An update of a blog post from 2010

Permission-based e-mail marketing and social networking are now considered essential promotional tools for all retailers (which wasn’t the case when this post first appeared 15 years ago). They’re fast, free, and relatively easy ways to stay in touch with customers.  But how do you turn your existing customers into subscribers and followers? How do you get those coveted five star reviews?

The first answer is to provide excellent, personalized service — and an exciting selection of merchandise — so that customers feel happy about their shopping experience. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, but only if shoppers have something good to say about your business.

Once you’ve gotten customers enthused about supporting your shop, you need to make it worth their while to trust you with their e-mail address, and to follow you on Facebook and Instagram.  And since the more e-mail addresses, fans and followers you have, the more effective every message you send out will be, it’s worth putting some effort into building up your numbers.

We get most of our customer e-mails by signing shoppers up for our Preferred Customer program, which rewards them for their purchases in the same way that frequent flyer programs reward travelers.  But we could have a program that simply offered a free birthday gift in exchange for being given permission to send occasional e-mails.  Customers love the word “free,” and the promise of discounts and sale offers.

If you capture an email address through special orders or services, send a followup note asking for permission to send email blasts. One of the best ways to get a Google review is to ask for one, and you could request as part of the same message. I bought a bag of special cat food yesterday, and was impressed that the vet followed up almost before I got home with it asking me for five stars.

Once you have started to compile a strong base of supporters, be sure to stay in contact with them regularly. It’s been said that predictable communication – say twice a month, which is what we aim for in our email blasts – is an important aspect of using your fan list effectively.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder