Helping local business owners build customer loyalty

Recommendation: Send email newsletters when you have something interesting to announce. Don't let too much time pass between when you receive someone's email address and when you first use it. It's important they remember they gave you permission.

No one likes email spam and no business wants to be accused of sending it, but sending emails to your customers can be a great way to build loyalty.

Here's an example of a recent email newsletter I received from a local jeweler just before valentine's day. I shopped here a few years ago and signed up for their email newsletter.

First of all, yes, my wife is not happy I didn't act on this special offer. Second of all, this is a great example of a timely and helpful message I want to receive from them.


These simple rules can help local business owners use email newsletters to keep their best customers coming back:

1. Make sure you have your customers' permission - ask your customers if they want to receive news and special offers from you. Do not use their email address if you haven't made it clear you will be sending them something in the future.
   
   
2. Make sure you use a service that allows customers to unsubscribe - CityVoter uses Constant Contact and Vertical Response to send out communications to our customers. Both work extremely well and we make it easy for business owners to use Constant Contact through our business center* (see graphic below).
   
   
3. Make sure you have something valuable to say - This rule goes hand-in-hand with rule #4. Your customers want to hear from you when there is something new and exciting going on. If you do this well, you'll see great "open rates" on your emails -- this means your customers have learned to expect good things when they get an email from you and they cannot wait to open your message.
   
   
4. Don't abuse this privilege -- If you do any of these things poorly, you will have a big "unsubscribe" rate. This means, your customers don't value your news and have blocked you from sending future emails. You will get a few unsubscribers every once in a while because people have moved or other personal reasons, but anything above 3-5% is not a good trend.

We are strong believers in local email newsletters, and we'll continue to try to make this easier for you. The people who vote for you during our contests love you, and if you offer them smart reasons to stay in touch with you, then you'll be rewarded with repeat business.

* Here's a view of the business center. You can sign up here to start your own enewsletter: