This document provides 31 reasons for small businesses to use email marketing as told by small business owners themselves. The business owners represent a variety of industries and describe how email marketing has helped them establish credibility, grow their audience, reach new clients, boost sales, increase donations, learn what content works best, and more. Overall, the business owners find that email marketing provides an effective way to communicate with and market to their customers.

1. © Constant Contact 2015
31 Reasons
to Use Email Marketing
(As Told by Small Business
Owners)

2. There’s plenty of data to back up
the benefits of email marketing.

3. For example…

4. MarketingSherpa, 2015
91 percent of US adults like to receive
promotional emails from companies
they do business with.

5. McKinsey, 2014
Email is almost 40 times more
effective than Facebook and Twitter
combined in helping your business
acquire new customers.

6. DMA, 2013
66 percent of consumers have made a
purchase as a result of an email
marketing message.

7. But if you really want to find out how
email can work for your business,
why not ask other small business
owners to hear how it works for them?

8. That’s what we did.

9. We spoke with owners of….
Restaurants
Retail Stores
Real Estate Agencies
Yoga Studios
Lawn Care Businesses
Marketing Companies
Financial Offices
And more…

10. We asked,
“Why do you use email
marketing?”
Here’s what they had to say…

11. Brandon Stewart
Realtor, David Griffin & Company Realtors
Constant Contact customer since 2009
The emails are an important reinforcement of
brand. I get calls from people I’ve never met
all the time. They get the newsletter, or a
friend of theirs gets the newsletter, and they
know I’m the person to call. It really helps
establish credibility upfront.
11
1. Establish credibility

12. Five years ago, we started with zero contacts,
but we have a great database now – we have
7,000 email addresses. That means I can
push out a social event or a holiday and let
7,000 people know instead of advertising it
for $500 in a newspaper.
12
2. Grow your audience
Frank Galuppi
Owner, Galuppi’s Restaurant
Constant Contact customer since 2010

13. For years, in large part to the newsletter I
think, I’ve never had trouble attracting new
clients and the right kinds of clients. People
will read my newsletter and be able to tell if
I’m the right person for the project before they
even call me.
13
3. Reach new clients
Tom Ahern
Founder, Ahern Donor Communications
Constant Contact customer since 2008

14. When we first started, I really wasn’t sure
how it would work for us. I’m not a
professional marketer, and thought I would
need a lot of training.
But I decided to give it a try and I was able
to teach myself everything I needed to know.
14
4. Get started quickly
Anca Bala
Coordinator, Gallery Above Penn Square
Constant Contact customer since 2013

15. Email is our prime mode of
communication…We rely really heavily on it
because whenever I send something out, I’ll
get a flood of telephone calls.
15
5. Generate calls
Victor Terrazas
Owner, Rejuvenate Therapeutic Massage
Constant Contact customer since 2013

16. It has definitely been the easiest way to reach
people. If we have a slower day and know that
we want to reach local people, we can create
a quick email and will get at least a few calls
right away. The response is immediate.
16
6. Boost sales
Christine Copertino
Spa Director, Allegria Spa
Constant Contact customer since 2011

17. We sent a plea out to our database,
explaining the situation and asking for help…
The response was amazing; we raised over
$10,000 from individual donors.
17
7. Increase donations
Laura Carlock
Founder, Rescued Pets Movement
Constant Contact customer since 2013

18. Email has definitely helped us with web
traffic and attendance at our events. I like
that after I send an email out, I can go back
and see how many people clicked through on
which links. That way I can tell people are
interacting with our content and click
through to our website.
18
8. Learn what works
Ally Whittaker,
Public Relations Manager, The Local Good
Constant Contact customer since 2009

19. Constant Contact is very cost-effective for our
marketing, because I can do all of it and I
don’t have to hire a designer or someone
coming up with content for us.
19
9. Get more from your investment
Marc Lodovico
Manager, Vicky’s of Santa Fe
Constant Contact customer since 2010

20. I want to know that if someone gets our email,
no matter where they are, they can look at it.
When I sent our last flyer I got three phone
calls. That’s big! And I am almost positive
that all of those people were on their phones,
not in an office.
20
10. Reach people on any device
Carol Singer
Owner, Arlington Promotional Products
Constant Contact customer since 2009

21. Email definitely works. We see people
clicking through to our website and we have
people coming into the shop telling us that
they saw our newsletter.
21
11. Increase website traffic
Dawn Noble
Owner, La Provence
Constant Contact customer since 2011

22. Email marketing is great, because it doesn’t
have to take a lot of effort to have a BIG
effect.
22
12. Get more from doing less
Terri Jasen
Program Director, Pajama Program
Constant Contact customer since 2008

23. I do the best I can to put all my contacts in
separate lists so I can email just the
development community, or just businesses,
or elected officials, depending on what kind
of event announcement or email I’m sending.
23
13. Market with a personal touch
Courtney Hendricson
Assistant Town Manager, Town of Enfield
Constant Contact customer since 2013

24. We get really good feedback from the
newsletters.
The new templates have been working great
for us. We’re getting a ton of opens.
24
14. Look professional
Todd Starnes
President, Bicycle Adventures
Constant Contact customer since 2002

