Social media channels have been losing trust with users recently because people see them as constant paid ads from brands. They’re looking for something more authentic. Email is still a great way to update your customers and keep them informed. Jewelry stores are building relationships with their customers when they use email marketing the right way.
This week we look at email marketing and why it’s important. If you’d like to learn more about how to get started or tips on how to approach email marketing for your jewelry store then you’ll want to stayed tuned for part two next week.
Email marketing can be very profitable for your store if you use the channel correctly. When compared to other forms of marketing, email usually outperforms because it is permission-based, measurable, and very efficient.
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is defined as the use of email to promote products or services. This is often taken literally, and some businesses send nothing but sales, discounts, and promotional emails. This will often result in people viewing your brand as a discount store or they will get annoyed with your emails and unsubscribe from your list. The best way to increase sales through email marketing is by relationship building.
The wonderful thing about email is that it’s permission based. The people on your list gave you permission to contact them (please don’t send out emails to people who haven’t given you their permission), and from that point on, you can contact them directly and continue to earn their trust.
Permission Based
Unlike other forms of marketing that may seem more intrusive, customers prefer email because they have more control. They decide whether they want to open your email or not, if they want to stop getting your emails, or they can even flag your email as spam (this can have a negative effect on future email deliverability). That’s why it’s very important to consider your audience, and what they are expecting from you, when putting together your email marketing campaigns.
Low-Cost
Email marketing is a low-cost form of marketing when compared to other marketing channels such as social media ads, search ads, or direct mail marketing. The costs involved with email marketing is usually just a monthly email marketing software that can cost as little as $30/month. Other marketing channels can have you spending thousands of dollars a month to get your marketing message in front of people. It’s a very smart idea to use email marketing. The return on email marketing spend is $38 for every $1 invested. That means it’s a great way to reach your audience and get great results.
Measurable
Tracking results is a crucial part of running a good marketing campaign. A lot of channels out there offer unclear or ambiguous results and data. Email marketing shows accurate metrics such as delivery rates, open rates, and subscriber retention rates. This data also lets you see what customers are interested in by the way they interact with your emails. For example, you can see who opened the last 5 emails you’ve sent out about your bracelet sales, create a special offer involving bracelets, and send it exclusively to those who opened the five emails. Results have shown that those engaged with you emails are more likely to buy. Why send them a generic email about your products when you know the exact products they’re interested in? The important part is to send out good emails and then track and analyze the response.
Email marketing can be very broad or very targeted. When advertising on the radio or placing an ad on Pinterest you’re more than likely going to get your message in front of people who have no interest in what you’re offering. With email marketing, you can have a big list of people who, at the very least, know your brand and are open to getting a message from you. You can also grab that big list, identify groups, make offers that speak directly to those groups, and email those offers. When compared to other marketing channels email marketing is highly measurable.
The Right Way To Use Email Marketing
Many jewelry stores tend to lose contact with customers after the sale. This is especially true if they don’t have email marketing in place. The best time to contact a customer is right after they’ve trusted you and made a purchase. This is a great time to check in on them to see how they’re doing, offer other products or services, ask for a referral or a review. Yet many businesses as spending their marketing time and budget on trying to get more new customers.
Email is a great way to reach out to existing customers and continue to build a relationship. There are certain things people do to build trust and friendship that have stood the test of time. Things like the “Thank-you card” or a phone call wishing someone a happy anniversary strike a nerve.
Email has made it easier to reach many people and send them welcomed message. Technology has made it easier to automate some of these messages, but smart businesses are finding the time to use data gather throughout the relationship with customers and personalize even further. The idea is that email makes it a lot easier to communicate with a group of people and avoid sending them emails that don’t interest them.
How To Get Started With Email Marketing
In Part 1 we learned that email marketing is a valuable tool you should be using to stay in touch with your customers. You’ll want to stay in touch to strengthen your relationship with them by sending them useful emails. Email is also a permission-based channel, so customers are taking the first step by allowing you to contact their inbox. The emails you send should come from a place with your customers in mind. This means not sending only sales emails where you’re always asking them for a purchase. This is relationship marketing and it cannot be one-sided.
Today, we’ll look at specific ways you can get started with email marketing. We’ll cover the importance of your email list and how to grow it, tips on sending your first emails, and how to get the most out of email marketing by segmenting.
Create An Email Marketing List
A big part of email marketing is having a list of email addresses. After all, you need someone to send your emails to. Some of you may already have a list of customers or people interested in your brand. If you do, great, if not that’s alright too. We’ll all need to grow our list regardless of the size.
Your list is the lifeblood of your email marketing efforts. You can have the most beautiful emails and incredible offers, but if the people on your list aren’t interested or qualified to buy, then your campaigns will go nowhere. When it comes to your list think quality, not quantity. Success is about the quality of the emails and, over time, the relationship you have with the people on that list.
