Email marketing is a cost effective way for inflatable businesses to stay in regular contact with customers and prospects. More and more businesses in the party event and rental industry are incorporating this type of marketing into their budget, and the number continues to grow every year. If you have not yet dabbled in e-mail marketing for your inflatable business, chances are your competition has, leaving your customers vulnerable.
Email newsletters are one of the most economical marketing tools for your business. They are much less expensive to create and distribute than most other marketing mediums, and allow you to reach the largest group of people for a relatively nominal amount of money.
One of the reasons e-mail is such an effective tool is because an opened email is the focus of the reader’s attention for as long as that email is on screen. Unlike direct mail, television and other mediums there are few distractions. The key for the marketer is to hold the attention of the reader for as long as possible. This is done through effective written copy and eye-catching product images . Include photos of children bouncing and having fun on your inflatable products in your newsletter. This will be easily relatable to your prospects.
The key to creating effective newsletter copy and to keep your readership high is to keep the information relevant. Focus on information that will be interesting to the recipient; inflatable products, add-ons, customer testimonials and stories… If the reader does not find an article interesting they will not scroll down through pages and pages of text. The most effective newsletter articles are a one or two paragraph teaser linking to a web page that discusses the information in further depth. Be sure to include a call to action at the bottom of the newsletter, a coupon or seasonal savings on your inflatable services is a great way to do this. This is a very important item, and yet time and time again companies neglect to include this in their newsletters. Without a call to action it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of your newsletter as a marketing tool.
There are plenty of companies offering newsletter design software and the ability to send your newsletter. This can often be done separately from your email system, so as not to bog it down. A quick search of “email newsletters” will provide you with dozens of results.
Email newsletter can include an unlimited number of hyperlinks, driving traffic to your website. By regularly sending out these emails your database will come to expect them, and your information will be easily accessible when the need for your services arises. Emails are also frequently forwarded to friends and family, further increasing your marketing reach.
Your email newsletters should be sent to your customer database. To further increase your marketing reach you may want to consider purchasing or renting a list. You can specify demographics and geographic information for the list. There are dozens of companies that specialize in this information. While the cost may be somewhat prohibitive, the ability to specifically target your audience will significantly improve the return on your investment.