Email marketing is that edge. It's one of the most powerful, cost effective marketing tools that any small business can use, and it's one that every independent stylist should be using.
Before we get started talking about why you should be using email marketing there's one thing that I want to be very clear about: Email marketing is not spam.
Spam is when advertising is sent to someone against their wishes. It's junk mail. The person receiving the email never signed up for it & probably doesn't even want it.
That brings us to the first reason why you should use email marketing:
1.) Your Customers Subscribe to it.
If you put a sign up sheet in front of them they will sign up for it because they want it.
Why do they want it? Because they want to know how you can save them money.
They want to know what your latest sales, specials, & promotions are. They want to know about give-a-ways, contest, & the latest news going around the salon. They want to know more about the products & services that you have to offer.
Your customers want information, & they want you to communicate that information to them. The more information that you can put in front of their face, the greater value you are to them.
Email marketing is one of the best ways to get that information to them.
What do I mean by targeting? With email marketing you're not marketing to everyone. You are marketing directly to the clients that you already have at little to no cost. This will allow you to spend your advertising dollars attracting new clientele.
With a targeted email marketing campaign you can directly reward your clients for their loyalty by sending them special offers, discounts, & coupons that you're not offering to the general public. This strengthens relationships & builds trust with the customer, which will in turn cause them to keep coming back to your chair time & time again.
3.) It drives direct sales.
Each week or each month when you send out your email to your clientele you are passing along information directly to the them about a sale, service, product, or promotion that you're featuring. The customer opens up the email, receives the information, then visits you in the salon.
The next thing you know the customer's paying you for the product or service that you featured in your email. The customer may also be using the coupon that you included in your email. None-the-less they bring you their money & their business because in your email to them you have given them information that they needed to know. You saved them money or you explained to them while a certain product is such a great value.
While your client is saving money & finding greater value in what you have to offer, you are causing them to come into the salon & giving more of their money to you. And you did it at little to no cost to you.
In this economy small businesses have to make every dollar work for them. The really great thing about email marketing is that it cost little to no money to do, unlike direct mail or print advertising which can get pretty expensive.
With email marketing there's no production, postage, or materials needed. Everything's digital & electronic.
And there's a TON of resources out there, as well, that you can use for your email marketing! Having a nice, clean, professional looking email is not has hard or as expensive as you might think. Actually if you go HERE you can create a professional looking email for your clients for FREE!
5.) It's quick.
Whenever you feel like marketing, all you have to do is create the email & send it to your clients. No waiting for two-week deadlines before it prints. No waiting for a graphic designer to get back to you with a proof. When you're ready to market, you can take it to market. Your clients can take advantage of the savings immediately.
6.) You're in control.
This is probably the greatest reason of all. After all, it is YOUR business. You're not a corporate salon stylist who has to honor whatever sales & specials that the corporate office dictates. You are free from that! And with that being said: Be free!