Make sure that as you grow your list you’re only keeping people that want to interact with your brand. Don’t collect email addresses from a third-party or get an email address without a person’s consent.
Use An Email Marketing Tool
You’ll need an email marketing software to store your email addresses and send emails to your list. Tools like MailChimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign, and Drip are great email marketing software companies. These are usually paid through a monthly subscription and prices vary depending on the size of your email list.
Upload all email addresses you’ve collected to your email service provider. Don’t worry, most of these services offer helpful support to show you how to upload your email list. Make sure you are only uploading email addresses with people who know you and have given you permission to contact them. If you don’t you might violate the terms of service with the email marketing software and your emails won’t get delivered.
Most of the email campaigns that we’ll be talking about in this article can be automated. This means that they can be pre-written and uploaded to the email marketing software programs. The emails are automatically sent out emails when someone joins your list.
How to Grow Your Email Marketing List
If you haven’t already started, a good place to get email addresses is from current customers. Have a contact sheet, present it to your customer at check out, and tell them you’d like to keep in contact with them. Most of the time they’ll be happy to give you their contact info.
An easier way to collect a customer’s email address is to give them a reason to stay in touch. For example, some jewelers offer complimentary cleaning for life. Customers will be happy to give their email address for a nice incentive. A friendly reminder email informing that customer their due for a free cleaning is a great way to reach their inbox and stay in touch.
Potential customers are another group of people you should be collecting email addresses from. Many E-commerce stores often give an incentive to first-time customers in exchange for their email address. Incentives don’t necessarily have to come in the form of a discount. The idea is to be creative. You can host an in-store event and invite people who join your list.
Newsletters and updates are a great way to get customers to join your list. If you have beautiful designs that you like to showcase, then an email is a great way to do that. You probably have a few devoted fans that love your collections and would love to be the first to know when a new piece comes out. The key is to fill the newsletter with topics people on your list are interested in. Things such as community events, local news, jewelry trends, announcements, etc. make your newsletter interesting and people will want to join your list just to get the latest release.
Be Yourself
Your company has a certain tone and style that people feel when they interact with you and your staff at your store. This same tone should be felt when people read your emails. Be yourself and treat your emails as communications you would have with customers in front of you. Don’t imitate your competitors by sending similar emails.
Take the time to understand your customers, send something they’ll want, and talk to them the way you do in your store. Authenticity is one of the best ways to get a good response to your marketing.
Send Emails They’ll Want To Open
The emails you send should be welcomed and gladly opened. This is especially true for your first email. A good first email to send can be a “Thank you for your purchase” email. This is an opportunity to share a a heartfelt thank you, and you can let them know what they can expect from future emails.
The same can be done when someone joins your list for a newsletter or incentive you offered. Make sure you deliver the incentive they’re expecting and let them know what they can expect next time.
It’s very important that your emails don’t seem like repetitive sales emails. These can get boring and damage your brand. Get creative and send emails with content your customers will want to see.
Personalize
Send emails that are exclusive to the person getting them. The more information you have about your list the more effective your emails can be through personalization. This can be as simple as knowing the email recipient’s name and including it in the subject line. Studies show that your email is more likely to connect and get open if you use the reader’s name.
Another example is knowing someone’s birthdate. A birthday email is a great reason to reach out to a customer and can leave an impression on a special day. The future is full of data collection for personalization because big companies know people want to read emails that feel exclusive.
Email marketing software handles most of the personalization you can come up with. The important thing is to earn trust and get this information from the people on your list. This can be done with a questionnaire that can be sent later, as the relationship and trust strengthens.
Plan Your Emails
If you’re going to start email marketing it’s important to have a plan and a commitment to that plan. Some jewelry stores send a daily email. This may work for some but for others, it may be too much. Make sure that you are contacting your list at least once every two weeks. The important thing is consistency. Don’t get your customers used to something only to take it away and bring it back at your convenience.
A good way to stay on track is to have a 3-month calendar with your email marketing campaigns. Commitment is the key. If you want to see the rewards of email marketing then you need to give it a good amount of time and commit to the strategy.
Segment
Once you start sending out a few emails you might find yourself wanting better results or run out of ideas for emails to send. The next step is to start segmenting your list. You’ll notice that you have different types of customers. For example, let’s say you sell different types of jewelry and send email campaigns for earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Over time, you’ll notice that some people on your list tend to open earring emails more than other products while others open only necklace emails. The next step is to separate these people into groups. You can tag these people based on their preference and send them emails exclusive to their interest.
Final Thoughts On Email Marketing
Email marketing can make customers appreciate your store and service if you don’t abuse the communication channel. Customers want to hear from you but you’ll want to make sure your emails aren’t one-sided. Treat your email marketing as you would a relationship with a friend. Make sure your emails are providing value rather than constantly asking for transactions.
If you’d like to learn about email marketing for your jewelry store or want us to take a look at your current email marketing strategy, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help. Get in touch with GemFind today.