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7 Powerful Email Techniques for Independent Stores
2 min read
by Ellie Coverdale
Running an email list is one of the best ways to communicate and stay in touch with your customers and one of the best tools you’ll have as a small, independent business. However, emails are worthless if you’re not using them correctly, but there’s no hard and fast way to do this.
To help you out, today I’m going to share with you seven of the most need-to-know tips out there when it comes to making your emails shine, and your strategy as successful as possible.
Be Clear Who You Are
While there’s a ton of beneficial emails that people want to read out there, there’s also a ton of spam that comes with them, and email clients and customers will do everything they can to block spam and keep their inboxes tidy.
However, you don’t want your emails to be detected as spam, so you need to make sure you’re identifying yourself in your emails to pass the filter criteria. This includes your name, the store name, and who you are, such as the manager or owner.
Brand Your Emails
It’s important to make sure your emails are branded to make the visuals and aesthetics of your business. Since people signed up to your list are already aware of your business, they should be able to open an image and immediately recognise it’s from you.
This means including the specific language you would use, graphics and visuals, logo, and names that people will relate too and will make them feel comfortable.
Nail the Subject Line
Although you should never judge a book by its cover, if you don’t write a captivating subject line for your emails, nobody is going to click on them. The subject line has to draw in your reader and make them want to open your emails, so spend time on making you’re crafting one that has an impact and makes readers unable not to click.
Keep Things Short and Sweet
“Consider how long you spend reading sales emails in your day to day life. The chances are you don’t spend very long at all unless it’s something you’re super interested in, which is the same for your customers. You need to make sure you’re keeping your content short but sweet, so your message is concise, and your readers can get all the information they need quickly”
-Pauline Harper, a business writer at Australianhelp and Paperfellows.
Implement Calls to Action
Most of the time, you’re going to be sending emails which will then come with an action for your reader to follow through with. This may be checking out your sale or stock or engaging with your business in some way.
This call to action needs to be clear and easy to see, and in fact, perhaps one of the highlight areas of your email, meaning your reader will instantly see what they need to do and will then go through into the funnel.
Here is an example of the Newsletter Campaign done for the Euroshop Trade Fair for the Visual Retailing Products. Click the image to learn more.
Allow Users to Unsubscribe
“While you don’t want your email list to shrink and lose people, there are just some people who won’t want to be subscribed to you anymore, and that’s okay. You do need to make it easy for people to unsubscribe as a courtesy and to show you’re a decent business.”
-Ben Taylor, a marketer at Academized and Stateofwriting.
Add the button at the bottom of the page and make one a few clicks for people to remove themselves from your list completely.
Use Images Sparingly
It’s important to use some kind of images in emails to make your content more interesting, to share a message, or to highlight a certain message. However, you need to remember that images make emails bigger, and downloading them can be slower on slow internet devices.
Either compress your images, so they download quickly and without effort, or don’t use the image at all.
Summary
As you can see, when it comes to managing and creating successful emails for your small business, there’s plenty to think about, and it’s up to you how you approach it. Don’t forget to experiment to see what works for you and to boosts your business to new heights of success when it comes to communicating with your customers.
About the author
Ellie Coverdale, a marketing writer at UKWritings.com and Essayroo.com, shares her tips and tricks on digital and email strategy marketing with her readers. She likes to show businesses how to in boost conversions and engagement rates. She also teaches writing skills for Boomessays.com in her free time.