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Michael Adams Green Mountain Mustard and Gredio

Michael Adams, Owner
Green Mountain Mustard & Gredio

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My Email Marketing Plan for 2015

As I mentioned in my last post on what I learned during 2014, my online sales sky-rocketed. They went from $3,400 in 2013 to over $16,000 in 2014. While still small numbers, 4.5x growth is nothing to shake a stick at.

It’s growth I need to be pay attention to.

And to get ahead of the ball this year. I figured out my email marketing for the year, just before Christmas. Plus, I already started designing the email campaigns in MailChimp.

But, first, why the focus on email marketing (I wrote more in depth about it here)?

1.It’s practically free

Mailchimp doesn’t cost me a penny under 1,000 subscribers. Then, it’s just $10 a month. They have templates you can plug your images into, slap some text in there, too, and it’s on it’s way.

2. Your list is full of customers who already buy from you

I build my list from events, festivals, and our free downloadable cookbook. These are emails from customers who have purchased my mustard before. That means, they’re likely to buy it again. They just need to be reminded. Enter: email marketing.

3. It has the best return on investment

Considering it’s free (see point #1), any sales you generate from your email are almost pure profit (minus the cost of your products and the time to ship it out). In short — it’s money in the bank.

Moving along, let’s get to my email marketing schedule for the year.

My 2015 Email Marketing Calendar

Note: Every email I send comes with some sort of promotion. Most of the time, it’s a percent off or a free jar with any order. It also comes with a couple recipes and upcoming events.

  • January: Superbowl email (Watch Superbowl. Eat mustard)
  • February: Valentine’s Day email (We love our customers)
  • March: St. Patrick’s Day email (all green items on sale!)
  • April: Easter email (Mmm…Ham, scalloped potatoes, etc)
  • May: New product launch, grilling season, and farmer’s market starts
  • June: Father’s Day. Men love mustard
  • July: Seasonal mustard launch and 4th of July promotion
  • August: National Mustard Day and Back to School promotion
  • September: Seasonal mustard launch and promote upcoming festivals
  • October: Halloween (here’s a treat for you – no tricks)
  • November:
    • Cranberry mustard launch
    • Cyber Friday Email
    • Reminder Email sent Monday morning
  • December (haven’t quite figured the promotions out)
    • Week #1 promotion – 15% off your total purchase
    • Week #2 promotion – $10 off a full variety pack
    • Week #3 promotion – send last shipping day notice
    • Week #4 promotion – Free jar with any purchase

Now, I’m sure you have some questions.

1. How do you find the time to send 17 emails a year?

I currently have 3 months completed. I do them in batches. All my email marketing is done by the end of January. Then, it’s like set it and forget it. The orders and money come rolling in. Find the time. It’s there.

2. Why do you send three emails in November and four emails in December?

This is our busiest time of year. I send multiple emails to remind people they haven’t purchased mustard yet. I did it for the first time last year and every email I sent produced several hundred dollars in sales — better than nothing! Plus, I only lost a handful of subscribers. You don’t want to be forgotten. The holidays are busy for everyone, so keep your company top-of-mind and send a couple emails. You won’t regret it.

3. Does it take long to design emails?

Each email takes me about an hour – from concept to design. But, they aren’t fancy (and I need to stop scrolling on Facebook). They have a couple images and some text. I’ve even sent plain-text emails before and they convert customers just as well. You have to experiment to see what your customers like and which emails bring in the most money.

4. How big is your list?

Right now, it’s almost 600 people – not big at all. But, I generated $16,000 off that list in 2014. What if I doubled my list? Would I double my revenue to $32,000? Bottom line is this: you can make money off your list, no matter how small it is. Even if it’s just your mom. She’ll always buy from you 🙂

4. How do I build my list?

Have an email signup on your website or a reason to have customers give you their email (our free cookbook for example). And, when you’re at events, collect emails, too. If I’m sending an email within 1-2 weeks after an event, I let my new customers know about it. That way, they expect a coupon in their inbox. And to get it out of the way — don’t buy a list of emails. Your email marketing provider will shut you down.

So, that’s my loose plan. I strongly urge you to get a plan in place for your email marketing efforts. Even if it only brings in a little bit of money, it’s where my business is heading — one on one relationships with customers who love my products.

Good luck with your email marketing this year!

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8 Comments on this post

  1. AUTHORHope

    on January 23, 2015 at 3:51 pm - Reply

    Thanks so much for posting this! I need to do more email marketing this year as well. One thing to think about…you will still get orders even if you do NOT offer a discount code. I was worried that I was sending out a discount code with every newsletter (and thus folks perhaps waiting to order until a code came along) so I took a deep breath and send out a newsletter WITHOUT a discount code. The results? The orders still came in! So my advice – try sending out a newsletter without a code and see what happens.

    • AUTHOREvona Niewiadomska

      on January 23, 2015 at 10:00 pm - Reply

      I totally agree with Hope! There are so many ways to connect with your mustard lovin’ customers… even without discount code, you can try sharing dip recipes, news about yourself and the company, news features (bragging rights!). Love the set-it-and-forget-it plan!

      • AUTHORmichael

        on January 24, 2015 at 2:00 am - Reply

        Yes, yes! I use recipes, upcoming events, and even some videos to launch my sales.

    • AUTHORmichael

      on January 24, 2015 at 1:59 am - Reply

      Yes – great idea, Hope. I sent out 2-3 without a coupon – they were simply reminders and one was my monthly email. It is pretty amazing how people order without an incentive!

  2. AUTHORJanet Malone

    on January 26, 2015 at 11:25 pm - Reply

    Wow! Awesome post! Congratulations! I’m currently still working on details to package my products with a gas flush vacuum sealer to help with shipping before I actually create my online store. My goal for this year is to increase my sales by 5. Hopefully with selling retail online that will go faster than just increasing my wholesale accounts.

    • AUTHORmichael

      on January 26, 2015 at 11:49 pm - Reply

      Gas flush is an amazing technology – good luck! And once you get your online shop up, I’d love to order.

  3. AUTHORJorge

    on February 16, 2015 at 5:06 pm - Reply

    Hi Michael,

    We’ve been working with Mailchimp as well and has worked out great. We have also tested different strategies like sending out discount codes in certain emails and not on others. We’ve tested ‘free shipping’ against bulk discounts… and what we learned is that ppl responded the best (most sales) with Free Shipping (on any order-for a limited time). Have you had similar experience?

    • AUTHORmichael

      on February 24, 2015 at 12:35 pm - Reply

      Hey Jorge! Great to hear from you! Yes, free shipping works wonders if your threshold makes sense to the customer. Many companies do free shipping over $99, but with low-priced products, it’s hard to get over that barrier, thus it’s not of value to the customer anymore.

      I offer free shipping across the board to get my product out there and it’s helped a ton.

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