| As a small business owner, a big part of your success | | | | email allows you to generate repeat sales which can |
| relies on maximizing your sales while minimizing your | | | | be up to four times more profitable than the initial |
| expenses. Email marketing can be a great vehicle to | | | | purchase. |
| do both. | | | | A good email marketing campaign will increase the |
| A good email marketing campaign can help you: | | | | frequency of repeat purchases from your existing |
| - Increase your sales conversion | | | | customers. |
| - Generate repeat sales | | | | 3. Up-sell and Cross-sell Products & Services |
| - Up-sell and cross-sell products and services | | | | "Would you like fries with that?" |
| - Gain valuable feedback from your visitors | | | | McDonalds makes billions of dollars every year from |
| - Drive web users to make offline purchases | | | | this basic up-sell. |
| 1. Increase Your Sales Conversion | | | | When appropriate, email provides a great opportunity |
| Regardless of how good your product or service is, in | | | | for you to up-sell and cross-sell your products and |
| reality most visitors to your site won't convert into | | | | services. |
| sales on their first visit. | | | | For example, if you run a website that sells tennis gear, |
| In fact, research indicates that it takes the average | | | | someone purchasing a new tennis racket might also |
| shopper up to nine visits before they'll make a buying | | | | be interested in tennis balls and other accessories. |
| decision. In other words, every effective sales process | | | | By using simple email marketing software, it's easy to |
| requires an element of repetition. | | | | create a series of email messages (called |
| Think about the times when you've picked up a new | | | | 'Auto-Responders') that will automatically follow-up with |
| product at the supermarket after seeing it advertised | | | | offers on tennis balls, tennis shoes, tennis clothes and |
| on TV a dozen times. Or a time where you've visited | | | | so on. |
| a new local restaurant after driving past it every day | | | | If you're selling a service, like dry cleaning, once a |
| on your way to work. | | | | customer has made an initial purchase you can use |
| That's repetition in action, but unlike a | | | | email to follow up with related services, like ironing |
| 'bricks-and-mortar' retail store, there is no 'drive-by' | | | | business shirts and stain removal. |
| traffic on the Internet. In many cases when someone | | | | This basic technique by itself can easily add an extra |
| clicks on the little 'exit' button in the top right hand | | | | 30% to your average order value and is used by |
| corner of the screen... they're gone forever. | | | | almost all major companies online. |
| On top of that, there are numerous ways someone | | | | uses up-selling and cross-selling extensively on their |
| can get distracted while visiting your website. For | | | | site. |
| example, let's say you run a website selling baby | | | | If you buy a book about 'home renovations', they'll |
| prams. | | | | follow up with a list of other books on the same topic. |
| A mother is surfing through your site and finds a | | | | Dell Computers offers printers and other accessories |
| product she likes - but before she gets a chance to | | | | as up-sells to people purchasing computer systems. |
| add the item to her shopping basket .... | | | | 4. Gain Valuable Feedback from Your Visitors |
| - The phone rings | | | | Customer feedback is an invaluable tool for any |
| - The baby starts crying | | | | business. This feedback allows you to determine: |
| - She accidentally closes off the web browser | | | | - What products and services to provide |
| - She receives an email that requires attention | | | | - Who to target |
| - A delivery man rings the door bell | | | | - What the market is willing to pay |
| Regardless of the reason - if she leaves the site | | | | Email in particular provides your customers with a |
| there's a 90% chance you've lost the sale... unless | | | | unique opportunity to give honest feedback. Unlike |
| you've managed to capture her email address. | | | | face-to-face interaction where people can be shy |
| If you've got her email address, you get a second | | | | about voicing their true feelings, email allows them to |
| chance. | | | | get right to the point. |
| You can email her with: | | | | By using email as a feedback tool you can adapt to |
| - Your monthly newsletter | | | | what the market wants and improve your business. |
| - Your free report on 'How to Choose the Perfect | | | | 5. Drive Web Users to Make Offline Purchases |
| Pram' | | | | Surprisingly, email marketing is often a catalyst for web |
| - Information about new models | | | | users to go and make a purchase offline. When |
| The bottom line is, capturing an email address gives | | | | surveyed, 59% of email users said that they have |
| you a 'Plan B' and allows you to follow-up with | | | | made a purchase offline after receiving an email |
| someone after they've left your website. | | | | promotion. |
| 2. Generate Repeat Sales | | | | Why? Sometimes a user will find something they want |
| Getting new customers is hard work - it's also really | | | | online but they need it straight away and can't afford |
| expensive. | | | | to wait for delivery. Other times, the product might |
| In fact, it can be up to eight to ten times more | | | | need to be demonstrated (like a treadmill) and they |
| expensive to acquire a new customer than to sell to | | | | want to see, touch and feel the item. |
| an existing one. To acquire new customers, you have | | | | If you run a conventional offline business you can use |
| to factor in the cost of advertising, educating and | | | | email marketing to drive foot traffic through your door. |
| selling to them. | | | | Final Thoughts |
| Therefore, a big chunk of the initial sale is simply | | | | Because email marketing has such low overheads, |
| recouping the costs you've outlaid to get the customer | | | | every sale generated from your campaign is pure |
| in the first place. | | | | profit. |
| And while new sales are great, we can't emphasize | | | | Regardless of the product or service you sell, if you're |
| strongly enough the value of repeat sales. Too often, | | | | not taking advantage of email marketing, you're losing |
| businesses focus only on the initial sale and forget | | | | money. |
| about the lifetime value of a customer. | | | | So what are you waiting for? |
| Keeping in touch with customers on a regular basis via | | | | Start building that list now! |