Over the past couple of decades, we have witnessed something truly remarkable, something which has forever altered the world of marketing and is the ultimate weapon in our battle against the Big Box Phenomenon. That something is the Internet.
For the first time in history, the playing field has been somewhat leveled between small retailers with limited resources and the multi-million dollar budgets of major marketers. And so, the Holy Grail of marketing for small business is direct marketing through email (and even snail mail direct marketing), along with the advent of Social Media.
In my opinion, these strategies are unique advantages a small business can have over the Big Box stores. A few advantages of email and social media are:
• They are flexible and instantaneous
• You can keep in touch on a regular basis with your best customers via weekly or monthly newsletters as well as Facebook and Twitter
• They are under the radar, so you can run promotions that your competition is unaware of
• In the not too distant future your opt-in mail list will be infinitely more valuable than your bricks and mortar store/business
Let me elaborate on that last point. Assume over a period of time you have collected 5,000 names and email addresses and you are corresponding with them regularly – offering free advice, or specials or valuable information – and they have been responding by buying from your website and making contact in other ways.
There will come a time when some huge corporation could approach you and say, “Hi Bill, How many people do you deal with on a regular basis through your opt-in newsletter?” And you say. “Oh, about 5,000 contacts.” You might hear the following offering: “We would like to partner with you for affiliated marketing. If you would be willing to send the following link out to your client list and promote us, we would give you a 25% passive income from all the sales generated through this process.”
Many customers may want to protect their privacy and therefore could be reluctant to share that information unless you guarantee them an ironclad guarantee of privacy. Most large companies have what they call a ‘Privacy Statement’ or ‘Privacy Policy’ that you’ll find somewhere on their communication pieces. You might want to use this as a basis for developing your own.
Alternatively, you can develop a contest or draw whereby the participants must complete a form (that you position in a convenient place, usually at the cash counter), and fill in all their personal details such as name, address, phone number, fax, EMAIL ADDRESS, birthday, wedding anniversary, work telephone number for their spouse/partner. You also include a check box, and a line at the bottom of the form that reads something like this:
“Would you like to receive our free e-newsletter with all the latest trends etc.., etc…? If so, please check the box on the left.” When they do this, they have agreed to be an opt-in receiver of your information, and you now have permission to proceed.
VERY IMPORTANT: As mentioned earlier, you must indicate that you do not share or sell your mail list to anyone and that it remains private to you. You then input this info into your contact management system and you begin by sending them a one-page newsletter with VALUABLE information.
I say ‘valuable’ because useless information or a HARD SELL message will almost certainly motivate them to trash your email – and invariably cancel their subscription to your service.
Article Author: Roy Prevost is an internationally recognized retail trainer, keynote speaker and customer service activist. He is the author of Turbocharge Your Retail Business: How to Outmaneuver and Outperform the Big Guys. Roy has spent the last 25 years working in and with thousands of businesses worldwide helping them grow their business and increase revenues by showing them how to compete in a hyper-competitive world through relationship building and going the extra mile with customers. He is passionate about turning business owners into ‘Customer Service Superstars’. Click Here to receive your complementary guide: 10 Topics to Discuss Before You Hire a Web Design Company.
Article Resources:
Turbocharge Your Retail Business: How to outmaneuver and outperform the big guys by Roy Prevost
Photo Source: courtesy of Stuart Miles / Free Digital Photos