31 Reasons Small Business Owners Use Email Marketing

Rylan Pinkham of Constant Contact wrote the following article that provides 31 reasons To Use Email Marketing as Told by Small Business Owners. From connecting with new prospects to generating new business from current clients, the ideas are worth sharing.

Constant Contact spoke with owners of restaurants, retail stores, real estate agencies, yoga studios, lawn care businesses, marketing companies, financial offices, and more and asked “Why do you use email marketing?”

From increased sales to improved communication, new leads and more website traffic — all of these business owners had their own email marketing success story to share.  Each business owner has a different reason but all are valuable,

There’s plenty of data to back up the benefits of email marketing. For example…

• MarketingSherpa, 2015 91 percent of US adults like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with.
• McKinsey, 2014 Email is almost 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined in helping your business acquire new customers.
• DMA, 2013 66 percent of consumers have made a purchase as a result of an email marketing message.

But if you really want to find out how email can work for your business, why not ask other small business owners to hear how it works for them?

That’s what we (Constant Contact) did:

1. Brandon Stewart Realtor, David Griffin & Company Realtors Constant Contact customer since 2009 The emails are an important reinforcement of brand. I get calls from people I’ve never met all the time. They get the newsletter, or a friend of theirs gets the newsletter, and they know I’m the person to call. It really helps establish credibility upfront. 11 1. Establish credibility
2. Five years ago, we started with zero contacts, but we have a great database now – we have 7,000 email addresses. That means I can push out a social event or a holiday and let 7,000 people know instead of advertising it for $500 in a newspaper. 12 2. Grow your audience Frank Galuppi Owner, Galuppi’s Restaurant Constant Contact customer since 2010
3. For years, in large part to the newsletter I think, I’ve never had trouble attracting new clients and the right kinds of clients. People will read my newsletter and be able to tell if I’m the right person for the project before they even call me. 13 3. Reach new clients Tom Ahern Founder, Ahern Donor Communications Constant Contact customer since 2008
4. When we first started, I really wasn’t sure how it would work for us. I’m not a professional marketer, and thought I would need a lot of training. But I decided to give it a try and I was able to teach myself everything I needed to know. 14 4. Get started quickly Anca Bala Coordinator, Gallery Above Penn Square Constant Contact customer since 2013
5. Email is our prime mode of communication…We rely really heavily on it because whenever I send something out, I’ll get a flood of telephone calls. 15 5. Generate calls Victor Terrazas Owner, Rejuvenate Therapeutic Massage Constant Contact customer since 2013
6. It has definitely been the easiest way to reach people. If we have a slower day and know that we want to reach local people, we can create a quick email and will get at least a few calls right away. The response is immediate. 16 6. Boost sales Christine Copertino Spa Director, Allegria Spa Constant Contact customer since 2011
7. We sent a plea out to our database, explaining the situation and asking for help… The response was amazing; we raised over $10,000 from individual donors. 17 7. Increase donations Laura Carlock Founder, Rescued Pets Movement Constant Contact customer since 2013
8. Email has definitely helped us with web traffic and attendance at our events. I like that after I send an email out, I can go back and see how many people clicked through on which links. That way I can tell people are interacting with our content and click through to our website. 18 8. Learn what works Ally Whittaker, Public Relations Manager, The Local Good Constant Contact customer since 2009
9. Constant Contact is very cost-effective for our marketing, because I can do all of it and I don’t have to hire a designer or someone coming up with content for us. 19 9. Get more from your investment Marc Lodovico Manager, Vicky’s of Santa Fe Constant Contact customer since 2010
10. I want to know that if someone gets our email, no matter where they are, they can look at it. When I sent our last flyer I got three phone calls. That’s big! And I am almost positive that all of those people were on their phones, not in an office. 20 10. Reach people on any device Carol Singer Owner, Arlington Promotional Products Constant Contact customer since 2009
11. Email definitely works. We see people clicking through to our website and we have people coming into the shop telling us that they saw our newsletter. 21 11. Increase website traffic Dawn Noble Owner, La Provence Constant Contact customer since 2011
12. Email marketing is great, because it doesn’t have to take a lot of effort to have a BIG effect. 22 12. Get more from doing less Terri Jasen Program Director, Pajama Program Constant Contact customer since 2008
13. I do the best I can to put all my contacts in separate lists so I can email just the development community, or just businesses, or elected officials, depending on what kind of event announcement or email I’m sending. 23 13. Market with a personal touch Courtney Hendricson Assistant Town Manager, Town of Enfield Constant Contact customer since 2013
14. We get really good feedback from the newsletters. The new templates have been working great for us. We’re getting a ton of opens. 24 14. Look professional Todd Starnes President, Bicycle Adventures Constant Contact customer since 2002
15. It’s rewarding because we always get an immediate response through orders. Whenever we need to trigger sales, we’ll think of a great special to put out there. 25 15. Get immediate results Karen Kowal Founder, Mother Earth Pillows Constant Contact customer since 2010
