There is a reason why email marketing remains one of the go-to means of digital advertising despite the presence of more recently developed techniques. It allows a business to communicate with their audience on a more personal level and to reap the benefits of that relationship. Take advantage of email marketing to complete your campaign -- increase leads, raise sales, and establish a loyal following that can multiply both.

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Created on Apr 2nd 2020 08:59. Viewed 622 times.

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