Do you want to do some email marketing? Or, perhaps, you feel like you’re supposed to do some email marketing but don’t know where to start? You might cringe at the thought but email marketing isn’t as hard as you might think.
Email marketing is a great way to promote handicrafts, services and events to your customers who have subscribed to you. It may have taken a bit of a back seat in terms of buzz created by social media – but not with crafters who understand the power this tool is in building trust and short term conversion.
To get started, here are some useful ideas for you:
Choose An E-mail Marketing Service
AWeber is my preferred email marketing service as it will help you send email newsletters and autoresponders. The great thing about AWeber is its capability of being integrated with Etsy. Once the AWeber-for-Etsy app is installed, anytime a shopper buys a seller’s product, they are added automatically to your subscriber list in AWeber.
Learn more about AWeber here.
Another personal favourite e-mail marketing service is GetResponse as it also helps you maintain your list of contacts and create professional-looking marketing campaigns for your craft business.
Other e-mail marketing services:
Getting Subscribers
You can’t just send an email to anyone you choose—you need permission.
Here are some guidelines in getting subscribers for your e-mail list:
- Don’t buy e-mail lists. Email marketing services can tell if you’re spamming and will suspend or shut down your account.
- Ask permission when adding subscribers. You can add customers who signed up for your newsletter at a craft show or those who listed their names after they visited your store. Someone recently purchased a product from your website? You can add them to your list, or they are automatically added after they bought something from your Etsy store with the use of AWeber and Etsy integration.
- Most email newsletter services have features that allow you to create a signup form and embed it on your website. It’s the most seamless way to add subscribers.
- You may also promote your newsletter signup form on social media, but do it carefully, and always give people a good reason why they should sign up.
Here’s a good FAQ on who you should and shouldn’t add to your email lists.
Email Marketing Content Ideas
Your readership will grow and spread only if they find your content valuable. Here are some tips for you.
- Courtesy – Whatever you send to your customers, remember that welcome and confirmation emails should thank the customer for their opt-in or purchase and offer additional ways to add value, not push for a hard sale.
- Listen – So you’ve made the sale with the customer… now is the time to check how is their purchase treating them? If you’ve mucked up along the way — either with poor service or a sub-par product — you can’t exactly expect customers to purchase again from you in the future.
- Send Exclusive Deals – People who subscribe to your email list means they are interested in your handicrafts that they’ve given you permission to their inboxes. Give back by letting them be the first to know about your new products or sales. Give them access to special benefits as subscribers.
- Recommend Educational Materials – As I mentioned earlier, your readership will grow and spread only if they find your content valuable. Send them helpful, educational material that is related to your market such as tips, do-it-yourself guides, crafting e-book, etc.
- Bring In New Leads – You can actually use current subscribers to bring in new traffic, leads, and customers. Adding a “Share This” button to emails, giving discounts to customers who recommend you, or even just asking for referrals directly are all tried and true methods of generating new customers.
That’s it for now. We hope this guide has helped you get started with email-marketing for your craft business.
- DIY Chicken Wire Jewelry Holder - June 27, 2022
- Jewelry Designer Manager Alternative - December 8, 2019
- 3 Tips To Immediately Boost Your Sales Today - May 12, 2019