There are a lot of marking platforms out there that small businesses have used and embraced. It really depends on what type of SME you are running to determine what works best for you. We recommend Email Marketing.
WHAT IS EMAIL
MARKETING?
Most businesses email customers from time to time, usually
when they have a special event or just to answer queries or respond to
complaints.
Customers need to be taken on a journey from the customers’
point of view, from telling the new customer about the range of products or
services you offer through to thanking them for a purchase and updating them on
offers or promotions.
·
What messages do I want to send to my customers or prospects?
·
Where in my sales process or journey are my customers or prospects?
All your messages should be developed based on where your
customer / prospect is on their sales journey with you so you can build trust and loyalty
so they buy from you and not a competitor.
EMAILING PROSPECTS OR
CUSTOMERS YOU NEED THE FOLLOWING:
·
You need their email address and at least their
first name!
IN A NUTSHELL:
You can collect these
at point of purchase, via social media (things like contests or ads), via
opt-in boxes on your website and through opt-in pages (I use LeadPages and ClickFunnels)
and a myriad of other ways.
WHAT IF I AM TOO BUSY
TO HANDLE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING?
That’s where email autoresponders come in to the equation.
Rather than you creating emails one at a time and sending them through your own
email server, you can sign up to one of the autoresponder companies and use
their systems. For businesses with only a few customers, something like
MailChimp would suffice.
MailChimp is free for most
businesses with only a few customers.
If you really want to automate the process, then systems
like AWeber or ConvertKit are a big step up. They are built
to automatically send a lead/prospect or a customer a series of pre-written
emails (also known as an email sequence).
• Autoresponders
can be linked directly to all your systems, if you have a CRM this can be set
up so new customers are automatically added to your new customer list in your
autoresponder and they get the first thank you email a minute after they are
added.
• If
prospects opt in via your website of sales page, then they immediately get an
email saying thank you plus any freebie you have used as an incentive to sign
up.
EMAIL MARKETING BROADENS YOUR
APPEAL! By creating loyalty amongst your customers, or by creatively
informing prospects, your best messages will be shared by your email list to
friends, family, work colleagues, clients etc., thereby helping broaden your
appeal, getting more people to see and purchse your offers/promotions plus new sign ups to
your mailing list!
CONCLUSION
Email Marketing for small businesses is a must do! It has to
be a big part of your marketing mix. It does take time at the start to get your
email list in order and to develop the messages you want to communicate but
once in place it works for you without having to do a thing. And it will make
you money 24/7 365 days a year!
By Martin Goldthorpe 2017 www.businessmarketingmastery.com
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