How Bars And Breweries Should Use Email Marketing

Posted by Michael Herman

Anyone who runs a brewery or a bar knows that keeping customers is becoming increasingly difficult. The era of the ‘regular’ in bars is coming to an end as customers seek the newest and most chic places to socialize. From the point of view of the brewer, it can seem like an impossible task to take on rivals who have larger distribution channels and a greater marketing budget. However, email marketing is the great equalizer. Once you know how to use email efficiently, you will be able to take customers from breweries and bars many times larger than yours.

Email Advantages

The main advantage of email marketing is of course the fact that it is extremely inexpensive. However, its main weapon is its ability to speak to a specific audience, something that more traditional forms of marketing can’t do. It enables brewers and bars to speak to a local audience as well as delivering the highest return on investment of any form of online marketing. The data generated by email marketing also allows you to make important changes to cater to your target audience.

Getting Email Addresses

The first step is to get customer details. This is surprisingly easy. A great idea is to set up a business card collection box in a visible area (the counter for example). Use an incentive such as a discount or prize to get people to fill in the cards you supply. On your website, you should also have a competition or a poll which will help you gather yet more email addresses. This is a simple way to build up a formidable subscriber list.

Now that consumers have willingly given you their email addresses, you can start that email marketing campaign. There are a huge number of services which can help you email thousands of customers for just a few dollars a month. The best services also have analytics which provide you with statistics relating to the response rate of the email recipients. This data is analyzed and you alter the campaign’s emails if necessary.

Make It Count

The first rule of email marketing is to always show the recipient that there is value in opening the emails. Most people receive hundreds of emails a week so yours needs to stand out in order to be taken seriously. Whenever possible, mention special offers, discounts and other promotions to keep them interested. However, you should also make an effort to send emails that just contain items that you know will be shared such as a link to funny photos or hilarious alcohol-related stories. Always make sure these photos are tagged with your company’s name.

Once you have a customer’s email, it’s your duty to treat them properly. Don’t test their patience by sending emails every day. Only email them when you have something interesting to say. Show respect for their time and they may reward you with future business.

Designing Customer Surveys

Posted by Michael Herman

It’s easy to be so engrossed in crafting new messages for your email marketing campaign that you completely forget the importance of allowing customers to have their say. Your profits may well be down or up and it could be a complete mystery unless you stop typing and start listening. After all, how are you supposed to know what’s right or wrong about your product/service/business unless a customer tells you? Without the consumer, there is no business so start considering the prospect of creating customer surveys to find out what the public really think of your company.

Planning The Survey

You’re used to painstakingly creating email marketing messages so taking the time to carefully plan and execute your survey should be no problem at all. You may have 100 questions that you would like to ask your customers but it’s best to keep it to 20 or thereabouts because most people’s attention tends to wander after this point. If you issue a survey that takes half an hour to finish or threatens to do so, very few people will bother completing it. Begin by explaining the purpose of the survey and the benefits. Perhaps you can offer potential prizes to those who complete the form. Many companies issue discounts which are awarded to a certain number of people.

Don’t Annoy The Customer!

Have a few gentle introductory questions and don’t go fishing for personal details straight away. It’s also important to ask one question at a time and not confuse the issue by posing multiple queries in a single sentence. This has a habit of irritating and confusing the respondent which will see the survey left incomplete. Assuming you are allowing multiple choice questions, please ensure that you have exhaustive answers that cover all bases without overlapping one another. When two or more answers appear to be virtually the same, this is an example of a poorly designed customer survey.

You must always use neutral language in the surveys to ensure that you don’t come across as biased. The questions must be posed in such a way that your preferred answer is not apparent. Essentially, you have to think carefully about the questions you ask and the order they appear in as well as offering all-encompassing choices. The purpose of customer surveys is to learn more about your company through the consumer as well as knowing more about potential customer’s preferences. Hopefully, the information you gain will greatly improve your company’s prospects in the future.

The Importance Of The Subject Line

Posted by Michael Herman

What do you think is the most important part of email marketing? Some people still believe that using certain keywords is essential. Why? You’re sending someone an email, not trying to get seen on search engines! Keywords are irrelevant because the email is being sent to thousands of people. This doesn’t mean it will be seen however and having compelling content is not nearly enough. The vast majority of emails sent by customers to prospects never get opened because the subject line isn’t compelling enough.

Make Them Curious

People are exposed to thousands of adverts per day. Whenever they receive an email, they immediately look at the subject line. If it contains a generic phrase it will be discarded. If it appears to be some sort of advert, it will be binned. You need to create emails which have subject lines that arouse curiosity. Some great subject lines that have been used successfully by companies include ‘You got me worried’ and ‘Are the rumors about you true?’ because they seem personal and have made you want to see what’s inside.

Don’t Follow The Herd

Certain companies who attempt email marketing campaigns go overboard when it comes to personalization and start to use the recipient’s name in the subject line. While ‘Hello John’ may have worked at one time, so many companies are now using this device that it is deemed to be generic and is immediately deleted. When crafting a compelling subject line, remember that there is a CAN-SPAM Act which prevents companies from using deceptive practices in a bid to get the recipient to open the email. Therefore, you can’t use a subject line which is completely different to the contents of the email or else you will violate the principle of being non-deceptive.

Join The Dots

As we have already mentioned, it’s vital that you avoid making your email look like an advert. This includes the subject line which must be devoid of phrases such as ‘profit’, ‘free’, ‘sale’, ‘buy’, ‘discount’ or similar terms which give off the scent of commerce. Include any of these terms in your subject line and you can be sure that the recipient will delete the email without opening it. One of the best devices to use in a subject line is an incomplete thought. The human brain hates an incomplete puzzle and is desperate for information that helps it close the topic. Only by opening the email can the brain rest.

Don’t worry about what to put in the email until the subject line has been sorted out. Once it is and an interesting title has been found, you’ll have completed the most difficult part of email marketing which is to get the prospect to open the email and start reading.