A Dog Walker's Introduction to Email Marketing

This subject is worthy of a much larger article, but for now, in brief, here are the basics.

Why do I want an email list?

This is part of marketing, so that more people are aware of your brand, what services you offer, and what you do. The more people who know about your business and see you as an expert, the more likely you are to be referred to other dog owners by your clients, but also by people who may never have used you, but appreciate your expertise through your newsletter.

How does an email list work?

They work best when they have categories. So your categories could be:

• Everyone
• Current dog walking clients
• Dog training clients
• Home boarding clients
• Past clients
• Retail clients

This way you can send different offers or availability, price increases, offers for past clients to encourage them to return to you etc, to only the people who are affected. This helps people stay subscribed, as they are not seeing irrelevant emails. If you are not sure what to write on a 'general' newsletter for everyone, you can’t go wrong with 'hot weather tips' and 'cold weather tips', at the appropriate times. There are lots of different email lists you can use, have a search online to find one that suits your plans – many have a limited free version.

Why do people want to be on an email list?

The number one reason people sign up for email newsletters is to get offers and discounts, so within a week of your event, send an email out to all your new members. Remind them they signed up to your newsletter, go over all your services, send them an offer or discount on services (all offers should have an expiry date), and let them know they will be included on your newsletter, and let them know how often this will be sent.