When the pandemic forced merchants to shut their doors, email left one open. Without the one-on-one experience of brick and mortar stores, email marketing remained a great way to acquire customers, promote products, and stay in touch. As things open up, it’s time to reassess your email strategy.
During the pandemic, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, and social media brought customers to our clients’ websites. Many made purchases and/or signed up for the email list, providing a wealth of contacts. Then a shift took place. During the pandemic, email was all about information and acquisition. Now it should be crafted to keep customers. Even as small to medium businesses return to face to face transactions, they should stay on top of their email strategy. An email is more than a letter, it’s a way to connect and offer value. Here’s why email marketing is crucial in a post-pandemic market.
Keeping Customers Costs Less
When you gain a customer, hold onto them. It’s a proven fact it costs more to pursue new customers than it does to retain previous ones. An online shopping sale should always be followed up with a thank-you email. People are expecting this, as well as curation that tailors emails to their tastes. Today’s shoppers know they hold the power, and respecting that lets you hang onto them. Spend less of your budget by sending emails to potential customers who clicked on PPC ads or abandoned items in their cart. They’re more likely to become customers than those who expressed no interest, and cost less to email than pursue through other advertising.
Playing with the Big Kids
The big box stores aren’t too big for email marketing. Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, and others make a practice of collecting email addresses from customers and sending regular alerts. Do likewise. People want to support small businesses. Emails accommodate a more personalized and local shopping experience. Targeted emails allow you to submit specific promotions to certain customers. Email provides an even playing field, and targeted email marketing helps you compete with the bigger players.
Email Encourages Dialogue
If a customer shares their email, they want to hear from you. And when they receive a personalized email with an eye-catching subject line, they’re more likely to engage. When COVID happened, merchants lost the ability to communicate directly with clients. Email opened up, built, and sustained conversations with clients through letters, surveys, feedback requests, and more. While avoiding spam, you need to keep the dialogue going. Even if you don’t have any current promotions or sales, send informational emails on your products, or ask them to interact with you through social media. Provide enjoyable content to get them talking and keep them talking and pushing your brand.
Next Steps
We’ve addressed why email marketing is crucial in a post-pandemic market. So, what comes next for you and your brand? As mentioned, strive to get those email addresses! Statistically, upwards of 20% of total online ecommerce revenue is attributed to email marketing. As a goal, try to acquire the emails of at least 2% of your site’s new visitors–though 2.5 to 3% isn’t out of reach. If you need more information, contact us about our email marketing services and more.
