With 2013 comes renewed goals, focus, vision, and purpose for your personal life. But what about your Etsy store? Today it is my privilege to introduce you to a new idea for you and your Etsy store, email marketing. Today’s post is brought to you by Rebekah Henson from AWeber.
The Big Secret to Bringing Customers Back
to Your Etsy Shop
Following up after a sale is key to turning a first-time buyer into a returning customer. But how do you stay in touch with those new customers to make sure they’ll remember your shop enough to come back?
The answer is with an email newsletter.
The kind of service you provide after the purchase goes a long way towards cementing a good relationship with your buyers. And following up with a fun and informative newsletter reminds them why they like your shop in the first place.
So what kind of impact can email really have?
Email Newsletters = Regular Communication
Communicating with your customers on a regular basis is key to getting them back to your shop. Have you ever purchased something from another crafter and then forgotten the name of their business? Most likely you have, then months later when a friend asks you where you got that adorable thing?
Inviting your customers to sign up for an email newsletter can keep that from happening. The more they see your name in their inbox, the better they’ll remember your shop.
Just make sure to get permission first. You can’t just collect the email addresses of everyone who buys from you and start sending them email. Instead, send a note with your shipping notification that talks about your newsletter with a link where people can sign up.
Email Newsletters Help You Reward Loyal Customers
If you’ve ever used a punch card from a retail store to earn a discount or free item after a number of visits, you’ve been part of a loyalty program. And it probably kept you going back to that store instead of somewhere else!
Think of your email newsletter as your Etsy shop’s loyalty program. This is where you can reward customers for buying more from you as a thank you for supporting your business.
Offer discount codes just for your newsletter readers. Run secret sales that you only announce to customers on your email list – not on social networks or your blog or anywhere else. Who doesn’t like exclusive treatment?
Build Your Brand through Email Marketing with AWeber for Etsy ow.ly/gugrs Help to get your Etsy Store on the right track for 2013!
— Kater’s Acres (@katersacres) January 2, 2013
Email Newsletters Build Relationships Off Etsy
A big factor of repeat business is how your customers feel about you. The more they like you and the more they trust you, the more they’ll want to buy from you.
A regular email newsletter is the perfect place to build more of a personal relationship with the people you want to keep buying from you. Share your personality with your readers to make yourself human and accessible.
And personalize emails for your customers. Most email marketing softwares let you target specific customers and groups of customers based on their behavior, like:
- What they buy from you
- Links they click on in your emails
- Feedback about the kinds of emails they want
Tailoring your newsletter to your readers’ interests makes it a more personal and intimate experience for them, leaving them with good feelings about you and your shop.
It’s Easier Than You Think
Running any business takes time, energy, resources and effort. Do you have time to start an email newsletter on top of everything else you do to keep your Etsy shop running?
There are plenty of tools to help you set up and run your newsletter easily – and sometimes automatically. Building a list of readers is as simple as putting a sign up form on your blog or website and directing your customers there to sign up.
– or follow ups – are emails you can write in advance and set to send automatically when a new reader signs up for your newsletter. And apps like this Etsy email app make it super-simple to create professional messages and feature items from your shop by dragging and dropping them into the template.
Email newsletters are a powerful tool to grow your Etsy shop with repeat business. Communicate with your customers regularly and they’ll keep buying from you.
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$1.00 TRIAL OFFER
You can try AWeber guilt free for just $1.00 for a one month trial. If you like it after one month, then simply renew your subscription and pay for their services to keep your buyers informed and grow your Etsy store.
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About The Author
Rebekah Henson blogs about building an online following through email marketing at AWeber, the leading email service provider for small-to-medium businesses. You can find more tips on marketing with email at the AWeber blog, or see how you can grow your own business with the Etsy email app at aweber.com.
DISCLAIMER:
I have not been paid in any way to present this material to you. However, I have been issued a free trial subscription to try the AWeber service in order that I might try it for myself and following the trial period let you all know what I think of the material.
Stay tuned next week for more important information on building your brand.
