Whether you are a small “craft fair” type of entrepreneur or have a “brick and mortar” shop, there are several marketing ideas that can benefit your business. This first post is about Email Marketing.
Email marketing is extremely powerful, customizable, and cost effective way to target consumers interested in what you have to offer. Email marketing is one of the best ways to not only get new customers, but to also keep the ones you already have by communicating and reminding them of what you have to offer. There is a fine line between email marketing and SPAM. Be sure you adhere to all email marketing best practices.
There are some great email marketing service providers on the web that will allow you to create lists, design emails and track your sent emails. This will save you valuable time by creating emails that will get into your customer’s Inbox and don’t wind up in their SPAM folder.
One company, http://www.mailchimp.com, is easy to use and is free if you only send up to 12,000 email per month. Two other services, http://www.constantcontact.com and http://www.icontact.com do charge a fee and are great if you have a larger emailing list and plan on sending out more frequently. These two companies do offer free trials, so you can decide if this program, or any other service, provides the right program for you and your business.
Now What?
Collect all your customer’s email addresses, whether you got them at craft shows, business cards or from customers that visited your shop, and email them. Don’t forget to ask them if they would like to continue receiving emails from you with updates on products or shows you are going to be selling at.
Happy Marketing!!
Original article from Soap Queen April 2011