Email marketing is still known as one of the most effective forms of digital marketing today. With conversion rates much higher than any other digital medium, your store could benefit greatly.
But because email marketing has been around for so long, it's not the wild west it used to be. Before you begin, make sure you know the laws, regulations, and expectations with email marketing to avoid legal trouble and other consequences.
You absolutely need confirmation from your customers that they are willing to receive emails from you. This is something many retail operations overlook. Just because a customer purchased something from your store does not give you permission to contact them. You must receive explicit permission. The way that works in Ricochet is simply to ask your customers and consignors when you are creating an account for them. You can toggle the "Marketing" button in Ricochet to Yes or No depending on their answer.
You must include and honor an unsubscribe function in any emails you send. Fortunately, with Mailchimp and our integration tool, it handles this for you. But make sure you double-check who has unsubscribed before you send another email campaign. The best way to do that is to check your unsubscribes in Mailchimp, find those emails in Ricochet, and turn off the "Marketing" button in their customer or vendor account.
You must include your store's address and contact info in every email you send. This is another law that makes protects users from getting spammed with emails from an unknown sender. This is also automated in Mailchimp within your account details.
If you're sending an ad, make sure it is explicitly said so. This rule has a bit of room, but the general consensus is to not mislead your customers. Don't ever pretend to send them a personal email when the real content is for a coupon. The same goes for subject lines. You can't say "EVERYTHING IS FREE TODAY" in a subject line just to get people excited and open the email.
Create emails with good, thought-out content, and be authentic. Spam filters are getting more strict these days. It may not sound like a big deal, but if more than 5% of your customer's emails determine that your email is spam, your account could be suspended or banned.
There are lots of rules, regulations, and expectations out there with email marketing. It is an incredibly effective tool, but only if you know how to use it. Always make sure you are up to date on the latest CAN-SPAM Act and know your best practices from your email service.