CAVE CREEK, Ariz. — While other forms of social media are often brought up as ways to connect with a target audience, email often proves to be the most effective way to communicate and grow relationships with customers.
This was the viewpoint of digital marketing expert Ron Cates in a recent webinar, “Digital Marketing Strategies to Boost Your Business Growth,” hosted by the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Cates is the president of the SCORE Foundation and the former director of digital marketing education at the email marketing service Constant Contact.
In Part 1 of this series, we explored some fundamentals of email marketing. To continue, we’ll focus on building your email list, creating compelling content and integrating email with social media — all critical elements for drycleaning businesses seeking to enhance their digital presence.
Getting on the List
Building a healthy email list is a fundamental step in digital marketing. According to Cates, 67% of customers will provide their email address when asked — but surprisingly, only 34% of businesses consistently make this request. For dry cleaners, this represents a significant missed opportunity.
“If you asked your staff to give away a piece of chocolate cake with every purchase, they’d be all over it,” he says. “Your email newsletter is like chocolate cake — It’s valuable and you’re giving it away for free.”
Cates recommends asking for email addresses at every customer interaction. For dry cleaners, this could mean training counter staff to request emails during drop-off or pickup or adding a simple form to the company’s website.
“Make it easy to subscribe,” Cates says. “On your website, place a sign-up form on every page, if possible, especially in the upper left corner, which gets the most attention.”
Pop-up forms that appear after a visitor has spent several seconds on the site can also be effective, he says, and making signing up seem “exclusive” often carries more weight than an owner might expect.
“It’s typical to say, ‘You get a 10% discount on your first purchase,’” he says. “I’ve tested this thoroughly, and I received twice as many subscribers when I dropped the discount and went to ‘Become an Insider,’ and ‘Learn Things No One Else Knows.’ Becoming a member of the club, a part of the team, is more appealing than money, based on the studies I’ve done.”
What Can You Say?
When creating email content, Cates advises a strategic mix of promotional and educational material. For dry cleaners, this might include special offers alongside useful information about fabric care, stain removal tips or seasonal garment storage.
“Educational content elevates you by showing off your expertise,” Cates says. “It keeps you top of mind, and when you include a ‘click to continue’ link, you drive traffic to your website where you can present more promotional content.”
This approach works particularly well for prospects or occasional customers. For a dry cleaner, an email with tips for maintaining suits between cleanings could include a partial article that links to the company’s website, where the full content appears alongside promotions for suit-cleaning services.
Getting Social
Cates believes that using social media with email can amplify a company’s marketing efforts.
“Today’s social media is like a party circle on steroids times millions,” he says. “The impact is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in history.”
Cates says studies have found that 74% of consumers use social media to guide purchases and 91% trust online recommendations, even from strangers. When existing customers promote a business on social platforms, he says, they’re advocating to their network of similar potential customers — people who likely match your ideal customer profile.
Perhaps most importantly, customers with a perceived relationship with your business spend up to 67% more. “If you feel like you know them, you shop there even if it costs a little more,” Cates says.
For dry cleaners, it’s important to create authentic connections through digital communications. Sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of the business, introducing staff members or explaining your quality control process can help foster that sense of relationship.
For Hesitant Operators
There are some common concerns about social media marketing. Many business owners worry they’ll never attract millions of followers, but as Cates points out, “Your followers have followers. Some of your followers have a ton of followers.”
For drycleaning businesses hesitant about content creation, Cates offered some reassurance: “More than half the content on social is something (the) user found and posted or linked to. It’s not something they created.”
By sharing relevant articles about fabric care or sustainable cleaning practices, dry cleaners demonstrate their expertise — they become curators of information — without having to create all content from scratch.
Come back Thursday for the conclusion, where we’ll explore specific social media platforms, posting strategies and practical tips for integrating email and social media into a cohesive marketing approach. For Part 1, click HERE.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].
