Most retailers understand the 80 – 20 rule: You do 80% of your business with 20% of your customers. That is not going to change during your Store Closing Sale. It is extremely important that you take advantage of your existing relationship with your customers to maximize your results from your Store Closing Sale.
Direct marketing is the most productive tool that you have when conducting a Store Closing Sale. Direct Mail is an important marketing tool, but “snail mail” is slower, more costly and less flexible than Email. The biggest advantages of Email over “snail mail” are cost, quickness of delivery and frequency. The largest single disadvantage is that it must be “permission based”.
You can send a letter or postcard to anyone you choose, but to send Emails the recipient must “subscribe” or agree to receive your Emails. It is extremely important that you build your customer Email subscriber list before and during your Store Closing Sale. You can do this through “prize drawings”, were the entry provides their Email address and agrees to receive special Email offers and information about the sale or simply by asking each customer if they would be interested in receiving future special offers and information about the sale via Email.
Email is: fast, efficient, measurable, personal, low cost and has high return. Because of its low cost, Emails can be sent with the frequency needed to make an impact. It’s possible to reach a customer 3 to 5 times for the same cost of one postcard that you print and send via snail mail.
An Email marketing campaign must include the same elements of any traditional promotional campaign: create an impact, make an effective offer, provide a call to action and have a tool to measure its results.