Welcome to the second installment of Friday 15: Small Business Tips, a series designed to help small businesses like yours make the most of their online presence. If you missed our first post, you should check it out here: https://americassbdc.org/introducing-friday-15-small-business-tips/.
This month, let’s talk email marketing. It’s one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to communicate with your target audience. We highlight three lessons below. After you watch the lessons, set aside 15 minutes to create a professional email address, write that fabulous email, or add an email sign-up form to your website.
These are three of my favorite lessons from 2013, and I hope you enjoy them.
Lesson Highlight: Look more professional with a business email address
A dedicated business email address makes your business communication look more professional. And it’s an available and affordable option to businesses of all sizes.
Even if you’re the only employee, you can create multiple email addresses, so you can organize incoming emails. I could use Whitney@example.com to correspond with customers and Sales@example.com for sales inquiries. People outside will never know that you are a business of one (unless you tell them). It’s affordable and easy to set up.
Lesson Highlight: Create a customer email list to market your business
Email marketing is one of the most effective and efficient ways to communicate with your audience. But if you’re just getting started, you might feel discouraged by the small size of your email subscriber list. So, what to do? Cynthia Price, a director at Emma, an email marketing company, suggests ways to build a quality subscriber list. Ask for a customer’s email address when they are engaged and interacting with your business. You could ask people for to sign up on your website, at your point of sale, and at events.
Last but not Least… Write emails customers will open and read
Now that you’ve started building an email subscriber list, the next challenge is creating an email that people will actually open and read. Cynthia returns with ideas for making a standout email communication: Create a feeling of exclusivity, offering coupons, special deals, or early access to your products and services.
Focus on the email subject line. The first challenge is to get people to open the email, so the subject line needs to communicate the value.
In the text of the email, draw people in as quickly as possible. Present the offer – and it’s value to your audience – quickly, clearly and visually.
Check out the full lessons and view more tips for growing your business online at www.gybo.com/friday15. Don’t forget to sign up to receive new lessons directly in your inbox, and make it a habit to grow your business online with Friday 15.
On behalf of the entire Get Your Business Online team, I wish you great success growing your business.
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Whitney Lemon – Friday 15 Host, Google Small Business Engagement
Whitney hosts Friday 15: Small Business Tips, Google’s series to help small businesses succeed online, in 15 minutes or less. Friday 15 is part of Google’s Get Your Business Online program, providing small businesses with a custom domain name and web hosting- free for one year.