[tweetmeme]The key to doing this is to first understand that scent should be an incorporation of your marketing strategy. Without it complementing a marketing plan, it can be too bold on it’s own. Customers should never walk into a store and smell first rather than see first. Their immediate reaction should be made by your entire ambiance or a specific display that draws attention to a specific product – not the smell of your store. This would mean your smell is too powerful. Instead, you want it to blend into the entire environment of their shopping experience.

The next important thing to remember is that some scents can can be “labeled” negatively. Because scents create messages that impact impressions, you want to avoid any scents you believe may have a stereotype that would not compliment your store image.

Finally, if you stay consistent with one smell in your store, customers will begin to identify that smell with your business. This can be great if they have the opportunity to smell your scent somewhere else and think of you. In addition, it may be an experience they look forward to having every time they visit your store. Either way, make sure you find one scent that you believe captures your store image while also blending in with your other marketing objectives.

[tweetmeme]1. Bring the buzz to your store.Is your local high school going to state for an orchestra competition? Let them get their nerves out of their system by performing in your store! Even if state isn’t in their future, invite student talent of all sorts to your business to add both fun and excitement in your shopping environment while also encouraging the opportunity for new customers to walk through your doors. After all, the performing students are bound to tell family and friends to come take a peak. And for community members who don’t have students enrolled in the schools, this a great way for them to get to know the local youth. As for you… just make sure you have enough people working to keep up with the extra sales!

2. Create a work program to assist students or the disabled.Many communities have organizations that encourage partnerships between businesses and people who may not easily get a job otherwise. Seek out how you can create a program that offers this support in your store. Not only will you be doing a very good thing (on top of all the other great things you already do as a store owner) but you will gain respect and reward in sales, as  a result. While marketing this isn’t the purpose of this type of activity, it should be utilized to help make up for your time and dollars spent to conduct this program. Have special shopping nights, design a fundraising campaign or simply rotate this program into your everyday routine. Either way, it will introduce new customers to your business and you will get more down in your store with the extra set of hands. Since often these types of jobs don’t pay, this can bring value to your store in many ways. But only do this if you sincerely care about the people involved here. After all, that is the real goal.

3. Have a local shopping night specific to a local organization. Partner up with other area businesses and make shopping local an event for the PTA, a moms group or another locally based club/organization/business. Do a “store crawl” with events and savings at each store, offer incentives for purchases made, invite special guests to make the event more fun and offer drinks and food if allowed. The catch here is to make this specific to a group of people. By doing this, there will be a collective interest and an organized outreach in supporting the event.

4. Talk to your local press about the value of shopping locally. Don’t just pitch your store, pitch the idea of supporting local businesses. Remind them kindly that their articles impact their community. And without stores like you in the community, it wouldn’t be as exciting to live in.

5. Invite your customers and other business owners to become familiar with the 3/50 Project. This helps you more than anything because it’s  a movement to help save the nation’s brick and mortar stores. Learn more by visiting http://www.the350project.net/home.html.

Think outside your retail store to get the community to give back to you. This will be a circle effect in not only helping your business, but helping them more than you already do (even if they don’t know it!).

1. Business Cards

Don’t underestimate the power of passing this traditional marketing piece out. Have it on your cash wrap, give it to other businesses to have on their cashwraps (with their permission, of course) and pass it out anytime you meet someone new. Easy enough, right? The catch – use one side of your business card to speak to your customer. Tell them what you sell and what you do. Too often business cards look great in design but don’t answer the  questions a customer would want to know – what do you sell? What brands do you carry? What can you do for me? Answer these questions so potential customers won’t have to ask.

2. Develop a Brochure

If you sell services, a flat or folded brochure is a great way to identify the services you offer. This also gives you space to be more specific in the details you offer. Offer this brochure any where and every where that your target market has access to.

