Why small businesses should use email marketing
Firstly, just to cover the basics, what is email marketing?
We’re talking about all those emails in your inbox filled with special offers, latest updates and upcoming events. These messages have been created by businesses to promote their products, services and events.
Isn’t it just spamming people?
Not when it’s done well.
As a smaller, more local business, if someone has taken the time to register with you, they’re going to have a completely different perception of your marketing compared to the emails they receive from Amazon, Pizza Express or Premier Inn, where they know they’re just one customer amongst millions.
People know they are more valued by local businesses.
If you can harness this, email marketing becomes a powerful tool for building loyalty, increasing repeat visits and growing revenue over time.
Let’s have a look at some of the benefits email marketing can deliver.
Turn occasional customers into regulars
Getting people through the door in the first place can take blood, sweat and tears – not to mention money.
Email marketing then becomes one of your best tools for increasing repeat business and growing customer lifetime value. Regular, useful communications help build trust, familiarity and loyalty over time.
The more often customers return, the more valuable they become to your business.
It keeps your business top of mind
Most customers don’t stop buying from a business because they dislike it.
Life gets busy.
People forget.
Even if they don’t purchase today, useful and relevant email marketing keeps your business visible, helping to ensure you are the first business they think of when the time is right.
Fill quieter periods
Most businesses have busy periods and quieter periods.
Email marketing gives you a way to influence demand rather than simply waiting for customers to arrive.
A well-timed promotion, event announcement or special offer can help generate additional bookings, visits or purchases when you need them most.
You own your email list
Unlike social media, you are not dependent on algorithms deciding who sees your content.
Your email list is a genuine business asset. The people on that list have actively chosen to hear from you, and you can communicate with them whenever you need to.
You are also free to change platforms and take your audience with you.
Local businesses have an advantage
One of the biggest misconceptions about email marketing is that it only works for large businesses.
In reality, local businesses often have an advantage.
Your audience is smaller, more specific and often far more engaged. Customers know they are not just another number in a huge database, which makes it easier to build trust and create genuinely relevant communications.
“Isn’t it old fashioned?”
Email has been dying ever since I started working in the industry back in 2005.
First social media was going to replace it. Then smartphones. Now AI.
Yet email marketing remains one of the most effective ways for businesses to stay connected with their customers.
Take a look at your own inbox. If email marketing wasn’t generating revenue, businesses wouldn’t keep investing in it.
Buckingham Email Co. was founded to make enterprise-level email marketing services available to small, local businesses. Email is not an additional service for us – it has been my professional life for over two decades.