Your email marketing calendar will have certain types of emails in them to both keep your clients interested in content, but also appeal to different tastes, different seasons and different phases of the clients life. A typical salon will have three key types of emails in their program:
- Personal emails, such as emails confirming appointments and appointment rebooking reminders.
- Email announcements, such as email newsletters that offer informative content.
- Promotional emails, that are highly targeted and designed to generate revenue.
The emails you write for the third type of email typically include offers to encourage an immediate response as you are trying to generate revenue for a specific purpose. Here are four tips on creating offers that get responses.
Keep it Brief
Long promotional emails that are content heavy can be intimidating to customers, dilute your message and even feel like a “hard sale.” Shorter emails are read 50% more often and they have click through rates more than twice that of longer emails. A click through rate is the average number of people that click a link from those that receive the email.
Watch for Bias
The more appealing your incentives, the higher the response rate will be. Really, this goes without saying. However, the part to remember is that your customers each have their unique biases. For instance, someone with a lower income will be more excited by a freebie (e.g. free style with haircut) than someone who has a lot of disposable income. Someone with more disposable income may be more enticed by a deal on additional services (e.g. half price pedi with purchase of manicure). Make sure you target your emails specifically to appeal to that group of clients.
Be Specific
The more unique you can keep your offers, the more likely your customers will follow through on your offer. In other words, don’t send an email advertising coloring services to someone who loves her gray hair or even someone that already comes in for color services. Why discount something they already purchase or they’ll never even consider? Instead target those that come in for cutting services, but have never tried color. Or if you notice color clients are stretching their appointments, create an offer targeted at getting them to come back in a certain time frame or provide incentives for pre-booking. Don’t give willy nilly, blanket discounts. Be specific.
Placement is Key
Where you place your offer in your email marketing also makes a difference. Email marketing with the offer toward the top of the message gets a 55% greater response rate than a marketing email with some sort of standard copy at the top. Your clients don’t have time to read through loads of blah-blah to get to the point. Give them the offer up-front and in eye-catching design (like a break-out box) and then explain how to get the promotion and why.
Remember to never email someone that hasn’t given you permission (and forget about purchased lists). When you ask for permission, response and conversion rates improve dramatically, as long as you deliver what the customer expects – advertise a good deal or offer a coupon. The customer is giving her permission to save money; help her do that.
Author Bio: Valorie Reavis
Social Marketer, foodie, closet geekA marketing professional who has focused primarily on the hair and beauty business for of the past decade, Valorie now runs linkup marketing, a digital marketing agency for the hair and beauty professional. Valorie works to engage clients in the marketing process and help them successfully engage with their clients and community. Energetic and passionate about the industry, Valorie focuses on blending traditional and digital media in order to bring salons closer to their clients.