3. Have a Tagline

If you are like most people, there are business taglines you know even if you are not their customer. Your business should strive to have that same impression with anyone who crosses paths with you. Repeat the tagline whenever you can to make it worth remembering – on your letterhead, your website, your business cards, receipts and more. First thing is first, though - make sure people (friends, family, current customers) like the tagline before you hit print. Your opinion isn’t the only one that matters here.

4. Track Your Testimonials

Or in other words, show off. Print great testimonials and frame them as art for your customers to see. Use them in your marketing campaign pieces. Include them in a press release. Brag without being conceited – just smart. By speaking directly to your customers through the words of previous customers, you are being as straightforward as possible regarding what they can expect from your business.

5.Get a Memorable Phone Number

Call your phone provider with some phone number ideas you have. It’s as simple as that. If they are available, have your number transferred to this and make a big deal out of it. Use it in all your promotional pieces. It will be memorable and fun.

Finally, take the complicated out of your day to day outreach. Save the fancy stuff for special occasions and stick to the good, old basics when it comes to reaching out. Press releases, special events and more can all be beneficial in communicating with your audience. How you execute them is the catch!

How?  Through the Internet, of course. Or, more specifically, through the multiple social media platforms now available. These social media sites and applications are commonly referred to as Web 2.0, which is basically just a fancy way of saying “user-friendly”. The applications and websites developed under the guise of Web 2.0 are those that allow people easier communication and socialization with one another. In other words, Web 2.0 is the perfect marketing avenue for small retailers.

[tweetmeme]The simplicity and ease of use of these social networking tools makes the life of small retail business owners easier than ever. You now have the ability to contact, locate, and attract customers at any time of day, with just a few keystrokes on your cell phone, net-book or computer. 

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular web 2.0 tools you can use to grow your small business with ease.

Tool 1. Foursquare

Description: A social networking website that combines mobile devices, gaming and social interaction in one neat little package. With about 170,000 users, Foursquare has rapidly grown since being founded in March, 2009. The site allows members to sign up, connect with friends on the site and update their current locations by sending text messages through their mobile phones or devices. Once they do this, their friends can then see where they are in real time, or at least in as much real time as text messages allow for. Users can earn special badges whenever they check-in at places with certain tags. They can also earn the right to be the “mayor” of a place if they check-in from there more often than any other Foursquare user.  

Small Business Potential: As a way to merge the digital world with the real world, Fousquare looks like a neat innovation. For small business owners, especially retailers, it allows you to not only keep into contact with your customers, but also lets you in on their movements and habits. Your customers can see who else checks-in with you, and lets them know where you check-in from as well. Retailers who want to build a loyal customer bases might see a good return through Foursquare, especially by inspiring some friendly competition with the awarding of badges and even the coveted position of mayor.

Tool 2. Groupon

 Description: Groupon is a deal-of-the-day site that offers special coupons and deals in specific locations. Begun in November 2008, this site now serves more than 40 local markets by offering a single product or service per day, per market to its users. If enough users sign up for that offer, the deal becomes available to everyone.

Small Business Potential: Groupon is a great idea. By allowing local businesses to deal directly with their customer base, and by offering limited time deals that are only available if enough people sign up, Groupon is a buzz creating machine. If a deal is offered that gets people excited, they serve as surrogate marketers, trying to get enough people to get in on the deal so it is available. Essentially, Groupon gets your customers to want to spread word of mouth. Cool. Very cool.

Tool 3. Postabaon

Description:A relatively new service, this handy little application can be seen as the offspring between Foursquare and Groupon. With it, users out shopping who come across a particularly good deal can now let all their friends know about it instantly. All they have to do is update their Postabon account with details, and they then get disseminated to everyone else. Users get feedback for posting these deals as well, earning Karma points and competing with others to see how many good deals they can post.

Small Business Potential:Finding a great sale is almost as much fun as telling everyone else all about it. The hunting and gathering impulses that shoppers experience are well known, and Postabon allows them to share the wealth whenever they come across that great find. For retailers, Postabon can serve as a wonderful way to let customers feel like they’re in on a secret.

