Email is one of the most important tools for small business owners and managers to have in their marketing toolbox. There is arguably no cheaper way to stay in touch with current customers than to capture their email addresses and market to them again and again. This ability to connect to your customer base via email is powerful and should be the first step you should take into the world of online marketing.
According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing returned an average of $57.25 for every $1 spent on it! This only reflects the maxim that it takes much more money to attract a new customer than it does to bring back someone who has already done business with your company. The DMA goes on to say that the ROI for email is upwards of 150% better than any other form of internet marketing available.
As a consultant, I recommend email marketing to local businesses as step number one because if a business isn’t doing simple due diligence to keep their current customers happy, it is not the time to grow that customer base! Email marketing is like plugging the hole in a bucket that you are trying to fill up with customers. Once you doing a great job at keeping your customers once you do get them in the door, you will significantly improve your rate of return on all of your other methods of productive marketing and advertising because your new customers will be worth more to your company.
This is why the concept of email marketing for customer retention is so important. It really is a must for your company. In upcoming blog posts, I’ll discuss the process of email marketing more in depth since some business owners have hang-ups about repeatedly emailing their customers. I’ll also deal with SPAM, how to keep your email marketing campaigns fresh and interesting, and ways to legally build your email list so you don’t get in trouble. So stay tuned!
