Do your customers hear from you as often as they should? Are you using small business email newsletters to your advantage?

Your customers should be hearing from you at least once every 3-4 weeks (and even that may be too long). The best practice with email marketing is to start slow and track your results.

What emails do customers appreciate, and which ones don’t get opened or interacted with? This type of tracking and testing is necessary when starting up a customer engagement campaign. Letting customers forget about your business gives them time to create strong relationships with your competitors. That’s about the worst thing a business owner can do for their business, right? On the other hand, regular, targeted engagement and interactions are the best. 

So, where should you start with customer engagement through email? Email newsletters are a great way to show customers you care. They provide customers with reminders and updates about your business, they keep customers engaged and feeling connected to you, and they are a great way to make customers feel included and show them that their feedback matters. Email newsletters sit at over a 20% open rate, which is actually a great place to be. 

What are some benefits of using email newsletters as a marketing tool and a way to interact with your customers?

• Email newsletters increase your business’ credibility and remind customers that you are the expert. You are the expert in your field and your customers know that. Home service professionals get called all the time on jobs that have already been attempted by the homeowner, because they realize they need the help of a professional. We can read about dental work all day, but we’re still going to go to the dentist when we need a cavity filled. Why? Because they are experts in that industry. Home service professionals are no different, and customers know that. Email newsletters are a good way to remind customers of that fact, by sending out tips and helpful information within the content of the newsletter. 
• Email newsletters help businesses to connect with their customers on a regular basis, and in a way that is consistent and informative. Providing your customers with consistency in your communication is a powerful first step to creating a loyal relationship with them.  Connecting with customers on a regular basis makes them more likely to come back to your business when they have a need that you can meet. Calling a plumber you’ve already worked with and had a great experience with is even easier when you are consistently reminded of their business, contact information, hours, etc. 
• Newsletters are a great way to increase your content marketing strategy. Every business should be producing content that is valuable to their customer base. Whether you are in the retail business, or you run a restaurant or you are a home services pro, you should be providing a newsletter to your customers in order to increase your content marketing strategy. Besides the fact that email newsletters are a positive step forward in your content marketing strategy, they also help you to establish your brand’s voice. The more consistency you can establish with your customer based, the more trust there will be in the relationship. 
• Sending newsletters via email is a low-risk, high-reward way to interact with your customers. When a business sends out email newsletters, they are sending them out to customers who have already worked with that business, or at least expressed some level of interest. After all, they gave you their email address at some point. That provides businesses with the perfect opportunity to send out newsletters to someone who is already interested in your products or services. Email newsletters are a very low-risk way to see a high-reward from your customers. In fact, there is a return on investment of $40 for every $1 dollar spent on email newsletters sent to customers. 
• Newsletters are easily customized to meet the needs of your customers. Understanding your data and the needs of your customers is the best way to connect with them in a way that makes them want to come back and build a relationship with you. According to Campaign Monitor, businesses have seen over a 700% increase in email-generated revenue because of segmented campaigns. That means that you are offering content to different customer groups based on their location, their previously purchased services and other needs that allow your business to better connect with them. 
• Email newsletters provide a very long-term way to engage your customers and interact with them over time. What better way to continuously connect with your customers than through a regular email that is full of helpful information? Email newsletters provide businesses with a very long-term option for engaging with their customers and continuing to interact with them over long periods of time. 

There is nothing more valuable for a business than strong customer relationships and interactions. Email newsletters are a great way to show customers you care and to build strong connections with them through regular interactions. 

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!