Tool 4. Facebook Pages

Description: People can connect with friends on Facebook so easily, it’s ridiculous. Fortunately, Facebook allowed businesses and organizations to tap into this connectivity by creating Pages. Just like a personal Facebook page, Pages allows stores, brands, retailers, and other companies and organizations to create their own profile page.  These profiles can then attract fans and keep customers up to date on all the goings on. Pages allows users to post messages as well, and the organization can update its photos, status, information, and all the other neat things Facebook offers.

Small Business Potential:With about a bazillion people using Facebook, the potential for Facebook Pages is unbelievably big. Everyone who has a Facebook page can become a fan, and they can stay updated with anything posted by your business. The ability to keep thousands upon thousands of people up to date at any time is invaluable, and serves as free, targeted, and personal marketing at any time of day. This is an invaluable resource for any small business.

Tool 5: Twitter

Description: If you’ve been alive in the past year and have had any exposure to the media at all, you’ve probably heard about Twitter. It’s everywhere. The micro-blogging site has absolutely exploded in popularity, and shows little sign of slowing.  Twitter is a free social networking site that allows users to post short, text-based posts to their Twitter page. As long as they are less than 140 characters, Twitter users can post whatever they want, whenever they want. They can also choose to follow other people’s Twitter feeds, and attract followers of their own.

Small Business Potential: Twitter is kind of like that song “Heard it Through the Grapevine”, only the grapevine is now 140 characters or less and can reach anyone at any time. Some people use Twitter religiously, posting updates all the time. For businesses, Twitter allows you the chance to not only keep up with your users, but serves as a means to get instant feedback on anything you do. Have a new product? Monitoring the Twitter feeds of your customers may tell you within minutes of a purchase what they think of it.  The ability to keep into nearly constant contact with your customers can be invaluable, and Twitter might be one of the best ways to do this.

Tool 6. Yelp

Description: Reviews are nothing new. From movie critics to book reviewers, you can usually find any number of opinions on what people think about things.  But what about that store on the corner that sells yarn? Or the mom and pop pizza parlor down the street? This is where Yelp comes in. Real customers post their thoughts about just about anything, from professional services, to churches, restaurants, and retail shops.  Yelp allows people to tell others what they think. It’s word of mouth from those who’s mouth’s actually count: customers.

Small Business Potential: Getting your store reviewed on Yelp can be great if it’s a great review, but not so great if it is a bad one. The key to this kind of site is telling your best, most enthusiastic customers about it so they can spread their joy with the rest of the world. Yelp is kind of like a digitally rendered reputation meter. If your business is great, your customers will shout about it. Or in this case, give out a Yelp.

Article contributed by Cashier Live, www.cashierlive.com. Cashier Live focuses on providing a low cost alternative to traditional Point of Sale software since 2009. By taking advantage of web technology, Cashier Live can provide point of sale software direct to retailers at a fraction of a cost of traditional software. A key benefit of using a Cashier Live is that it can help you run your store more efficiently. From conducting transactions to managing your inventory, Cashier Live gives you the tools to decrease costs and increase sales. When you know what products you have, how many are in stock, and which ones are selling then you can reduce loss and make informed decisions on what products you should be ordering. Cashier Live provides all these benefits and more. For more information about Cashier Live’s web based point of sale, please visit our website at http://www.cashierlive.com.

POOL Trade Show

Are you an emerging designer and tired of just selling to friends, family and local boutiques? Take it up a notch and apply to the POOL Trade Show to showcase your product! Held in Las Vegas bi-annually, POOL was founded to support emerging brands and the boutique retail marketplace. They take a dedicated interest in providing a well balanced assortment of designers, products and opportunities for retailers to purchase from. Learn more by visiting www.pooltradeshow.com.

