As a Franchisor or a Franchisee you can produce huge results for your location by implementing an Email Marketing Campaign. Many franchises use email marketing for customer retention or loyalty programs offering customers specials and telling them about their newest product or offering. It’s also a great way to give your customers a “call to action” that brings them to your website i.e. Click here for a coupon. It’s a sure way to stay connected to your customers, and they get value from you for being loyal; win-win!
Maybe your franchisor doesn’t offer an email program yet, if not, you should definitely communicate with them the measurable benefits and take the time to learn about best practices for how franchises can use this marketing tool.
If you already have an email program, grow your list by making it easy for every customer who walks in to sign up. Make sure they know the benefits of opting in to your email program. Include it on your signage, talk about it on social media, and above all, make sure your staff is trained to discuss the program with your customers.
Have you ever wondered what time of day is best to send an email blast? Morning? Afternoon? Monday? Wednesday? Or what kind of subject line will get the user to open the email? Should you mention the word FREE? Limited Time? Special Offer? Maybe four “!!!!”?
The only way to get measurable results is create an A/B Split Test campaign. This simply means, you create two email blasts (A & B), and set different variables for each. So in email “A”, you might send out Monday, 9:00am, with a hard sell subject line. Where in email “B”, you could send out Thursday at 3:00pm with a soft sell subject line. You can now measure how many users opened the email, clicked links included within the email, or unsubscribed from the email entirely. These results can help determine what is the best time for you to reach your audience, and in the future help email conversion rates.
And as a side-note, using the word Free is not recommended. Typically spam filters catch emails with “Free” in the subject line.
