Wyoming Business Tips for Dec. 2

A weekly look at issues facing Wyoming business owners and entrepreneurs from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming.

By Jake Dixon, marketing manager, Wyoming SBDC Network

For small businesses in Wyoming, email marketing can be an effective way to secure potential customers and reengage your current clientele. Unlike in days past, the strength of email marketing now lies in its ability to target your customers on a personal level -- provided your target audience is properly segmented. There are plenty of email marketing programs available online, but the aspects that make an effective message are the same.

Get to the point with your subject line. Think about how you browse your own email. Most email clients limit the visible portion of a subject line to around 41 characters. If your audience doesn’t trust the sender, and the subject line isn’t relevant to them, then your email will likely get deleted right away.

Choose a specific topic for your headline. Congratulations! Your recipient has opened or previewed your email. That is the biggest hurdle with email marketing. The first thing your potential customer will now see is the headline of the email. Make sure your headline is only addressing one topic. This isn’t the time to educate the reader on all of your products or services -- just the one that is most relevant to them.

Keep your content brief. If readers have generously decided to move past your headline, then you don’t want to scare them away with a large block of text that promises to take up several minutes of their valuable time. Break up text with relevant pictures, graphics and subheadings. Also, make sure any text that you use is on point and expresses at least one benefit to the reader.

Don’t forget the call to action. If the reader has made it this far, then the biggest mistake you can make is not giving a clear call to action. This can take the form of a button or link that directs the recipient to your website to learn more or to take advantage of an offer. You also can place a call to action higher up in your email, but make sure it is repeated at the bottom.

Whether it’s obtaining market research to segment your audience, fine-tuning your own branding or developing a strategy to capture email addresses, your Wyoming SBDC Network adviser is here to help. Get started with no-cost confidential assistance today by visiting www.wyomingsbdc.org.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their businesses. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY 82071-3922.