Outright Bookkeeping & Tax Support

Does bookkeeping leave you with headaches and confusion? How about taxes? With Outright, an online software solution for bookkeeping and small business taxes, what use to be hard is now super easy. Their FREE (yes, that’s right, FREE) online program can make your dreaded chores the easy part of your to-do list. Learn by visiting www.outright.com.

Media Bistro

Everyone wants press. And why wouldn’t you? Media Bistro helps support publicity professionals, as well as retailers and wholesalers like yourself who are trying to be their own PR professionals. Their blogs are great, they offer grammar lessons (so important when pitching your business), freelancers are listed on this site that may be able to help you and so much more. Check them out at www.mediabistro.com.

Retail Adventures Blog

If you haven’t heard of KIZER & BENDER yet, you will. Attend a retail expo, convention or seminar and it’s likely they will be speakers at the event! But in case you aren’t lucky enough to meet this duo face to face, no worries. Their retail blog, titled Retail Adventures, is a fun, informative blog about retail and all the aspects it entails. From how customers shop to what the big dogs (Walmart, Disney World, etc.) are up to, they will keep you informed – and laughing along the way. Visit their Retail Adventures blog at http://kizerandbender.blogspot.com/.

Have your own “favorites” right now? Let us know! Please comment below.

 A few things to help you achieve stand out among the rest include:

1. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Build off your strengths and work to improve your weaknesses. For example, if your store location is less than ideal, try to find ways to get people into your storefront without giving up on front window displays. You my need to reach beyond your store limits to draw in a crowd. It will take a combination strategy of your strengths and weaknesses to find a solution that is effective for your business goals. 

2. Dare to be different. If you know what your audience wants and you are reaching your sales goals, great. But chances are there is room to improve. Think outside of the box and challenge yourself to be different in your positioning against your competition. This exciting change of the norm will create a buzz that keeps customers talking. To add extra excitement, tell the media what it is that makes you so different and daring – giving them a chance to tell your story. If you are truly doing something unique and daring, it will be a story worth being told. For example, your store can hold an unexpected special event or introduce a surprising new product category that will reach a new set of customers. As a wholesaler, you may give a percentage of proceeds to a local charity… as well as donate time from all of your company’s employees.

3. Get your customers involved. Let your customers speak for you by telling the good, the bad and the ugly about your business. This will really help you get a real life perspective on what consumers think of your business. Don’t just listen to what they say, though, but react to it, as well. This may mean going outside your comfort zone - but that’s the goal. The changes you see as a result could be just what you need for your business.

4. Give personal attention to customers and employees both.A happy employee will return their feelings with great customer service. In a marketplace filled with lousy customer service, your business will stand out with employees and customers both if you are giving out personal, respected attention in all your communication outlets. As a small business owner, this type of respect goes even further since people seem to “talk” all the time about what they love and hate. It will have a rippling effect on your business in no time.

5. Stay up to date with the times.Too often stores and businesses get lost in their comfort zone from a time when they were cozy and happy – even if this time was 1990. Be realistic with what’s going on in the economy, with your competition, with your customers and then make it a point to stand out with time appropriate marketing strategies. This means do the expected – Twitter, Facebook, email marketing, special event and more – but also go above and beyond to really capture your consumer’s attention. How you go above and beyondwill depend on your unique business and customer.

Finally – pull it all together. Effectively executing each mentioned step above can help you stand out in the marketplace. Don’t ignore what your unique business can do in addition to the outlined details above, as well, to really thrive. And remember – make it a point to  re-address each of these issues time and time again to be consistent with the marketplace.

For starters, you will need to have email accounts and social media accounts available to use that do not link back to your business. Don’t use your business name or personal name on Twitter or Facebook  because it’s likely they will recognize you. This may mean having more than one account, since you should definitely have accounts for your business. By doing this, this gives you cushion room to get engaged in their social media chit chat, newsletters, email announcements and more without them knowing it’s “you”. If they know you are their competition and following their marketing efforts, they may remove you from their lists. That is exactly what you want to avoid, so make sure you are prepared before you sign up, follow or friend them in any capacity.

