by BlogDiva
27. January 2010 00:01
I was recently writing a little Tech Tip for a local Chamber of Commerce about email newsletters and thought I'd share this. I don't profess to be an expert in all thing "enews", however, I've seen the evolution of the newsletter from written to generic email to targeted email. It's been interesting watching the shift in the way people like getting their information (especially from their trusted sources)...here's what I wrote... If you're an architect or a contractor, think about how you can apply this in your own business.
Email newsletters might not seem very “cutting edge” at this point – they’ve been around for a while now. But if you’re not using them, you should be. Why? Because your business is made of 2 kinds of people….
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The ones you know and know you
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The ones you don’t know and are trying to reach
How hard is it to communicate with group #2? Pretty darned difficult if you ask me. They don’t know you and why should they trust you?
Now think about group #1. You know your customers, chat with them, provide them service. Can you increase your sales with them? Can they refer you to others? You bet they can…and email newsletters are a perfect, low-cost, solution to maintaining contact with them.
What do you need to provide in return?
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A reason for them to give you their private email address (information they are looking for, targeted specials, etc…).
- Interesting content relative to your business and their interests
- The ability to contact you through email and know you’ll respond
Pretty simple really. Boost your customer communication, give them what they’re asking for (and more!) and respond when they send you an email.
So on your counter, have an email sign-up form, host a contest where customers have to provide an email to enter and/or put a “sign-up here” on your website for your customers to easily sign-up for your enews.
I personally use Constant Contact, although there are many programs out there. For as little as $15 per month, you can send professional e-newsletters to customers (pricing goes up as the number of emails addresses you collect increases. For example: 500-2500 email addresses is $30 per month). Check out more at http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp
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