Generating word of mouth for small business

No matter what size your business is, you need effective advertising and marketing solutions to grow your business.  If you are like most business owners, you know there is a whole universe of options, but figuring out which ones are right for you business can be tough when you are tight on cash and time.

 

It should come as no surprise that I am a big believer in word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising.  It is the most effective form of advertising, and better yet it is usually free.  However, there are several other low cost alternatives that can also be simple and effective. 

 

One of the best marketing solutions, especially for small business, is an email marketing program.  Done right, you can use regular email blasts to drive up loyalty and repeat business.  Plus, you can have a very effective marketing program with very little time investment, and you don’t even need a website.

 

Why send out email newsletters?

-          To stay “top of mind” with your customers (loyalty, repeat business)

-          To inform your customers of important news (new products, sales, events, etc.)

-          To encourage your customers to spread the word about your business

 

What?  You can use email newsletters to attract new customers?  The answer is YES!  One of the most over-looked benefits of email newsletters is their ease of being forwarded to friends of your customers.  The trick is to give your email newsletter recipient a reason to pass your email along.  One small business owner, Laura Sherman of Your Chess Coach (www.YourChessCoach.com), knows this all too well.  “I know they forward them because they tell me they do or I receive an email back from them with a glowing review, which was sent to their entire list!  That is why it is important that the articles be engaging and not advertising oriented”

 

Because newsletters are easy to forward, it is a good idea to make sure your email newsletter contains all the information someone would need to find your business:  your address, your phone number, your email address, and a clickable link to your business website.

 

So how much does a good email marketing program cost?

The most simple of email marketing programs can be done for free by creating a mailing list (sometimes called an email distribution list) with your current email software such as Outlook, Yahoo, or Hotmail.  However, there are two concerns with this method: the emails created by typical email software can be boring or unprofessional-looking, and it can be difficult to keep your mailing list current.  For example, it can be very time-consuming to update your mailing list for new email addresses as well as to quickly remove email addresses from the list for those who requested to opt out.  (See our next blog post for tips & tricks on creating and maintaining a mailing list!)

 

If you can afford a small monthly fee (usually $15 to $30 per month, depending on your mailing list size), you can save yourself a lot of time and aggravation by using a hosted email campaign service.  There are several out there, including Constant Contact, iContact and MailChimp.  These services will handle much of the mailing list management for you, especially the opt-outs by customers.  More importantly, they allow you to build your emails in one of the customizable templates to help your message look more professional.

 

One of my personal favorites is a Tampa Bay area service called Two Cups Connect (www.twocupsconnect.com).  They have all the same features of the others for a comparable cost, but they also help you build a one-of-kind email template that can have the same look & feel as your website, logo or whatever image you want to present to your customers.  And, if you can afford to spend a little more, their team will actually help you write your email content (a service which may easily pay for itself if you are as busy as I am.)

 

Sounds good, but I’m not very technical or “computer savvy”

No problem.  In fact, this is another reason why making the small investment in these services is a good idea.  They do so much of the “heavy lifting” for you, there is very little you have to do except send out email newsletters and review the online reports that tell you how effective your email was.  That’s right, these services can tell you how many people actually read your email, who forwarded it, who clicked through to the website, etc.

 

Scott Moore, of Urban Body Men’s Clothing in south Tampa (www.urbanbody.com), found the service he selected to be extremely easy to use.  “It was not difficult at all. With a minimum of computer knowledge you can master the plug in style of the newsletter system”

 

So how do I get started?

Here are the simple steps:

1.      Build a mailing list

2.      Select the tool or service you will use

3.      Determine the email newsletter schedule

4.      Set aside the time (put appointments on your calendar and stick to them!)

5.      Track the success

 

So, while using an email marketing program is simple and inexpensive, writing and sending the email newsletters yourself will require an investment of both time and thought.  So before you get started, be sure to consider whether you can stick to a regular schedule.  If not, you might want to consider a service like Two Cups Connect that can do some or all of the writing for you.  Or, you might be able to find another ‘ghost writer’ if you ask around.

 

What is the #1 key to success with email newsletters?

Email marketing programs will not be effective if your recipients do not read the newsletter.  If you rarely have compelling content, your recipients will quickly learn to simply ignore all future emails and hit the delete key without even opening the email.   Worse, your recipients will “opt out” of receiving all future emails which cuts off an important communication with one of your customers.

 

Be compelling!  Be informative!  Be relevant!

 

Or maybe more importantly, RESIST THE URGE TO USE ADVERTISING LANGUAGE!!  I cannot say that enough!  According to Laura Sherman, “I’ve seen too many newsletters that are all about selling product.  I have to admit I roll my eyes and delete them quickly.  That vendor loses credibility with me and I will probably not open another newsletter from them.  In contrast there are other newsletters I eagerly await each month because the information held within is useful to me.  I learn something and will often pass it around to my friends.”

 

Do you have be to a good writer?  Absolutely not!  If you believe you have little or no writing skills, then it would be a good idea to get some help.  However, most of your customers read your newsletters for the relevant information.  They are not expecting you to be the next John Grisham. 

 

What makes a newsletter compelling?

Here are a few simple topic ideas that I have seen used by many of the email newsletters I am signed up for, but there is certainly no limit:

-          Announce new products or services

-          Announce promotions, contests or sales

-          Educate your customers about one of your products or services. 

-          Tell a story about one of your happy customers

-          Talk about your charity work or giving

-          Announce other big news for your business (a new organization you just joined, reaching big milestones like your 100^th customer, etc.)

 

Scott Moore uses one of my favorite email newsletter techniques.  Even though he runs a clothing store, he uses his email marketing program to solve his customers’ issues.  “We are plugged into special events around Tampa and Orlando and provide information on those events and how to dress for them.”

 

Privacy does matter!

One final tip is to be sure to respect the privacy concerns of your customers and newsletter recipients. 

 

Be sure to let your mailing list know that you won’t sell or share their contact information with other businesses, and give them peace of mind in knowing that they can always opt out (and that you will respect their wishes).

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

On a side note,  since this is post #1, I wanted to share some of the upcoming topics to give you something to look forward to:

-          how to “easily” build and maintain an email mailing list (and why)

-          the whys, how-tos and benefits of small business networking (including should a business PAY for networking??)

-          how to know which print advertising options are right for your business

-          does direct mail really work?

-          From billboards to bus benches – evaluating alternative advertising options