25. It’s rewarding because we always get an
immediate response through orders.
Whenever we need to trigger sales, we’ll think
of a great special to put out there.
25
15. Get immediate results
Karen Kowal
Founder, Mother Earth Pillows
Constant Contact customer since 2010

26. It’s been great for generating leads.
People that are thinking about using our
service will usually sign up for the newsletter.
I’ll see them pop up for a couple of weeks in
my reader-base, and then they’ll call and
make an appointment.
It’s not long until we pull them in as a
customer.
26
16. Generate leads
Meghan Blair-Valero
Owner, Fogged in Bookkeeping, Inc.
Constant Contact customer since 2011

27. After each email, I get three to five calls.
Some people see my email and get reminded
they want a consultation, others will just want
to talk about a news article.
27
17. Start a conversation
Paula Harris
Co-owner, WH Cornerstone Investments
Constant Contact customer since 2003

28. It’s always nice to hear someone tell us how
much they enjoyed reading our newsletter
and thanking us for reminding them to come
visit the store or give us a call.
The personal touch really makes the
difference.
28
18. Build excitement
Sue Bedell
Owner, Second Bloom Design
Constant Contact customer since 2010

29. We’ve had people say that they’ve really
noticed that there’s more communication
going on. It can be something small…we try to
send out an email right away letting our
residents know that’s happening, and
sometimes get an email right back saying
thank you.
29
19. Improve communication
Julia Mason
Marketing Manager, Bucci/Pollen Group
Constant Contact customer since 2013

30. Our email marketing started off as an
experiment. But our open rates are usually
higher than 50 percent and we get service
calls every time we send a newsletter out, so
I think it’s working.
30
20. Promote services
Matthew Taylor
Co-owner, Green Solutions Lawn Care &
Pest Control
Constant Contact customer since 2011

31. We started with email marketing to
communicate and share industry updates.
It’s really grown into one of our best drivers
for brand awareness. We’re noticing more
people talking about our business, and we
have more people showing up at our events.
31
21. Improve brand awareness
Julia Mason
Marketing Manager, Bucci/Pollen Group
Constant Contact customer since 2013

32. Before Constant Contact, we were manually
keeping track of everyone we had reached out
to — it was crazy, the amount of time it took.
Now, I can send out an email to about 300
people in less than five minutes.
32
22. Stay organized
Ruth Weening
Catering Manager, Basil Tree Catering
Constant Contact customer since 2008

33. We make it easy for our customers to book
classes right online through our emails.
Once an email goes out, we see the sign-ups
come in shortly after.
33
23. Book more classes
Arlet Koseian
Founder, extendYOGA
Constant Contact customer since 2011

34. Every time I send out an email, I get a sale in
15 minutes. Overall, I get up to four times as
many sales with these newsletters than I did
with my old ones, and they’ve gone from
about $50 per order to $100.
34
24. Increase your value
Irene Schmoller
Founder, Cotton Clouds
Constant Contact customer since 2010

35. If you don’t have a plan for reaching out to
vendors on a regular basis, it’s easy to let
some people fall through the cracks. You want
to make sure you’re maintaining
relationships with both your core vendors
and any of the smaller ones you may be
working with.
35
25. Maintain vendor relationships
Lee Klacher
Founder, Octane Press
Constant Contact customer since 2011

36. People get to see my work, which is great, and
these are often people who I never get to meet
with one-on-one. The timing of each
newsletter is going to be right for somebody,
and having the opportunity to show people
what I’m doing has just been a great way to
grow my business and my reach.
36
26. Attract new clients
Jill Singer
Owner, Jill Singer Graphics
Constant Contact customer since 2011

37. A great thing about Constant Contact is if
you’re having a problem, you can just pick up
the phone and someone will solve your
problem in a matter of minutes.
37
27. You’re not alone
Dan Plouffe
Co-owner, MyCollingwood.com
Constant Contact customer since 2006

38. The biggest benefit of email marketing, from
a staff perspective, is efficiency.
I have a template made so it’s easy to pull
together an email quickly. I think the rest of
my staff thinks it takes me a lot longer to
create an email than it actually does!
38
28. Save time
Kayla Peck
FAO Schwarz Foundation fellow,
Strong Women, Strong Girls
Constant Contact customer since 2005

39. The biggest benefit for us is that our
members feel more connected. We’re able to
keep people informed about our upcoming
events and provide another way for our more
than 400 members to recognize each other
and feel more connected.
39
29. Stay connected
Elizabeth Stigler
Communications Director, The Chicago Network
Constant Contact customer since 2010

40. Almost all of our donations come through
our email newsletters. Using email
marketing to maintain relationships and
build personal connections has been a key to
our success. And the biggest part of that has
been staying in touch and top of mind
throughout the year.
40
30. Stay top-of-mind
Julie Taulman
Executive Director, Steamboat Adaptive
Recreational Sports
Constant Contact customer since 2009

41. Our problem in the past would be when
people were not aware of all the trips we
had available. Up until we started using
Constant Contact we just had everything on
our website. From a marketing sense, that’s
the wrong approach because it puts the
burden on our customers.
41
31. Improve visibility
Joe McDonald
Co-founder, McDonald Wildlife Photography
Constant Contact customer since 2011

42. Want to give email marketing a try?
With over 600,000 customers, Constant Contact knows
what works for small businesses.
Visit ConstantContact.com to start your free 60-day trial!
© Constant Contact 2015