Four Email Marketing Tips Resellers Can Arm Their Merchants With

Email marketing is one of the simplest and most effective marketing strategies your merchants can master.

As a reseller and trusted advisor, it is your job to arm your merchants with the tools to succeed. In this digital age, it is important for them to not just have a social media channel, but also utilize different forms of marketing. One of those is email marketing, the ability to draw in potential customers and reward those loyal ones. According to Statista, “The number of email users worldwide is forecasted to rise to 2.9 billion by 2019.” That’s a large pool of potential customers for your merchants to dive into.

In last month’s edition of the Reseller Edge newsletter, we told you how you the value-added-reseller can capitalize with email marketing. Now, we give you the tools to arm your merchants with email marketing tips to increase their businesses.

Keep Subscribing Simple

First and foremost, your merchants need to build their email marketing campaign by building their network. So how do they do that? The fewer pages it takes a prospective customer to get to the sign-up page, the better. The website isn’t the only place they should see this prompt either. If your merchants are using customizable receipts, have them add a URL to the direct sign-up page. Social media channels are another valuable resource for merchants to engage customers and have them join their email marketing campaigns.

Also, keep it simple and allow them to type in their email address and basic information instead of asking them a long list of questions, which will cause potential customers to bolt. Have your merchants created a compelling offer to entice readers to be a part of their company’s journey by signing up for product updates, the latest news, coupons, and more? By engaging the customer, and giving them control of the content they want to see, your merchant wins.

The second part of the subscribing process is to create a double opt-in. When a customer signs up for your merchants’ email list, newsletter, etc., they are then sent an email to confirm they are interested. By doing this, it ensures that the potential customer indeed is interested in your merchant’s business and wants to learn more.

Designing Your Email Marketing Campaign

Much like the initial sign-up process, when your merchants are designing their email marketing campaigns, the more simplistic the better. The two items that customers look at immediately are the sender and the subject line. When merchants send out their emails, the more personal the better. For example, Dianne@WatchDesign.com, or Peter@PetersBakery.com is more effective than Info@WatchDesign.com or NoReply@PetersBakery.com.

Next on the list is the subject line. If it’s not compelling, recipients won’t want to open the email. Not opening the email defeats the purpose of everything your merchant is trying to accomplish with email marketing. In an article by eConsultancy, “74% of marketers say targeted personalization increases customer engagement.” The more personal your merchants can make it, the better.

The content and aesthetic design of the campaign are crucial. Each email should include CTAs or call to actions. Whether this is to learn more about a product, to call for more information, or to purchase, the goal is to increase business and profits. Keep the call to action above the fold in case readers do not scroll down on the page. Including images makes it easier to read and keeps your readers engaged and wanting to know more.

Lastly, be genuine. Advise your merchants to share their personal stories, keep customers updated on the latest products and trends, and reward their loyalty. Customers want to do business and share their hard earned money with people they can relate to and people they can trust.

Segmented Customer Lists

Email list segmentation splits your merchants’ subscriber list based on specific conditions, whether that is age, demographics, location, purchase history, loyalty, etc. By segmenting these groups, merchants can send relevant content to targeted groups. Don’t let your merchants pigeonhole themselves into generic emails. For some subscribers, this may mean a welcome letter and introduction to what the company is about. In some instances, it could be a special offer for loyal customers or a sneak peek into a new product.

Ready, Set, Send

The email list is built, the content is created, and your merchants are ready to send out their email campaigns. Before they send to the masses, make sure they send it to themselves. As the business owner, they also need to be the last minute gatekeeper. Have them confirm that not only is it grammatically correct and aesthetically pleasing, but that the messaging is concise and the call to action accomplishes the end goal that they want from the customer. Consider starting a drip campaign, which involves a consistent flow of marketing info over periods of time in order to gain more prospects or leads.

Email marketing is one of the simplest and most effective marketing strategies your merchants can master. According to DMA, “When it comes to purchases made as a result of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate (66%) when compared to social, direct mail and more.” Make sure your merchants make subscribing simple, design an easy-to-read email campaign, segment customer lists, and review emails one final time before sending. By adding email marketing, your merchants have another tool to get an inside track on the competition and gain more business.

Connect With Us

With business activities in 50 markets and 150+ currencies around the world, EVO is among the largest fully integrated merchant acquirers and payment processors in the world.