Email marketing has become the de facto way to communicate with each other one-to-one. It’s non-intrusive, it’s instantly delivered and it’s personal. Many believe that email is also free, but any good marketing activity is never free and if you want to run a professional program, you know you need an email marketing system that provides you with the tools and systems to ensure your emails are professionally presented and delivered to the right recipient.
Without going into too much detail about the ‘why’ use an email marketing program like Constant Contact, iContact or MailChimp, your email marketing program must first start with selecting one of these programs to be continually successful. To start the search for your email match, first ask your salon software provider. Chances are they either work with someone or offer it directly and that puts you in GREAT standing for managing your contacts.
List Management
Once you’ve selected your email marketing program and set-up your account, you’ll want to map out all of your lists. First thing to think about is ‘Who are they to you?’ For example, you have clients, prospective clients, school/recruitment contacts, etc. These people all want something fairly different from you so they should be on a separate list to receive separate messages.
You don’t need to go crazy and create loads of highly targeted lists; most programs will allow you to segment more specifically within the list. For example, if you wanted to send an email to just your clients that come to you for color services all you need to do is make that information part of your list with a custom field. You will then only send the email to those that the email system recognizes as a color client.
Because email is most effective when it’s highly targeted, this level of detail is essential for your email program to work at it’s maximum. This means you’ll have to do a little more due diligence when managing your lists or you should really investigate if your salon software provider integrates with an email program. This will save you a lot of time managing information on each email contact.
Building the Number of Contacts
First, remember you HAVE to have permission from each email contact that you want to email to so make sure that they way you gather email addresses is in an honest and up-front manner. Here is a list of ways to gather emails legitimately:
- Ask for permission on every new client card.
- Utilize email confirmations and ask during checkout if they’d like to enter the email program as well.
- Offer exclusive, email-only content in your email program – promotions that entice clients to be part of the email list. Then post teasers on your social media channels of blogs, articles and information available ONLY as an email member.
- Post a web form on your website and your Facebook page to get people to sign-up to your email list. NOTE: Make sure they tell you if they already come to the salon or not, so you can add them to the appropriate list.
- Host an event that requires email sign-up to get confirmations and updates.
- Promote online booking on your website, which requires an email address to confirm their booking. Also ask if they’d like email promotions from you. Who’s going to say no to free stuff?!
- Offer gift certificates on your website, which require an email for a receipt. 🙂 You see where we are going with this one, and if you don’t just see above.
As you can see there’s loads of ways to entice people to give you their email address. If you utilize just a few of these, you’ll soon have a booming list of email contacts. However, beware that with a growing list of contacts means spending more time managing your contact lists effectively and maintaining your email performance.
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.
