Snaptastic Blog

There is no doubt about it: social media and online marketing is on top and I don’t know if it will ever crawl back down the business ladder. Email alone is used by more than 90% of Internet users between the ages of 18 and 72; the popular catch phrase “you’ve got mail” really wasn’t kidding. Email is a fast-moving train that can do wonders for the small business world…that is if you do it right.

Every email has to have a purpose. Are you inviting your customers to a store event? Are you telling them about a special sale? You have to figure out what you want to say before you even start. Nothing is worse than when you get to the bottom of an email and realize there wasn’t any urgency, date, action and basically no message at all.

You want to make sure that your emails have a great and compelling subject line, something that reaches out to the customer and hits them in the face. Certainly not an actual punch in the face, more of a friendly nudge. But more importantly, get their attention without sounding like spam. Avoid words like “free,” “guarantee” and “save money.” Stay creative, but make sure to get your point across.

In order to create something your customers will want to read, you have to get to the point! Unless you are sending a newsletter, which is made for details and updates, getting to the point and getting to it fast it always the way to go. “Short and sweet” is a popular saying for a reason, because it works and in today’s day and age of immediate results, you have to deliver.

Don’t over send. I’m sure that you have heard someone close to you complain about too many emails from a favorite department store, or maybe you yourself have experienced that. You want to create a schedule of sends, to keep your customers loyal and to keep things consistent. Maybe you want to send your emails every other Monday, so your customers can view them for the week. Sending messages more often is only suggested if you have a specific sale or event coming up.

Choose color carefully. As kids, we all learned about ROY G BIV and the colors of the rainbow. Just because we have learned it, doesn’t mean we have to slam our customers with a massively diverse color palette on every email. You want to choose a color palette that isn’t harsh on the eyes and is definitely aesthetically-pleasing overall. Create a beautiful email that you would enjoy seeing in your email inbox.

Keep it light, keep it current and keep it interesting. Email marketing is a great way to keep your customers guessing about your next big announcement and maintaining devoted shoppers. Show your customers the love and show them your email marketing skills.