Midwest Drycleaning & Laundry Institute www.MWDLI.org / 765-969-5745 8 How to Send Marketing E-mails
 Written by: DLI
 Sending Messages To Your Customers Is Easier Than You Might Think Sending marketing e-mails has become a tried-and-true practice in recent years. It’s a very simple, effective, and minimally- intrusive way to reach your customers and costs very little compared to conventional direct mail. If you’re collecting e-mail addresses from your customers when you collect their other information, you are ready to get started. If not, it’s very easy to add that line to your system. Each POS system has its own method of exporting data, please consult your program’s documentation or representative for more information. Reaching Out Contacting your customers requires having something to say. What do you want your customers to know? What is your intention? Is it important enough for them to care? Some companies focus on sales only: “50% off XYZ” usually featuring a deadline of only a few days to spur action. Companies typically issue several of these messages a month with different offers. Other companies focus on the soft-sell by offering useful information to keep the company’s name top-of-mind. The idea with the soft-sell is to instill a level of trust in your customers and get them to think, “Well, I do need such and such,” or “That’s right, it is time to pick up my order.” DLI’s Great Impressions newsletter service is based on this methodology. DLI staff sets up the messages and sends to your list for you but provides useful information and no hard sales language. It is available for $399 for a year to Budget and Silver members, free to Gold and Premier members. Online Services There are plenty of ways to get your message out to your customers. Inexpensive online services simplify the process. A few popular examples include: • Constant Contact • Mailchimp • AWeber • MailGet • iContact These services typically charge a scaled monthly fee based on the number of e-mail addresses in your list. Some services offer thresholds, for example Mailchimp allows users to send 12,000 emails to a list of 2,000 for free with no credit card required. Using this you could send up to 12 messages to 1,000 people free. Legality U.S. Anti-Spam laws generally prohibit sending unsolicited messages to members of a purchased e-mail list. In order to send marketing e-mail pieces it is generally accepted that a business must have established a working relationship with the intended recipient. This usually means a purchase has been made or the person has voluntarily given their e-mail address in exchange for something else, such as a piece of information or to enter a contest. A common way for drycleaners to collect e-mail addresses is to ask at the counter when a customer provides other information such as name, phone number, and address. Route customers are also good targets.