Many estheticians and spa owners struggle with email marketing because they are unsure of what to say or uncertain of how many emails to send. Others find email marketing challenging, or underestimate the power value based emails can have for business growth so email marketing strategies are under utilized.
In truth, email marketing can be a strategic way to communicate with potential clients, as well as existing clients, if applied properly. What does that mean for you as an esthetician and spa business owner and how can you leverage email to help build your business?
Let’s explore why it’s important to build and email list.
Why Build an Email List?
In the US, more than 90% of adults use email and it’s one of the most popular online activities of adult Internet users. The most valuable component of email marketing is your list of subscribers. Here’s why it’s so important to have this list:
1. Builds Trust
Visiting a spa or an esthetician is very personal and intimate. Your clients need to know, like, and trust you before they feel comfortable with using your services.
Your email list is your community. What better way to cultivate trust than building relationships with people who want to hear from you by opting in to receive value, education, or information regarding your products or services? This is a perfect place to allow your clients and potential clients the opportunity to get to know you.
2. The Money Is In Your Email List
Your subscribers may be your clients or prospects, who are likely to purchase from you or use your services.
If building your client list is important, then growing your subscriber list is equally so.
Not to mention, the line between online and offline marketing is blurring. Since you have a brick-and-mortar business, you gotta show up in all customer touch points to stay top of mind. It’s critical that you get your digital game on.
3. Guaranteed Reach
Unlike social media in which your followers may not even see your posts in their newsfeeds, your email is guaranteed to show up in your subscribers’ inbox. Even if they don’t open every single one of your emails, you’re still building familiarity.
In addition, social media is a form of digital sharecropping – meaning you don’t own the platforms and can’t control how your content is used. More and more people are noticing less organic engagement on social media. There is not a guaranteed reach on these platforms. Look no further than the anxiety and panic some marketers experience every time Facebook changes its algorithms. You are in control of your email list, as well as the content you deliver. That guarantee offers relief for any business owner.
Your email list is yours, so you’re not at the mercy of these social media platforms. You own it.
Simple Email Marketing Strategies
Internet marketers often use big words and complicated terms. No wonder so many estheticians shy away from even trying to learn the basics of email marketing. Most estheticians I speak with feel confused, frustrated, and intimidated. The truth is, email marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are a few simple strategies you can implement right away:
1. Use an Email Service Provider
No matter how few subscribers you have, never send bulk emails through your personal email account (i.e., Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail etc.) because the email will likely be filtered out or get stuck in the spam folder, instead of reaching the inbox of the recipients.
The first thing I recommend is to sign up for an email service provider, if you haven’t already. The reputable ones all have high deliverability and provide you with data such as open rate and click rate so you can track your campaigns, run tests, and make improvements.
There are many providers to choose from. You can start with MailChimp for free or Aweber for a small monthly fee. Your first email tool doesn’t have to be perfect, you just need to pick one and get started.
2. Be Diligent About Capturing Emails
Make sure you collect the email addresses of all your new clients. This should be a question on your client intake form. Be sure to ask permission to email. Collect these emails in one document and block out 10 minutes once or twice a month to upload them to your system all at once.
If you haven’t been putting your clients’ emails into your email system, you may have to go back though your files and do some data entry. Sure, that’s some upfront work but it’ll be worth the effort as you can stay in touch with and be top of mind for all your clients and prospects..
3. Ask People On Social Media to Join Your Email List
Social media doesn’t give you guaranteed reach. That’s why it’s important to get your followers onto your email list.
Create an opt-in incentive (lead magnet) to entice your social media followers to sign up to your list (e.g. a concise ebook, a beauty cheat sheet, or a simple video demo.) Add the sign up link to all your social media profiles and promote it once in a while.
4. Send Valuable Content Through Email
As I mentioned, the number one reason for having a list is to build trust and share relevant and valuable content.
Follow the 80/20 rule – 80% of your emails should be value-based while 20% is about your business and promotions.
You don’t need epic content each time you send an email – simply share some tips or ideas your clients would find helpful. You can leverage content from your blog posts so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
5. Promote Your Business In Emails
Delivering value and education is key to build relationships, but you still want to let people in your community know about your sales, promotions, and offers.
However, you don’t have to do a “promotion” every single month. Alternative ways to talk about your business include doing a product highlight or featuring a client testimonial.
You can also segment your list – e.g., sending a special offer to those who haven’t purchased from you for over a year to get them back or to those who have been interacting with your emails to thank them for their support.
When you’re doing a promotion, don’t forget to add a sense of urgency – e.g., a 72-hour offer, to encourage people to take action. Some email providers even allow you to put a countdown timer in the emails, which is a very effective way to visually communicate that sense of urgency.
6. Include a Call-To-Action In Your Email (CTA)
Often time people are so focused on crafting the content that they forget email marketing is a business strategy and it needs to yield results by getting your readers to take action.
You need to tell them what they need to do next by including a call-to-action in your emails.
The CTA doesn’t have to be about “buying your stuff” all the time.
For instance, when you’re sharing content, you can include a snippet of a blog post in the email body with a CTA such as “click to read more.” You’ll be driving traffic to your website, which is good for SEO. Not to mention, these visitors are more likely look around and explore your products and offerings because they already know and trust you.
Build Trust With Potential Clients
Regardless of your strategies, your email marketing should ultimately be about building trust and cultivating loyalty with your community. You can easily build trust by offering a ton of value in your emails instead of bombarding your list with promotion after promotion. No one likes to be sold. Your open ratios will improve if you deliver more value based emails.
Don’t forget to add a personal touch. It’s often okay or desirable to share some snippets or photos about yourself and your personal life, as long as they’re on-brand and feel good to you!
Don’t be shy – the most important thing is to get started. “Practice makes perfect” and I promise you’ll get better at email marketing once you find your groove.
Enjoy this article? Want more practical training to help build your biz? We have easy to understand training on email marketing inside the Esthetician Inner Circle. Learn more about our business and marketing membership program designed exclusively for estheticians here.
