We all need new customers right? Working to find ways to reach new audiences is always going to be a thing. But let's be honest. Email marketing for contractors is as popular as a kryptonite necklace is to Superman? Of all the tools in the local marketing toolbox. This is the one that gathers the most dust.
The good news is that email marketing for contractors has crazy ROI. This much ignored tool still kicks out $42 for every one dollar you put in. It still works, but you've got to work it. With an ROI like that, email marketing is always going to be worth a look.
The Nuts and Bolts of Email Marketing
Email marketing for contractors starts by connecting an opt-in form on your website with an email marketing service. The familiar ones you've probably heard of like MailChimp and Constant Contact. They're both very good, but they're not the only ones out there.
I've tried GetResponse, Aweber, Sendinblue, and Sendlane. The company I eventually settled on for my email marketing is Convertkit. What I like about them is their flexibity when it comes to segmenting my audience.
The best way email marketing for contractors develops relationships with the folks on your list is to talk about what they're interested in. The fastest way to turn off your audience is to make them slog through information they don't want. Segmentation is how you do that and Convertkit makes that easiest in my experience.
Once you've picked your service, the last part of the puzzle is creating an autoresponder sequence. This is a preplanned series of email messages that are automatically delivered based on some action your subscribers take.
This automation is what makes email marketing so powerful. Your marketing message is delivered to your audience the same way every time, day or night 365 days a year. It's the salesman that never sleeps and never takes a day off.
Email Marketing for Contractors: Matching What You want with what They want
Zig Ziglar is very famous for saying that you can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. That's the heart of email marketing. But before we can help the visitors get what they want, we need to take a look at what that is.
What They Want
- To get information so they can be as knowledgeable as possible for an upcoming purchase
- Special offers or deals
- Information to help with a project
What You Want
- A list of prospects that trust you and are interested in services you sell.
- Permission to contact them with tips, advice and promotions.
Email Marketing Begins and Ends With “The List”
So let's begin at the start. It's hard to have a successful email marketing campaign if you don't have anyone to email to. So the first step is getting names onto your list. Here are a few suggestions on how to do that:
- Simple opt-in form. It can be tempting to ask for a lot of information up front, but it's best to resist. It's easier to hit the backspace button than it is to fill out a long form. Stick to the basics. Their email address and possible a spot for their first name. That enough to get you started.
- Create a killer lead magnet. No one is going to join your list just because you want them to. You need to give them a reason. We touched on lead magnets in another article on the site. Click here to read it.
- Use multiple placements for your opt-in forms. Don't be timid with your opt-in forms. Make it obvious what you want your visitors to do. Put them in the footer of your page, in your sidebar and even in the middle of the text on your page.
- Don't be afraid of using pop-ups on your website. A lot of people hate pop-ups because they get in the way. You know who doesn't hate them. Successful website owners. People keep using them because pop-ups work.
Email Marketing For Contractors Works Best When You're Active
The point of building a list is to use it. And the best time to start using your list is as soon as you start to build it. If you wait until a few months down the road when your list grows to a certain size, you'll lose the attention of those people to joined your list first.
The only thing you can do wrong with your list is ignore it. Everything else is open game. Here are a few ideas to help you stay engaged:
- Post early and post often. Commit to emailing at the very least weekly. A simple way to do that is to produce a brief regular e-newsletter. Just keep customers current on what's going on with your services.
- Don't get too fancy with the visuals. An e-newsletter that's too crowded or visually messy is most likely not going to be read. Keep your emails clean. If you've got a big topic, post the information on your website and include a link to it from your newsletter.
- Remember that most people are on their phones. Every email you send needs to be very easy to read whether they're on an iPhone or Samsung or any other brand of smart phone or tablet.
- Track your outcomes. If you don't track your results, you won't know what's working. Email is content with a purpose. It moves prospects toward making a purchase. If you don't track how people respond to your content, you won't be able to optimize for the best results.
- Test, test, test. You don't know what people respond to most until you test. Different subject lines, different content and different calls to action.
When you get started, it's hard to know exactly what your clients want from you. Following these suggestions will go a long way toward recognizing their interests. Then you can better customize your content for them.
Once You Got 'em, You Gotta Keep Em
You probably know that it's a lot harder to attract a brand-new customer than it is to hold on to an existing one. The same goes for the subscribers on your list.
Here's a few tips to keep those individuals that are currently on your list happy and engaged:
- Send a killer welcome e-mail. You get three times as much business from that first welcome email message than any other message you'll send. So hit those new list members with the good stuff – a promo code or BOGO or whatever. This is the best time to work for that first order.
- Take it up a notch with a welcome email sequence. It does not need to be long- just take about four to seven emails spaced out over a month and include important content as well as appropriate offers. This is a great way to build rapport with them and let them really know what you and your business are all about.
- The power of the dual opt-in. A dual opt-in is when a client fills out the opt-in form on your site and then receives an email with a confirmation link to click. That may seem like trouble, but it's an easy way to raise the quality level of the people on your list. Not only does it discourage spammers, it ensures that everyone on your list wanted in.
Email marketing for contractors continues to be pretty lucrative for those forward thinking contractors that use it. It's an inexpensive, economical method to bridge the gap to trusted brand that they recognize.
Email marketing brings in new consumers, and definitely helps to grow your organization. If you're interested in taking a swing at email marketing to get these benefits working for you, contact C2Local for a quick consultation to go over your options and get you moving in the right direction.