Outside of using the internet to track what they are up to, it’s important to actually get into their store. Every six to eight weeks is long enough between visits to recognize what is new and yet short enough between visits that you won’t forget what is already there. Take note of their product assortment, merchandising strategies, sales and promotions, special events and anything else that makes up their store enviorment. One very important thing to notice while in their store is their customer. Who is she or he? Pay close attention to their customer service and associates, as well. How does it compare to your own store?

Taking the time  to know who your competition is will only help you if you utilize what you learn. Apply their strengths to your business, learn from their mistakes and be smart enough to recognize the difference. And don’t stop learning from them – ever. Make it a responsibility to follow their business as if it’s part of your business… Just  don’t let them know you are doing this!

One of the best ways to take advantage of this potential bump in profitability is through email marketing. Email is a very effective way to bring highly-tailored messages to specific audiences. And since many people are prone to read into the gifts they receive from a significant other, it gives you an opportunity to use Cupid’s arrows to target your customers and prospects.

Following are 10 things you should do, beginning today, to make sure your Valentine’s Day doesn’t pass with a lot of empty promises and wilted dreams.

1. Start now! It’s less than a month out from the big day so best to start compiling your copy, imagery, offers, etc. now. You don’t want to inundate your recipients by email, but a rough schedule could entail:
a. Email 1: Wednesday, Jan 20th: Initial offer
b. Email 2: Wednesday, Feb 3rd: Offer Reminder
c. Email 3: Thursday, February 11th: Reminder 2 – “Three days left `till Valentine’s Day!”
d. Email 4: Wednesday, Feb 17th: Thank you follow-up email to all customers who took advantage of the offer. Say thank you and extend another offer to these loyal customers.

2. Use a Valentine’s Day template with a nice balance of valentine-specific copy and imagery to get people in the mood and thinking about the event.

3. Segment your list. Split out your list by gender. Send female oriented offers to the guys and male oriented offers to the ladies.

4. Make sure your offer is compelling. Most people are still paying off their bills from the Christmas holiday season, so make sure the offer is affordable and is compelling enough to encourage them to act.

5. Partner with companies who offer complementary services or products for an offer that can’t be ignored. Example: Spa services and floral shop (walk away from your spa treatment with a dozen red roses), Restaurant and flower shop (have a bouquet of flowers ready at the table when you arrive), etc. Get creative as the possibilities are endless!

6. Target a special email to people who bought from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer for this loyal audience.

7. Make it easy for people to take advantage of your offer. If fulfillment is to come to the store, give clear directions or a store finder link, if by phone, make phone numbers prominent, or if online, make the button or text link stand out in the email. Printable coupons or promo codes always work well.

8. Help spread your message to more people by using forward-to-a-friend functionality.

9. Use email to promote a special Valentine’s Day draw to win a prize – to collect emails and grow your email subscriber list.

10. Send a Happy Valentine’s Day email postcard to show customer appreciation. Thank loyal customers by providing complimentary redeemable points (if you have a points program) or a free gift for Valentine’s Day.

The Valentine’s Day colors may officially be red and pink. But follow the tips above and you’re sure to be seeing green by the end of the day.

Contributor Wendy Lowe is director of product marketing for Campaigner (www.campaigner.com), the email marketing solution that enables organizations to have highly personalized one-to-one email dialogues with their customers, measure how they respond, and analyze those responses to interact in a more intelligent, automated way – resulting in more profitable relationships. Campaigner is provided by Protus, provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise organizations, including my1voice, the cost-effective, feature-rich virtual phone service, and award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service. Wendy can be reached at wlowe@protus.com.

1. Reach out to local radio stations and publications.Explain to them in a professional fashion that while you are not looking to buy advertising space, you do want to donate some product from your store in exchange for their mentioning of your business either on the air or in print. Take the time to negotiate specific details so that you know exactly what you are partnering yourself up with. This includes how often you get mentioned in exchange for the product. Make sure you have a timeline defined, as well.

