Solve your customer retention problems with email marketing.

How was the largest shopping weekend of the year for you? How was it for your business? Did you spend more money than your business profited?

One thing that I know for sure, is that Divers Direct had a great weekend. Do you know how I know that?

They started sending me sale newsletters starting on November 1 and it seems like they are only getting started.

Today's Topic: Email newsletters are the highest ROI marketing activity for a dive store.

1. If you don't currently send out a regular email newsletter, start this week.

2. If you do send out a regular email newsletter, try to add at least one follow up email per month that is sent to subscribers who click a certain link with more information.

3. Make sure links that you include in your newsletter lead back to your website.

Bonus: Tools of the trade to get you going.

If you don't currently send out a regular email newsletter, start this week.

Sending out an email newsletter can take time at first. You have you think of what to write, gather photos, and make sure all of your buttons and links work.I don't know of many other activities in your store that will make you $42 for every $1 invested. The time investment seems worth it.

Here is a simple template to get you started:

• Include 1 education topic with a photo and a blurb (the photos can generally come from the training agency)

• Include 1 travel topic with a photo and a blurb (try to use your own photos but feel free to use photos from your travel agents as well)

• Include 1 equipment topic with a photo and a blurb (these photos can come from the manufacturers websites or be taken with your phone in your store)

If you do send out a regular email newsletter, try to add at least one follow up email per month that is sent to subscribers who click a certain link with more information.

Email blasts to your entire email list can get you open rates between 5% and 20%. I used to get 16-17% open rates on most of my email blasts. What I did next was the trick.

I would then create new emails with more information on the same education topic, travel topic and equipment topic I used in my email blast. These are single topic emails.

Then if a customer clicked the link for more information on the website or clicked the linked to my flyer I would send them the single topic email. Doing this is easy enough in all major email newsletter software, but may take some time at first.

This strategy get open rates on the second more tailored email around 50-60%. And it translates to class signups, trip signups and equipment purchases.

Make sure links that you include in your newsletter lead back to your website.

I used to be guilty of this one myself. I would link photos and buttons to facebook or to manufacturer websites or not even put a button.

Then I learned. Make your website the hub of your online strategy. Send all of your traffic from facebook, your newsletter, etc, to your website. This increases SEO for Google and makes it easier to track new customers, signups, purchases and future marketing activities..

I avoided this because I didn't like my website. If that is the case, let's get you a new website.

Bonus: Tools of the trade to get you going.

Here are some recommended softwares if you don't have one already.

• Beehiiv (This is what I use. You can sign up with this link: https://www.beehiiv.com/?via=alex-huhn)

• ConstantContact

• Mailchimp

• ConvertKit

Pick one and get started.