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Email Marketing Improves Small Business Standings in Clients’ Eyes

Sydney Schalit/ For Steamboat Pilot & Today

Email marketing, the collection of your customers’ emails for business-only communication, is a great way to provide current consumers and prospective customers with information about your business. When implemented correctly, email marketing brings in $40 for every $1 you spend, according to the Direct Marketing Association, resulting in one of the highest ROIs for any type of marketing. To enjoy the growth and profit opportunities that come with email, follow these simple email marketing best practices for small business.

• Start at the top. Keep your subject line simple and succinct. Be honest, and use integrity when crafting your emails, as your customers put their trust in your products and your brand. Each email should offer them something, whether it’s advice on how to maintain a product they already own or an event you are hosting to further educate them or to announce a big sale. Always offer them something, and be clear about what that is in the subject line.

• Continue the theme of simple and succinct but with a bit of personal flare. When drafting your email marketing, remember that the reader is a person who wants your information but who also wants to have a discussion. Craft your email as if it were going to your best friend or mother; be friendly, and be personable. Most email marketing software companies offer the option to import the reader’s first name automatically; that little extra bit of customization goes a long way with readership and brand loyalty.



• Focus on a single message in each email. For example, instead of announcing a sale on new seasonal products arriving in your store, focus on what is more important to your company and what a reader would rather see. Email marketing affords you the ability to align your business goals with your marketing plan, so use this tool wisely. The more targeted the offers and content, the more likely your prospects are to purchase, click or come to the event. If you are using email marketing software, such as MailChimp or ConstantContact, you can up your game by segmenting your customer database by gender, purchase history or other criteria. This extra step allows you to target specific audiences within your clientele, offering them another level of personalization.

• On the technical end of email marketing, you want to be sure your email is 600 pixels wide. Any wider and you’re inadvertently asking users to scroll horizontally to read your entire message, which will immediately result in a delete or un-subscribe click. Also, your brand’s logo should be placed in the upper left-hand corner of the email, as eye-tracking studies have concluded that people instinctively look for logos in the upper left-hand side of emails. You always want your branded design in every email to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty.



• As with any goodbye, you want to end on a high note, and in the world of email marketing, if you have an interested shopper on the hook, but they can’t figure out how to find you, you’re in trouble. Be sure to end each email with your contact information: email, phone number, website, social media links and physical location.

By following the simple guidelines, small businesses can make the most of their email marketing campaign budgets. Just remember, be yourself, be simple and succinct and be sure you’re branded clearly.

Sydney Schalit is the content manager at Steamboat Digital, a local digital advertising agency specializing in web design, video production, social media marketing strategy and beyond.


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