Are Your Customers Leaving Money on the Table? How to Get Started with Email Marketing (Without Being Spammy!)
The Big Picture: Why Email is Still the Boss
You’re busy. You’re running your business, posting on Instagram, updating your Google profile, and trying to keep your website running smoothly. It feels like you’re constantly feeding the social media beast, hoping the algorithm shows your posts to your own customers!
Here’s a quick digital marketing secret: while social media is great for being seen, email is where the real money is made.
Think about it:
You Own It: You own your email list. No algorithm can suddenly decide to hide your message. You get direct access to the people who actually want to hear from you.
They Care: Anyone who signs up for your emails is giving you permission to talk to them. That means they’re already highly interested in what you do!
Real Results: We recently worked with a client who sends a simple weekly newsletter. Their results? A massive 40% of people open it, and 14% click on something interesting inside. That’s a huge amount of traffic and direct interest, driven simply by sending an email!
Ready to stop whispering into the social media void and start talking directly to your best customers? Let’s look at how to build that list.
Step 1: Building the "Guest List" (Getting Those Emails!)
You can’t send an email without an email address! The good news is you probably have more customers and contacts than you think. Building your list is like planting a seed, it takes consistency, but the harvest is worth it.
Here are three simple ways to start growing your list right now, based on what we see working for our clients:
1. The Low-Hanging Fruit: Your Existing Database
Don't wait for new customers; start with the people who already know and love you!
Action Step: If you have an existing CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, an old database of clients, or even just a list of business contacts, those are your best first emails.
The Key: Our client’s success started with a database they built over several years. The takeaway? Having a solid, reliable process to capture customer information is the most valuable long-term asset you have.
2. The Digital Net: Make Signing Up Easy on Your Website
Your website is the hub of your business, so make it an easy place for visitors to join your community.
Action Step: Add a simple, clean newsletter sign-up form to your website. Put it in the footer, on your contact page, or even just as a small bar at the top of the screen.
Pro Tip: Offer a tiny incentive! Instead of just saying "Sign up for our newsletter," try "Sign up for our tips and get 10% off your first service!"
3. The Fun Incentive: Use a Competition or Giveaway
People love free things! This is a fast, fun way to collect lots of email addresses from people who are already interested in your local area.
Action Step: Run a local competition on your social media. Give away a voucher for your service, a popular product, or a dinner at a local spot. Make the newsletter sign-up a required part of the entry.
Why It Works: It gives people a great reason to hand over their email right now, and you know they are locally focused!
Step 2: What to Actually Send? (It's Not All Sales)
This is where most businesses freeze up. They worry they don't have enough "news" to send every week or they feel like they’ll annoy people if they constantly push sales.
The secret to keeping that 40% open rate is simple: Be useful, not loud.
People open your emails because they trust you to give them something valuable that they can’t easily find elsewhere. Think of your email as a little weekly digest tailored specifically for your local customers.
The Golden Rule: The 80/20 Mix
For every one thing you sell, offer four things that are helpful, interesting, or local. That’s the 80% useful, 20% sales rule.
Be the Local News Interpreter
We’ve had great success for one real estate client by interpreting local news stories for buyers, sellers, and planners. This is a strategy any local business can copy:
You don’t need to write the news; you just need to explain it.
A local accountant could explain how a small change in tax law impacts a sole trader.
A pet groomer could interpret new advice from the local vet regarding flea season.
A café owner could interpret local council road closures and suggest the best alternative route to their shop.
Action Step: Look at local news that affects your customers’ daily lives, then give them a quick, simple summary and tell them what they should do next.
The Successful Structure: Multiple Click-Points
When you draft your email, you don't need just one big article. Our successful client newsletter had multiple things people could click on, meaning there was something for everyone:
External Links (The Fun Stuff): A quick link to a local event happening this weekend, or a great article about home décor trends. This is the helpful stuff.
Internal Links (Your Services): A short section dedicated to a specific service you offer, like "Move Management" or "Seasonal Servicing." This is the sales stuff, but it's specific and targeted.
By offering a mix of interesting local news and specific services, you make the email valuable enough to open, and you give people a clear path to becoming a paying customer!
Step 3: Keeping it Simple and Focused
The biggest danger in email marketing is promising too much and burning out. If you promise a weekly email but only manage one every three months, your audience will quickly lose trust.
The key to long-term success is consistency and clarity.
Start Small, Stay Consistent
You might look at our client’s successful weekly newsletter and think you have to do the same. You don’t!
Action Step: Decide on a frequency you can realistically stick to. Is it monthly? Bi-weekly? Great. Write it down, put it in your calendar, and stick to it.
Why It Matters: Sending an email every third Thursday of the month is far better than sending five emails in one week and then disappearing for six months. Consistency builds the expectation and the habit of opening your email.
Focus on One Goal Per Email
Even though we recommend having multiple click-points in your email (like links to local events and links to your services), the email should still have one main theme.
For example: If your main useful content is interpreting new local planning regulations, then your main Call-to-Action (CTA) should be something related to that, like "Book a free consultation to see how these changes affect your project."
Keep it Simple: Don't overload the reader. Use clear headings, short paragraphs, and lots of bold text so they can scan the email in 30 seconds and know exactly what to click on.
Time to Stop Leaving Money on the Table!
Email marketing isn’t some complicated system reserved for huge companies. It’s the simplest, most direct way to build a real relationship with your local customers, the people who keep your business running!
By following these three steps:
Building your list from the customers you already have.
Focusing on useful, local content (the 80/20 rule).
Staying consistent with your schedule.
...you can move your business away from fighting social media algorithms and start enjoying that direct, powerful connection that drives website traffic and, most importantly, sales.
Ready to Turn Your Email List into a Money-Making Machine?
If the idea of a 40% open rate sounds great, but finding the time to design, write, and manage a new campaign sounds stressful, we can help!
At Kennedy Wood Marketing, we specialize in building email campaigns that are professional, simple, and actually get results. The very best way to kick-start any new digital effort (including email) is with a Digital Audit. We’ll take a quick, honest look at your current marketing and tell you exactly where the hidden opportunities are.
Stop leaving money on the table. Contact us today for a friendly chat about how we can make your marketing work harder for you!