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The landscape for retailers moves fast and is always evolving to meet consumer demand. Shoppers are hungry for connection and personalised communication from the businesses they know and love, and retailers are stepping up to deliver this and more. Building loyalty and connection with your customers doesn’t happen automatically, though. You need effective marketing for that. Specifically, email marketing – which continues to perform as the marketing channel best able to deliver a strong ROI.
With simple but effective email marketing tactics, your business can reach more customers – and retain them. Read on for some simple email marketing strategies that are perfect for retail businesses of all types and sizes.
Make that first impression count
For when you want…
- an automatic welcome email to be sent to every new customer
- to ask brand new customers to review their in-store or online shopping experience
A customer’s first purchase is likely to be their most important interaction with your business. If you make a great first impression, you can reasonably expect to gain repeat business from them. But make a bad one, and they won’t come back.
With omnichannel selling solutions, retailers now have a far more sophisticated set of options to make the most of that all-important first impression. One basic tried-and-true approach is by setting up an automatic ‘welcome’ campaign for new customers. This could include both in-store and online customers.
Once you’ve captured your new customers’ details (with permission), it’s then up to you how you’d like to engage with them. With automatic, ‘always-on’ campaigns, you could experiment with offering promotions to new customers or taking the opportunity to ask for feedback on their shopping experience, helping you gather important reviews and ratings.
Deliver a VIP experience
For when you want…
- exclusive offers to go to your best customers
- to send a birthday ‘gift’ to your regulars
All retailers know the importance of rewarding your best customers. Now you can make sure the in-store experience extends to your online interactions too.
If you’re already using Square for your payments, adding customers to each sale unlocks fantastic integrated marketing options. From the sales data that lives in your Customer Directory, you can automatically populate pre-set ‘smart groups’ covering categories such as lapsed customers or top spenders. This means your Square Marketing email campaigns will be reaching a bigger, up-to-date base of your customers, whether they shop with you in store or online.
Of course, customers need to consent to being contacted by you before being included in any smart groups or general email marketing lists.
In addition to the pre-set ‘Smart Groups’ such as lapsed customers, and regulars, Square Marketing allows you to tailor specific groups of customers manually. Using a simple CSV spreadsheet, you could easily import a list of your top customers, for example.
From here, sending special VIP-only email campaigns is simple and effective. Whether it’s for an exclusive new season launch, a store opening promo, or just because – using these highly tailored campaigns is a wonderful way to make any customer feel looked after.
What’s more, when you customise an email from a template, you can add a unique coupon code that’s redeemable at their next visit, or through your online store.
Keep customers updated with timely messages
For when you want…
- to send a blast email campaign
- to keep your whole list updated on important changes
While highly targeted emails are very effective, sometimes you also need to reach your whole list with an important message. For example, you might want to notify your customer base about changes to your opening hours over the New Year break or for EOFY sales. To make this process as simple and quick as possible there are a number options for sending blast campaigns to all customers who have opted-in to your list.
With Square Marketing, you have access to all the tools needed to deliver professional-looking emails, customised with your own brand elements, colours and fonts. In retail, building a consistent and memorable brand can be just as important as the products you sell. Now you can be confident that your brand experience will be consistent, timely and professional at every touch point.
Long after you’ve flipped the “closed” sign on the door and finished cashing up, your marketing channels are working hard to keep your business top of mind for customers. To get started with these powerful email marketing tactics and many more, sign up for Square Marketing today.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. For specific advice applicable to your business, please contact a professional.