2. Have a front window display contest. You can offer this to anyone or reach out to specific group of people to do this, such as a local college or high school. Create buzz about this contest by promoting it to the local media. Have your partners in the contest, such as a college, do their own promoting of this contest, as well. Span out the contest over the course of a month for a highlighted, elongated event that will create  ongoing buzz.

3. Sell store gift cards at other local businesses. This is a great way to encourage cross promotion between local businesses, as well as gain a new audience of customers to your store. Even if they don’t sell a ton of gift cards to your store, the exposure will still offer the opportunity for your store to be introduced to new clients. To better support this, include an enticing visual display to feature the gift cards.

4. Hold monthly or bi-monthly seminars or clinics at your store. Depending on your business, you can educate your customers at the seminars or clinics, provide knowledge on products you sell or provide “how-to” information that relates to your store assortment. Don’t underestimate the value in bringing customers into your store for reasons other than shopping. This is a great way to show you support them and in return, they just may end up shopping!

5. Volunteer your time by offering speeches on career days at high schools and colleges. Depending on who your target market is, this could introduce you to a whole new audience of potential customers. Make sure to “sell” your business during your speech.

Finally, don’t be afraid to try new things. Look for ways to promote your business in non traditional ways that bring new eyes to your store. Be open to new ways to promote your business so that you can gain new customers while keeping your existing clientele. And of course, when you find something that works for you, make sure you do it again and make a big deal out of it each time. The best thing to do is to keep up with marketing, though. Those that avoid it all together are typically the ones that fall behind.

Email marketing can be very affordable, but what you can’t afford is to do it wrong. Some say that bad marketing is better than no marketing, but I disagree. The window of opportunity for building an email relationship with you customers is small and very competitive. Therefore, it’s important to do email marketing right. After all, it only takes your customer one click to ”unsubscribe” to your relationship.
So how can you ensure a long and healthy online relationship with your customer base? Avoid these mistakes and follow these expert tips.

Mistake #1: Not Getting Permission

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is failing to get permission to send someone an email. Email is the only form of communication that requires the marketer to establish that their target actually wants to receive their message by law (the Can-Spam act). Many email marketers simply send customers and prospects emails without explicitly asking for or confirming their permission. While the recipients aren’t likley to sue you for violation of Can-Spam, it’s simply bad business etiquette and negatively brands you as a marketer. More importantly – you’ve missed the opportunity to do things right! There is only one correct way to get an email address – ask for it. And what might be defined as permission from your customer or prospect should be interpreted as privilege to you, the marketer.

Mistake #2: Not Immediately Reinforcing Your Relationship

Once you’ve established permission, start the relationship in a timely, relevant matter. Seth Godin, the guru of permission marketing, states that all email marketing must be targeted, relevant and anticipated. This seems to be overlooked by many email marketers right from the beginning. It’s amazing to me how many first emails I get from businesses weeks or months after I opt-in. Not only are these senders risking that I won’t recall giving them my permission, and label them as spam, they are missing an opportunity to making a great first impression by reinforcing their brand and benefits with a “welcome” email sent to me right after I sign up.

Mistake #3: Not Ensuring That Your Emails Are Delivered

There are hundreds of Email Service Providers (ESPs) that can be accessed online to do email marketing. They have two basic functions. One is to provide online software tools to create emails, manage lists, and track results, and the other is to deliver emails to the subscribers on your lists. And while there is a range of prices for these services, there is an even bigger range in what these tools offer the user, especially when it comes to deliverability of emails.

