Building trust with your potential customers is one of the most important goals you can have as a small business owner, and there are several ways you can do that. One of our favorite methods here at Piccolo Marketing is building and maintaining the good old email list.
Yes, you heard that right. Email marketing could very well be the best way to communicate with your customers, actually! For example, did you know that email has proven to be more effective in converting prospects than other, more traditional advertising and even social media?
Your email numbers may be harder to grow, that’s true, but once you have them – and if you can keep them – your email list could turn out to be your number one source of revenue.
With this in mind, today we’re going to share with you three steps to start building (and maintaining) your email list right now:
Find The Need
Search and survey your current and potential customer base to figure out what their most common need might be. Let’s say you are an HVAC repair company, and your customers need to save money on energy bills in the coming colder months; addressing a major need like this in the lives of the people you serve will help you attract their interest, and that’s the very first step.
Solve The Problem
Offer a quick and easy solution in exchange for their email address. But only ONE problem. This is what is known as a “lead magnet” – a small piece of collateral, which could be an eBook or a fact sheet – that gives one solution to a problem you have identified. For example, in the HVAC business, you already know that people like to try to do things themselves to save money, so you can offer a checklist that will give them the steps to follow to do a quick tune-up of their system ahead of cold weather in exchange for their email address.
The Long Haul
How you communicate on this platform going forward is something called “lead nurturing.” We all know that nurturing is what we do to help things grow, and that’s precisely the idea here, too. You can use your email strategy to continue to educate your customer base about issues and subjects that are relevant to your business and that matters to them, as well. As you build trust and a relationship with your client base you should also continue to sell to them; not everything can be handled as a do-it-yourself project! Don’t be afraid to sell; customers know you’re in business and that it’s your job to sell your products and services. Also, be mindful of consistently expressing your gratitude for their presence on your email list; they can unsubscribe anytime, after all! Invest in your business relationship to ensure it lasts over the long haul by offering free services, discounts, coupons, and contests.
Email marketing is scalable, cost-effective, and highly efficient – and we call that a no-brainer. Email serves as a direct line to your customer, and it’s one of the best ways to push sales and build deeper relationships with your base, as well. Piccolo Marketing can help you with building and maintaining your mailing list with creative campaigns and consistent, engaging email content so you stay top of mind with your customers.
The team here at Piccolo is made up of local marketing professionals. We work closely with our clients to deliver custom strategies and services at an affordable rate, and this means we’re tailor-made for small and medium-sized businesses that need expert help. When you’re working with us you don’t need to hire a full-time Marketing Director; Piccolo does it all!
