Felicia Brown

I subscribe to a number of e-newsletters from spas, salons, and industry vendors; many of them are done with Constant Contact. While I really love the flexibility and ease of sending out e-mailed newsletters, I see too often these common mistakes that hurt more than help the business that is sending out the newsletter.

1. Typos. I am always surprised to see typos or bad grammar in any marketing communication. If it is a one-time event, it may not do major damage. We are all human! But I usually see typos or poor grammar multiple times from the same business. This chronic lack of editing leaves your client questioning the quality of your services. If you want to be associated with high-end and quality services, your marketing (which is a written extension of you and your business) absolutely has to reflect that. Double and triple check all printed, e-mailed, and web page text prior to sending it out to your customers.

 2. “Sale” in the subject or title. It is almost too easy to want to attract attention with a discount. However, it is important to realize that clients who visit you only because of a discount will probably come back only when you give them another discount.

So instead, provide value in other ways by talking about pain relief or skin care tips, highlighting a recent charity activity to the local community, or provide a small upgrade (such as 15 min massage after a scrub) to a specific service. The idea is to give value to your clients in your e-mail communications, without giving them charity.

3. Erratic e-mail templates. The brand of your business should be communicated in your e-mails, and switching newsletter templates every week does not help you do this. I know it is VERY tempting, fun, and cheap to use the various holiday templates. However, you can relate to the season-du-jour within a customized e-mail template that will deliver a consistent visual memory of your business through the use of additional images, imaginative headlines and engaging articles or features.

Good marketing is heavily dependent upon consistency. And even though it is a bit boring for you as a business owner, having the same template makes it easier to send out your communications and makes a bigger long-term impression of you.

PS…If you would like to learn more about how to get started with online marketing, I just did a webinar with my friend and colleague, Allissa Haines, called “Online Marketing: Getting past the “I don’t wanna” syndrome”. It was fun and filled with lots of great ideas and resources on how to make online marketing work for you. We taped the whole thing and it’s just waiting for you to listen in. Just click here to sign up for the free replay and get your email and online marketing in motion!