Why is email marketing so good for retention? Many brands are obsessed with social media and video content – which are awesome tactics – but they have forgotten about the incredible value that email marketing can bring for retention and loyalty.

Email marketing is often one of the most overlooked, but useful and affordable ways to enhance your customer loyalty. And that’s why email marketing is great for improving your customer retention.

Check out our quick 6 tips below…

1. Follow up messages really help boost engagement and loyalty.

Throughout our careers, we have seen great success when we’ve sent follow up emails to customers. This shows you care, shows you’ve acknowledged them and reminds them of how great you are!

Be grateful to your engaged audience.

Make the most of opportunities to engage and create a conversation with your customers after they’ve interacted with you. This can be as simple as sending a charming thank you email after an event. This could include a link to a freebie or exclusive content; or an invite to another exclusive event. Make your customers feel special and welcomed. They want to feel part of something – this will really help boost your email marketing retention strategy.

Remind them what they’re missing out on.

We’ve all received those ‘did you forget something?’ type emails when we have abandoned our shopping cart – this really does work! This can be done in a cheeky and clever way if done right. You don’t want to be too salesy, but with simple and playful copywriting this could be a really good way to get repeat custom.

Always offer something new or exclusive.

Maybe you can set up regular sales emails every 6 months to recent and past customers. This could acknowledge that they’ve been a recent customer and offer them something new and exclusive as a thank you. Perhaps introducing a new product before anyone else has seen it, or offering a special discount or inviting them to a special event. If your product or service is an annual subscription then reminder type email marketing works very well for retention too!

2. Use email customisation to your advantage.

Customisation is the way forward! When you deliver a super-relevant message to your customer’s inbox and it is at the right time, you are showing that you genuinely understand them and that you care. This shows that you know what they want and can help them achieve their goals. You can find out more about email personalisation in this fab article from our favourite fellow marketer Neil Patel. 

Perhaps you can customise your sales emails depending on what the customer has purchased? Or, if you’re a product-based business you can send them products similar to what they’ve purchased? Why not find out your customer’s interests when they subscribe to you – so you can tailor your campaigns to them?

Another interesting way to customise is to target your customers based on the interaction they have with your brand. For example, emailing everyone that opens a certain email with an exclusive offer. Listen to your customers’ needs and interests and be as personable as you can!

3. Use ‘lead magnets’ to engage new and existing customers.

Have you heard of the term ‘lead magnet’ before? If you haven’t, it’s time you incorporate this into your marketing plan! A lead magnet is a marketing term for a free piece of content (or maybe a service) that is given away for the purpose of gathering contact details; for example, lead magnets can be trial subscriptions, samples, white papers, e-newsletters, and free consultations. Brands use lead magnets to create sales leads. 

This is a great opportunity for you to build your email marketing list whilst improving the retention of your current customers. Maybe you can send your current subscribers the lead magnet before you publish it for everyone else on your website?

4. Create a great monthly email newsletter and offer exclusive content to your subscribers.

The traditional newsletter is not dead! We encourage you to commit to a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter for your brand. Help build a community with your current customers and bring them on the journey of your developing business and brand story. This is an essential email marketing strategy for retention whilst also being a great way to make them feel special. Offer exclusive content to subscribers (e.g. a refer a friend offer) so that they’ve got a reason to open the email every month.

5. Try automated email marketing.

It may seem scary at first, but with off-the-shelf and easy to use email platforms like MailChimp you can easily set up basic auto emails. This article from MailChimp explores how to get started with email automation in a really helpful and straightforward way. 

You could send a thank you to your subscribers once they’ve signed up. Or try sending a discount to everyone that buys a certain product? Maybe you want to send a quick feedback questionnaire to recent customers? These are all great ways to keep your current customers engaged and remind them that you care about them, their purchasing habits and their opinions. Setting up a few automated emails will save you loads of time and you’ll reap the benefits of repeat custom and loyal followers.

6. Email marketing is so affordable!

Often email marketing can be really cheap and a really cost-effective way to improve your retention whilst engaging with both new and old customers. You can build up your list of current customers and simply pay the subscription cost of your email marketing platform. This is a bargain!

---

We are here for you!

Here at Saltoria Marketing, we’re big believers in the power of email marketing, especially for retention. Not sure where to start with your email marketing strategy? Maybe you have a traditional newsletter that you need to give a boost to? Do you have the content but not the designs? Keen for support with your messaging? Or maybe you need to increase your subscriber list? We can help with all of this and more!

If you need reassurance, a bit of brainstorming or some general email marketing campaign support, then why not get in touch with us today? Book your free consultation and start thinking about your next amazing email campaign!