Small businesses sometimes don’t have the time, the energy (or the creativity) to dedicate to writing. Everyone is too busy doing what a business needs doing to be kept: taking orders, organizing deliveries or dealing with complaints.
But customers like attention. They like nurturing, being looked after, even being spoiled. If you do it right, if you’re helpful, they might just respond with a purchase.
What if you could have it all ready to send to your customers? In an easy to customise but where most of the work has already been done?
why a Newsletter?
Even if you take orders and provide customer service over the phone, emails are becoming the preferred port of call for most of us.
Face-to-face and over the phone customer service and support will always be there. If a matter requires a quick resolution, those will obviously always be at the forefront of communications.
However, advertising and promoting your products require more focus and attention, it requires time. And any time you invest specifically dedicated to your customers will pay off because it’s focused on your customers’ needs.
A Newsletter works as your business own newspaper. So in truth, you are actually paying your own public service, if you will, exclusively to your customers.
Whilst sharing your ideas and suggestions with your valuable customers you get the chance to promote your products and advertise any offers or sales you are running.
keeping up with the times
The Internet is here to stay. And it’s ferociously changing. As much as we miss Cheers good ol’ days, if you don’t start working on your shop-to-web transition, soon nobody’s going to know your name.
Most people already use email as one of the preferred communication methods. It has unrefutable advantages, compared to other methods:
- It’s as fast as a phone call to reach the recipient;
- It allows you time to think what you are going to write (avoiding misunderstandings);
- You can add colour, images, links and videos to products;
- You can make that communication FUN and interesting from the start.
- It’s not invasive – who’s ever heard anybody saying “Sorry! You’re email caught me at a bad time.”
- It allows the customers time to read through and carefully consider your views.
Effectively, through the Newsletter, which you send weekly, monthly, quarterly (or yearly, depending on the business) you are building your brand, your image, your business vision.
I see it as a medium-term “courtship” to your customers. It gives your customers (both existing and prospective) a chance to get acquainted with the products/services you provide.
You can also share it on your website and across all Social Media channels. So not only you are looking after your existing customers but you are also inviting new ones, gaining considerably more exposure than you have ever had!
If your need targets to attract and acquire new customers rather than promote loyalty, then Email Marketing is what you are looking for.
Who, among us, is not guilty of spending a good couple of hours browsing through Social Media at the end of the day (sometimes replacing the dinner dessert) to communicate with customers, keep updated with the trends of our trade or to explore the competition?
A step back
Nostalgic Mumma 