How to do email marketing for small businesses right [7 tips]

In this blog post, we will highlight seven email marketing tips for small business owners, across industries, location, and size.

1. Utilize the tools available

There are a plethora of tools available to email lists and lists of customers at one time. The best part? Many of them are free! 

Another key benefit of these email marketing tools is that many come with content templates for every occasion. These templates do the heavy lifting in designing attractive, professional emails that are sure to impress your customers. Your emails will look like a million bucks, despite costing nothing.

2. Build (and maintain) your customer list

List building can take up time – time you could be spending stocking shelves, ordering inventory, or doing payroll. Luckily, Clover has plenty of apps that make list-building easy and automatic. Automatically store customer information, such as name and email address with each transaction, building a list of customers over time that you can target with marketing campaigns, including email, in the future.

3. Test your subject line

We all read emails, likely every day. How many times have we read boring headlines and kept scrolling? “Sale today!” You’re going to have to do a lot better than that.

Crafting creative subject lines is an essential step in an effective email marketing campaign. While at face value it can be a daunting task, utilize it as an opportunity to let your business’ brand and personality shine. 

Subject lines are crucial to get customers to open your email – a marketing metric tracked as the so-called “open rate”. Subject lines are so important, in fact, that many email marketing tools will allow you to test various subject lines for the same email to see which is most effective. Over time, you may learn certain subject lines “work” better for your customer base than others – for instance, that including the word “sale” is a surefire way to engage readers.

Put on your creative writing hat and get to work.

4. Content (and CTA) are key

So, you’ve crafted a catchy headline and now the customer has opened your email – now you’ve got to keep them interested.

The aim of your email should be to provide value to your customers. You should also decide upon an action you want them to take, which marketers call the “call to action” or “CTA” for short. This could be in the form of a sale link, a discount code, or asking them to RSVP for an upcoming event.

Further, make sure your emails are visually appealing. Sometimes we do judge a book by its cover, and emails can be the same way. Include photos, graphics, videos, and more dynamic content to jazz up any ol’ email. And maybe go easy on the Comic Sans.

5. Email can drive eCommerce

Suppose you haven’t seen a customer in a while. You want to let them know about an upcoming sale they may be interested in, but they haven’t seen the flyers at the store promoting the occasion. Email marketing can be an effective way to connect with customers, both old and new.

Additionally, given the digital nature of email, this can be increasingly beneficial to businesses with e-Commerce platforms. Link directly to your website, so customers can easily navigate to your upcoming sale or special. BOGO? Sign us up!

6. Create systems to gain efficiency

Business owners are busy people. Time is money. In order to routinely stick with email marketing, we recommend building out optimized systems to make the task as seamless, and efficient, as possible.

With Clover apps like Digital Loyalty, you can schedule and automate emails about upcoming promotions, manage rewards programs, and solicit feedback from customers.

7. Relationship building will keep business booming

Brand loyalty is big business. Utilizing CRM and email marketing tools and techniques is a great way to build nurturing relationships with your customers, keeping them coming back for more. Send out holiday specials, birthday messages, and more to make your customers feel special and appreciated. Additionally, it’s much easier – and cheaper – to retain customers than try to find new ones.

While email marketing, and marketing in general, can feel like a daunting task, it doesn’t have to be. Utilizing these existing tools, systems, and techniques are sure to help drive revenue for your business and bring you closer to your community. 

How can we help?

If you want to learn more about how Clover can help you accept payments, run your business and sell more, please contact your Clover Business Consultant. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

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This information is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be interpreted as legal, financial, or tax advice. Readers are strongly advised to consult with their attorneys, financial advisors, or tax professionals to obtain guidance tailored to their specific circumstances.