The biggest mistake that marketers make when selecting who to buy their email technology tools from is to assume that all the emails they send will be delivered. Regardless of how well you’ve established permission with your subscribers, the likelihood that your emails will be labelled as spam remains high, unless you’ve partnered with a high-end ESP that specializes in deliverability. Simply put; you get what you pay for.
Using one of the popular, inexpensive ESPs to keep your costs down increases the possibility that your emails won’t get delivered and you’ll probably never know about it. And if, and when, you determine your emails aren’t getting delivered it’s unlikely that they’re available to help you navigate through the complicated maze of ISP (Internet Service Provider) and spam filtering.

Furthermore, when it comes to creating your emails, it’s very important that you understand how to use the tools the ESPs provide. This is probably where most amateur email marketers stumble. Many amateurs don’t understand image suppression and how to correctly format emails so they can be viewed in the hundreds of different combinations of devices and software that we use to view email.

Mistake #4: Not Making Sure That Your Emails Can Be Seen & Read

Simply creating a beautiful graphic and sending out the image can be a big problem if you subscriber uses image suppression. (And just because you might have figured how to get the images in your inbox to show up, it doesn’t mean your subscriber has figured it out, or wants to.) Almost every form of email client (software to view emails) utilizes image suppression and email marketers who don’t design for it are limiting their effectiveness.

Beyond image suppression, the email creator must also have some knowledge of HTML since different email clients vary on how they render HTML in emails. For example, if you look at an email using AOL and then look at the same email using the Outlook 2007 software downloaded on your computer, the chances are that they will look quite different. Added to the complexity is the endless variety of mobile device software that render emails differently.

While some online  ESPs provide inexpensiveve, state-of–the-art technology to build emails, using them effectively is another matter. Just like using the latest, greatest clubs doesn’t make you a great golfer,there is no technical tool or solution that can guarantee that your email will render correctly for all the different software and hardware combinations that your subscribers use to display their emails. That is something that is learned through experience by email design specialists, and even we have to constantly be updating our knowledge as the technology changes.

Mistake# 5: No Marketing Savvy

Assuming that email marketers do build their lists correctly, build technically correct emails and get them delivered to their subscribers’ in-boxes, the mistake that I see most often is simply lack of marketing savvy. So what is marketing savvy?

The Right Way

When we design a strategy for a client we look to do three things well:

Correct Frequency: First, create a regular dialog with subscribers by sending the right message to the right customer at the right time. Over sending can wear out your welcome in the inbox. Sending too infrequently can make them forget about you. Tracking tools can be very helpful in determining the correct sending frequency. In addition, you need to segment the list based on subscriber data which will help you to determine which subscribers to send to so that emails are more relevant.

Contain a Call to Action: Second, a call to action is essential in all marketing, especially email. Too many times I get emails that are nothing more that a billboard and give me nothing to do. In addition, building a “click-though” to an offer or more information can be measured for effectiveness with tracking tools and be used to identify leads or motivate subscribers.

“Wow” Effect: Thirdly, emails should be used to build your brand. The first impression of an email is what matters the most. If you don’t deliver some “wow” the instant that a subscriber gets your message, it’s unlikely that he will open your email – much less read it.

The one distinct advantage small independent retailers have over their larger competition is the unique and personalized relationship they have built with customers. Email is the perfect opportunity to enhance this relationship and creatively re-enforce your brand. Most consumers get a lot of emails each day, but, the problem is that many of these emails look unprofessional and that can only tarnish the brand of the sender. The challenge is to make your email the one that stands out and that won’t happen if your email is boring and impersonal.

Summary: To be a successful email marketer retailers must:

• Correctly establish their email relationship with prospects and customers
• Create and design creative and effective emails
• Make sure their emails are delivered through the maze of filtering
• Make sure their emails are viewed correctly by hundreds of different software programs and devices
• Include a call to action
• Have their R.O.M.I. (return on marketing investment) maximized

Contributor John Fell, President, E-Mail Logic, completed the above article. This story was originally published by Blacks Consulting at BlacksRetail.com. Blacks Consulting is dedicated to helping independent retailers grow their businesses through expert inventory management and business consulting.