Email Marketing Basics for Main Street

Email Marketing Basics for Main Street

Why email still wins for local

Email is the one channel your business owns. Platforms change algorithms; your list does not. For local businesses, a small engaged list outperforms social reach ten to one — every email lands, and the people on your list already know your name. Related reading: the weekly content loop referral programs.

The permission rule

Only email people who gave you their address willingly — at checkout, on your site, through a sign-up sheet. Buying lists poisons your sender reputation and breaks marketing law in most places.

Send from a real person at a real address you monitor, and include an unsubscribe link that works immediately.

A cadence you can keep

One email a month is enough for most local businesses. Make it useful: one seasonal tip, one answer to a common question, one offer if you have one. Two sentences of personal framing above the content beats any template.

Measure three things: open rate (healthy above 35 percent for local lists), clicks, and the replies. Replies are the metric everyone ignores and the one that predicts revenue.

Keep reading

• the weekly content loop
• referral programs
• review generation emails

For the primary sources behind this page, see Local search marketing overview and FTC endorsement guides FAQ and Google guidance on helpful content.