While some home service companies rely on referrals for new business, referrals alone may not be enough to sustain a business, especially in areas where competition is high. This is why an increasing number of home service businesses are turning to email marketing to reach their target market.
Of all types of email marketing, newsletters are one of the most effective ways to stay top of mind with customers. Whether you specialize in plumbing, roofing, interior decorating, landscaping, or electrical services, email newsletters are a cost-effective tool to engage prospects and build customer loyalty.
The following guide looks at what email newsletters are, describes how they can benefit your business, provides 10 newsletter ideas, and features various tips on how to create more engaging newsletters.
What Are Email Newsletters?
Email newsletters are emails that businesses send out to a list of subscribers, typically delivered every week or month. They can contain a wide range of content, such as company news, product updates, and promotional messages. The goal is to remind existing and potential customers about your company, demonstrate your expertise, build your credibility, gain new business, and increase customer loyalty.
Benefits of Email Newsletters for Home Service Businesses
There are five main benefits of delivering regular email newsletters:
Keep Your Business Top of Mind
Most of your potential customers won’t regularly check your website for company news and promotions. Sending newsletters means you can share information on a regular basis, keeping customers and prospects informed about your business and latest offerings. As a result, they’re more likely to turn to you when they need your services.
Build Your Credibility
By providing your email audience with helpful and informative content, you can establish your business as a reliable source of information and supplier of services. You can also earn the trust of consumers by showing the human side of your business.
Increase Customer Loyalty
Regularly sending out useful information and exclusive offers helps to reduce unsubscribe rates and encourages people to open your emails. As a result, you can turn more prospects into long-term customers that keep coming back to your business.
Drive Website Traffic
By inserting links and call-to-action buttons in each email, you can encourage readers to check out your latest blog post, visit your testimonials page, explore your FAQ page, or get a free quote. Website visitors will often check out other pages on your site which can help to boost your credibility.
Boost Your Social Media Presence
If you include social media buttons in the header and footer of each newsletter, you can encourage people to follow your social media pages and engage with your business at their own convenience.
Email Newsletter Ideas
Whether you’re just starting an email newsletter or you’re looking for inspiration, here are 10 ideas for newsletter content:
How-To Guides
How-to guides are a great way to show your expertise and educate your audience. For example, if you offer electrical services, you can provide a how-to guide on how to child-proof electrical outlets, or give tips on how to save money on the electric bill. As well as building your credibility, sharing your knowledge increases the likelihood that people will reach out to your company when they need help.
Company News
Update customers with news relating to your business, such as new product announcements, service updates, upcoming events, business milestones, or good news stories. Also, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your business with employee profiles and interviews.
Industry News
Newsletters are a great opportunity to update customers about the latest trends in your industry. Just remember to keep it brief and avoid using too much industry jargon.
Special Offers and Discounts
Offering discounts and running special promotions is a simple way to engage your current audience and attract new subscribers to your newsletter. This tactic is especially useful if your business is just getting off the ground, or during slow periods of the year.
Top 10 Lists
Top 10 lists are an effective way to win attention in the inbox. Many people enjoy reading them, and you can write about a wide variety of topics, such as a top 10 of customer FAQs, a top 10 of tips, or your top 10 most-read blog posts.
Blog Post Roundups
If you regularly publish blog posts, share links to your most recent posts in each newsletter. This not only drives traffic to your website, but also builds customer trust in your company.
User-Generated Content
An increasing number of businesses are taking advantage of user-generated content to add authenticity to their marketing campaigns. According to one report, consumers are 2.4 times more likely to say user-generated content is authentic compared to content created by a business (1). Try to include photos of customers using your products and services or showcase customer reviews.
Holiday Messages
You can use major holidays to reach out to subscribers with special promotions. But don’t forget to take advantage of lesser-known holidays throughout the year, such as World Plumbing Day in March, or Lawn and Garden Month in April.
Surveys
Send out email surveys or questionnaires to show you’re listening to customers. It’s a simple way to gain valuable feedback about your services, which you can use to improve your business.
FAQs
Finally, if your team constantly receives phone calls and emails asking the same types of questions, send out an FAQ newsletter. Alternatively, direct users to your website’s FAQ page. When potential customers can quickly find the information they need, it will reduce incoming inquiries, which saves your staff valuable time.
Tips to Improve Your Home Service Company Newsletters
To make your newsletters more engaging, keep in mind the following best practices:
Set Clear Expectations
When welcoming new subscribers, make it clear what kind of content they’ll receive and how often they’ll receive it. When your subscribers know what to expect, it will build anticipation for your content and help to maximize open rates.
Write Compelling Subject Lines
Try to make every subject line concise, descriptive, and enticing. Emphasize how subscribers will benefit from opening your email. In today’s crowded inboxes, if your messages don’t stand out, they’ll be ignored or deleted.
Deliver Relevant and Unique Content
When creating any newsletter, keep your target audience in mind. What will they find interesting, useful, or inspiring? What do they need help with? When your content aligns with the needs and interests of your audience, you can reduce unsubscribes and boost engagement. Try to deliver content that readers won’t get from your competitors.
Don’t Send Too Many Emails
According to a recent study by GetResponse, sending one newsletter per week resulted in the highest average open rate of 33.3 percent. In the study, sending newsletters more frequently than this reduced open rates (2). However, always look at your email marketing metrics. If you increase the frequency of your newsletters and engagement drops, it could be a sign you’ve gone too far.
Include a Strong Call to Action (CTA)
A CTA encourages your contacts to take the next step. Whether you want people to visit your website, watch your latest video, call for a quote, provide feedback, or something else, make it clear what you want them to do next. For example, “Get a free quote today” or “Explore our services page to learn more.”
Don’t Forget Mobile Users
According to a recent study, mobiles were the most widely used device to open emails, with 43 percent of all emails being opened on a mobile device (3). For this reason, write short subject lines, keep the email body brief, use bullet points and short paragraphs to make your newsletters easier to scan, and use large CTA buttons that are easy to click.
Use Email Newsletters to Grow Your Home Service Business
When it comes to email marketing, delivering regular newsletters is one of the most powerful ways to deepen the relationship between your business and your subscribers. For home service companies, email newsletters are especially useful for gaining both new remodeling leads and repeat business.
Hopefully, this guide will inspire you to create engaging email newsletters that captivate your audience and ultimately grow your customer base. When you provide regular updates, offer advice, and deliver exclusive deals, people will feel that you’re offering more value than other businesses in the same industry, and this will keep you in the forefront of their minds when they need your services.
Contact a Contractor Marketing Agency to Get Started
If you need help getting your email marketing set up, don’t hesitate to contact Home Builder Reach. We’re a contractor marketing agency that works exclusively with home builders, remodelers, and general contractors. Our proven online marketing techniques will help grow your business and generate new leads.
