How Local Businesses can Leverage Email in Their Marketing Strategy

Email is often underutilized by small, local businesses despite the fact that it has an impressive ROI — when done well it can be four times more cost-efficient than social media and direct mail. Whether you own or operate a beauty salon, landscaping business, auto repair shop or any other local business, here’s how email can win you new customers and keep them coming back.

Local Email Marketing Ideas

While you can use email marketing to promote your business, your email strategy should feature value-added content to encourage engagement from recipients. Try these proven email marketing strategies for local businesses.

Create and distribute content around events

A business that is locally focused should appeal to the local demographic. Map out an editorial calendar based on the holidays and local events important to your audience. Ideas include:

• Promotions for community holiday shopping days: Black Friday, bank holidays or local market gatherings.
• Special offers for yearly events: Community festivals, parades and historical anniversaries.
• Seasonal offers relevant to your local audience.Local gift guides: Consider promoting popular holiday gifts in your local area based on local feedback.

Send valuable newsletters

The best email newsletters provide audiences with valuable information that help the recipients either to solve their problems, achieve their goals or improve quality of life. A good newsletter builds the reputation of your business, establishes a connection with your audience and encourages long-term customer loyalty. Ideas include:

• How-to tips with a local focus: A beauty salon might provide expert tips on how to maintain skin health in cold, dry climates or a landscaping business might share their insights about the best local source for garden soil.
• Local-centred guides: Landscaping guides can be generically done by anyone, but only a local landscaper knows which plants grow best in the local area. Share those unique local insights specific to your niche.
• Important local news: Monitor local news and identify relevant connections to your niche that could help your customers. For example, if the local utility rate is going up, a local hardware store might offer energy-saving tips.

Promote your loyalty program

Many local businesses offer rewards and loyalty programs. Email is a great way to attract new customers and subscribers. Email can be used to:

• Generate interest for your program and share the benefits of signing up.
• Ask existing customers for referrals or recommendations in return for a special offer.
• Send customers gifts on special days, such as birthdays or anniversaries.

Further, you can send reminders for customers to check their rewards account balances online and to share your program with their friends and family members on social media so they can benefit as well.