16. It’s been great for generating leads. People that are thinking about using our service will usually sign up for the newsletter. I’ll see them pop up for a couple of weeks in my reader-base, and then they’ll call and make an appointment. It’s not long until we pull them in as a customer. 26 16. Generate leads Meghan Blair-Valero Owner, Fogged in Bookkeeping, Inc. Constant Contact customer since 2011
17. After each email, I get three to five calls. Some people see my email and get reminded they want a consultation, others will just want to talk about a news article. 27 17. Start a conversation Paula Harris Co-owner, WH Cornerstone Investments Constant Contact customer since 2003
18. It’s always nice to hear someone tell us how much they enjoyed reading our newsletter and thanking us for reminding them to come visit the store or give us a call. The personal touch really makes the difference. 28 18. Build excitement Sue Bedell Owner, Second Bloom Design Constant Contact customer since 2010
19. We’ve had people say that they’ve really noticed that there’s more communication going on. It can be something small…we try to send out an email right away letting our residents know that’s happening, and sometimes get an email right back saying thank you. 29 19. Improve communication Julia Mason Marketing Manager, Bucci/Pollen Group Constant Contact customer since 2013
20. Our email marketing started off as an experiment. But our open rates are usually higher than 50 percent and we get service calls every time we send a newsletter out, so I think it’s working. 30 20. Promote services Matthew Taylor Co-owner, Green Solutions Lawn Care & Pest Control Constant Contact customer since 2011
21. We started with email marketing to communicate and share industry updates. It’s really grown into one of our best drivers for brand awareness. We’re noticing more people talking about our business, and we have more people showing up at our events. 31 21. Improve brand awareness Julia Mason Marketing Manager, Bucci/Pollen Group Constant Contact customer since 2013
22. Before Constant Contact, we were manually keeping track of everyone we had reached out to — it was crazy, the amount of time it took. Now, I can send out an email to about 300 people in less than five minutes. 32 22. Stay organized Ruth Weening Catering Manager, Basil Tree Catering Constant Contact customer since 2008
23. We make it easy for our customers to book classes right online through our emails. Once an email goes out, we see the sign-ups come in shortly after. 33 23. Book more classes Arlet Koseian Founder, extendYOGA Constant Contact customer since 2011
24. Every time I send out an email, I get a sale in 15 minutes. Overall, I get up to four times as many sales with these newsletters than I did with my old ones, and they’ve gone from about $50 per order to $100. 34 24. Increase your value Irene Schmoller Founder, Cotton Clouds Constant Contact customer since 2010
25. If you don’t have a plan for reaching out to vendors on a regular basis, it’s easy to let some people fall through the cracks. You want to make sure you’re maintaining relationships with both your core vendors and any of the smaller ones you may be working with. 35 25. Maintain vendor relationships Lee Klacher Founder, Octane Press Constant Contact customer since 2011
26. People get to see my work, which is great, and these are often people who I never get to meet with one-on-one. The timing of each newsletter is going to be right for somebody, and having the opportunity to show people what I’m doing has just been a great way to grow my business and my reach. 36 26. Attract new clients Jill Singer Owner, Jill Singer Graphics Constant Contact customer since 2011
27. A great thing about Constant Contact is if you’re having a problem, you can just pick up the phone and someone will solve your problem in a matter of minutes. 37 27. You’re not alone Dan Plouffe Co-owner, MyCollingwood.com Constant Contact customer since 2006
28. The biggest benefit of email marketing, from a staff perspective, is efficiency. I have a template made so it’s easy to pull together an email quickly. I think the rest of my staff thinks it takes me a lot longer to create an email than it actually does! 38 28. Save time Kayla Peck FAO Schwarz Foundation fellow, Strong Women, Strong Girls Constant Contact customer since 2005
29. The biggest benefit for us is that our members feel more connected. We’re able to keep people informed about our upcoming events and provide another way for our more than 400 members to recognize each other and feel more connected. 39 29. Stay connected Elizabeth Stigler Communications Director, The Chicago Network Constant Contact customer since 2010
30. Almost all of our donations come through our email newsletters. Using email marketing to mintain relationships and build personal connections has been a key to our success. And the biggest part of that has been staying in touch and top of mind throughout the year. 40 30. Stay top-of-mind Julie Taulman Executive Director, Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports Constant Contact customer since 2009
31. Our problem in the past would be when people were not aware of all the trips we had available. Up until we started using Constant Contact we just had everything on our website. From a marketing sense, that’s the wrong approach because it puts the burden on our customers. 41 31. Improve visibility Joe McDonald Co-founder, McDonald Wildlife Photography Constant Contact customer since 2011

Want to give email marketing a try? With over 600,000 customers, Constant Contact knows what works for small businesses.

This article was originally posted on Constant Contacts website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Select Business Marketing is a Solution Provider for Constant Contact. In addition, Debbie DeChambeau is an Authorized Local Expert where-in she does presentations for associations and chambers on behalf of Constant Contact on email marketing best practices.