This generic presentation was the basis for a presentation for a client's franchisees about email marketing and how it can be used to drive sales, create brand awareness, and much more.

1. Email Marketing – It’s More Than Just Sending a Message!

2. Email marketing is effective for one simple reason: Customers like receiving targeted messages from companies they care about. They like when they’re emailed about things they’ve already shown an interest in. And that’s where the email thrives.

3. Email marketing is all about customer retention. It’s about building stronger relationships with customers who already know you and decided that, yes, they want to keep hearing from you. They want to stay up to date on what you’re doing, they want to learn about new products, they want to hear about special events, etc.

4. The messages that land in their inbox help keep your brand in their top of mind and force them to constantly be thinking about you and your local business. That is the ultimate objective!

5. Email Marketing Success Is About Relevance!

6. Be Intimate One reason email marketing is a great tool is because it allows business owners to connect with customers on a more personal level. Because people have opted-in, you already know they want hear from you and learn more about what you’re about. Talk in the first person instead of a cold third. The more “special” and “insider” you can make the newsletter feel, the better the response you’ll see.

7. Make sure it’s readable I know, goes without saying, right? You’d think. But how many newsletters have you attempted to read where there was dark text on a dark background? Or where half an article was cut off due to bad formatting? Or maybe they have the text too tightly scrunched together that no one out of high school has the eye sight to read it?

8. Pay attention to branding Use atemplate as it provides you with the necessary branding and customization features. With your prominent logo, people will know exactly who the email is from the moment they open it. Remember, the more recognizable your email newsletter, the more trust a customer is going to place in it.

9. Be consistent Whether you’re opting for a monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly newsletter, make sure you stick to a consistent publishing date so that people know when they’re coming. Your readers should know when to expect your next issue and be waiting for it. This may mean experimenting a bit to determine the frequency that your community prefers.

10. Create an engaging subject line You will live and die by your email subject line. That, along with our brand name, is what will determine whether or not someone opens your email and even sees the information you’ve put together. The goal of subject line is to grab your readers’ attention, get them to open the email, and to set the promise for what the rest of the newsletter will be about.

11. It must look professional The little things add up. For example, if you can’t correctly spell ‘transmission’ then readers probably won’t trust your newsletter article on why your businessmight be a good choice for their auto repairs. If you send your newsletter out with bad links, then readers will wonder how much attention you’d really pay to them as customers. Show that you care enough about your customers to make sure all the little things like grammar, typos, formatting, links and images are all properly in place.

12. People will typically do one of three things with an email… act upon it, put it away for future consideration, or throw it away. and some may… share it!

13. Expand readers’ interest Be sure to include product and store photos with built-in links to your web page or Facebook page. Be sure to include applicable social media icons, including new share functionality, to encourage participation in your online community. Be sure to include direct links to items of interest to the reader as a way to create anticipation of receiving future newsletters.

14. Constant Contact Spend time learning Constant Contact by reading various articles, attending webinars, etc all provided as part of your account. Learn about Opt-ins and outs, and SPAM and how they can adversely affect the status of your Constant Contact account. Specifically pay attention to email metrics and analytics within the Constant Contact platform. Email as customer follow up and for referrals – use your Constant Contact account.