For around 20 years now I have ran a small vegan cafe and store here in Coconut Creek Florida and for most of those years I counted on a relatively small but very loyal customer base. In the last 5-10 years however I have had some issues because veganism is very much à la mode, and that means more options in the big superstores, more cafes and restaurants opening up, and ultimately more competition for small businesses like mine. I was looking online for some inspiration and I began to read about email marketing, in particular the eTarget Media reviews where businesses were waxing lyrical about targeted email marketing. I decided to give it a go and here is how it completely changed my fortunes.
New and Updated
I toyed with email marketing some years ago but it never really gained the traction that I was looking for and so I decided to stop doing it. Back then promotional emails simply went to a random selection of email accounts, in the hope that some of those people would be interested. These days things are very different and we can launch an email campaign aimed at people living in Coconut Creek and the rest of Florida, as well as targeting people who have shown an interest in veganism or eating vegan meals. This means that the success levels are far higher than they were in the past, a fact that my increased profits can attest to.
Loyal Customers
I am always very keen on not only offering promotions to new customers but also making sure that existing customers feel valued. I was over the moon then when I discovered that email marketing could also be used to communicate with my existing customers, keeping them in the loop about promotions and changes to the business. After beginning this campaign I saw many previous customers coming back into the business, a welcome sight!
Return on Investment
When I first invested in targeted email marketing I was pretty worried about the amount which I had spent on it and knew that it had to work otherwise I’d be in trouble. I really needn’t have worried about this however as this marketing strategy brought in way more money than the amount which I initially invested. Every marketing strategy is a risk but I have since learned that the return on investment for targeted email marketing is higher than any other form of marketing available. If you want to give your business much needed boost then this is how to do it.
Branding
A bonus which I wasn’t counting on was how this marketing strategy greatly helped me in building a brand. Even those who didn’t engage with the emails were able to see who I was and what we were all about. Many people often mention that they have seen the logo somewhere, I can only deduce that they have received an email at some point in time. The solid brand that I was able to create, along with the additional profit, has allowed me to open up a second store here in Coconut Creek, something I could never have done without targeted email marketing.
