Building your client or customer email database should be a priority as part of your ongoing marketing efforts. After all, it costs more to acquire more customers than it does to keep them. However, keeping your customers is the key. While it’s always nice when customers return on their own, sometimes they need a little prodding.
Your email list is one of those ways you can prod your customers to get back to your store or call for your services. But after you collect all those email addresses, what do you do with them?
Here are a few tips to utilize your email list to keep those customers coming back.
Email Newsletters
We’ve talked about regular email newsletters before. They are a great and cheap way to stay in touch with all your customers and contacts as a whole. Be sure you send newsletters on a regular basis, but not too often. Keep them brief, while keeping in mind that the content should be interesting and valuable for your customers.
Wish Happy Birthday
When collecting emails, be sure you also collect other data from your customers if possible, like a birth date. You can then use your email database software to run regular reports on upcoming birthdays. Send a special email to those customers wishing them a great day and special wishes from you and your company. You might also include a special discount to encourage them to spend some of their birthday monies at your business.
Appointment Reminders
While most people are good are remembering and writing down appointments, it is always a good courtesy to remind them of an upcoming appointment. It helps them know you’re thinking of them, gives them a reminder for their calendar, and helps you avoid losing business due to missed appointments.
Reminders to Set Appointments
While actual appointment reminders are helpful, use your email database to remind customers to set appointments as well. A short reminder to think early about setting an appointment with your tax service before the big “rush,” or a reminder that their auto is due for an oil change, can be the solidifier that gets them back to your business and gets you that return customer.
