Here’s a neat new product that just might make your small business marketing life easier, especially when it comes to building your email marketing lists at the physical store level. Here’s the scenario: You’re a small business owner with a physical store location. Lots of customers come through your door each day but you’re not maximizing the opportunity to properly collect customer email addresses in an organized fashion.
Enter a new product called wiBirthdayClub made by Sterizon LLC. wiBirthdayClub is a hand-held device that allows you or the customer to digitally enter their email information at the time of purchase and sign up and “opt-in” for special offers, including birthday offers and other promotional specials.
Part of the reason why people are discouraged from leaving their email information at the time of checkout is because filling out paperwork – even if just a few lines of information – can be an arduous task for many. wiBirthdayClub will hopefully eliminate this frustration by making it easier for customers to leave their information at the time of check out, ultimately leading to better email marketing campaigns.
The device is specially designed for restaurants, bars, clubs and salons, but we bet it could be used as a small business marketing tool for any entrepreneur operating a physical store location. Even better is the fact that the device automatically synchronizes to any number of leading email contact database service providers, like iContact.
Here’s a quick video demonstration of wiBirthdayClub:
Collecting organic email addresses for opt-in has long been a source of frustration for many small business owners and their employees. Walk into any small business and make a purchase. Odds are that you won’t be asked to leave your email address at any point during the transaction. The problem is that, over time, you’re missing out on a tremendous opportunity to build an email marketing list that can drive even more profits down the road, an important problem considering email marketing will only continue to grow. And email addresses from past (and happy) customers are the most coveted because they already know you and your company and would most likely buy from you again, assuming you offered them a great promotion with incentive to come back to the store – or buy from you online.
Taking it a step further, with more email addresses in your database you can also build up a loyalty program or customer rewards program, driving even more value for your returning customers. When customers begin to realize value at this level, your ability to establish a brand truly starts to pay off. But it all starts with first collecting the email address.
Here are some additional small business marketing tips for developing a successful email marketing campaign:
–Avoid buying lists: You may think this is the “easy” way out but you’d really be doing yourself a disservice if you purchase an email list from a broker.
–Your list is not cookie-cutter: As you sign up more and more people, you should be studying them to see if their interests are different and make note of those interests. If I only buy beer at your liquor store don’t send me an email promoting a wine tasting event.
–Abide by can-spam rules: There are rules of engagement when sending emails, and you need to take them seriously. Click here for information on can-spam laws.
–Pay attention to frequency and right day: Believe it or not, there is a method to the madness depending on what you sell and who your audience is. Sometimes it’s better to send your email on a Tuesday and sometimes it’s better to send on a Saturday. Do you know when your target audience is opening their email and when they’re in a buying mood?
–Measure, then measure some more: Tracking the success and testing different email strategies is key to understanding your return on investment. Do research on the best measurement methods/tools that work best for you and your campaigns.
Have you done any email marketing campaigns lately? How did they turn out?
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