When creating a strategy for your email and SMS marketing, it’s important to think about how you can provide useful and topical information that your clients will find engaging, alongside new product/service releases to drive additional interest and growth.
The idea after the initial sale is to continue building and strengthening the trust a client has with your product/service and brand so that when they are ready for an additional purchase or even looking to refer someone on, your business is top of mind. This trust is not built overnight but through consistent communication that reinforces your expertise, reliability, and commitment to your customers’ needs.
If most of your marketing content is useful and adds value, and as such, continues to build trust, then when you do have an upsell opportunity to promote, it will come across as a genuine opportunity for your client to explore, rather than just another email cash grab. Customers are more likely to engage with a brand that has demonstrated ongoing value rather than one that only reaches out when they want to sell something.
The power of value-driven content
There are unlimited examples of value-add content that can be used for all industries. For example, a vet or pet groomer can have:
- How to keep your pet cool in summer
- What to think about when traveling with your pet in the car
- Are the more expensive pet food brands really worth the extra money?
The great news is, if you are unsure what your client might see value in, a quick search using AI can help. When I used AI to search “what are three email marketing subjects I could use that a client would find valuable in the air conditioning industry” this is what it returned.
- 5 simple tips to keep your AC running efficiently all year
- Energy-saving tips for your air-conditioning system
- Common AC problems and how to prevent them
I can then use AI to help write the articles for the ones I like, marketing for small-business owners, since the introduction of AI has become a lot simpler. This allows businesses to maintain consistency in their messaging without the burden of excessive content creation.
Mistakes to avoid
To keep your messaging effective and engaging, it’s essential to avoid common pitfalls that can drive customers away. Avoid overwhelming customers with sales-heavy messages that prompt immediate deletion. Prioritise relevance and consistency and steer clear of one-off promotions that lack tangible value. Overloading content with excessive details or jargon detracts from your brand’s credibility and reduces engagement. Failing to leverage automation tools such as CRM tagging leads to missed opportunities for targeted messaging.
Avoid sales-heavy messages that scream urgency with ALL CAPS and excessive exclamation marks such as ‘LAST CHANCE! BUY NOW!’ One-off, impersonal promotions with no real value eg ‘BIG SALE! 20% OFF – SHOP NOW’ feels spammy, especially if customers rarely hear from you otherwise. Sending irrelevant content, such as promoting senior dog supplements to puppy owners, shows a lack of audience understanding.
Introducing CRM for precision marketing
As you become more sophisticated with your marketing messages, you may want to introduce a CRM into your technology mix. This would not only make it easier and swifter to manage your clients and their needs, but via tagging, it will also make it possible to keep your messages highly targeted to different audiences.
To again use a vet as an example, a vet clinic typically services dogs, cats, and other animals, further segmented by age, breed, and medical conditions. Tagging clients this way ensures puppy owners receive relevant training and nutrition tips, while pet owners with specific medical concerns, get tailored care advice.
When your customers are marketed to in this way, they feel valued, part of a community and that you care, so when the time is right to bring their attention to a new product or service, it feels like it’s a caring suggestion as opposed to an upsell.
