If you’ve recently launched a meal-planning service for those who want to eat healthy, but don’t have the time to prepare recipes, email marketing should be at the core of your marketing mix. In this blog, we’ll discuss the best email marketing strategies for meal-planning businesses.
Most marketers think email marketing has gone obsolete, but that’s far from true. Most people don’t know how to wield this tool properly. It is difficult, but if done correctly, email marketing can open up new horizons for your meal-planning services business. Here are some fundamental email marketing strategies to keep in mind before rolling out your campaign.
Understand who your audience is exactly
Your first milestone should be to pinpoint your target market. That’s easier said than done because you must dive into the nitty-gritty of everything. Every business has different shades of the target market. For instance, broadly speaking, your audience comprises people who want to eat healthy food. But this could mean several things — people looking for keto meals, vegan food, high-protein food, or a mix of everything.
Therefore, do your market research properly before endeavoring in email marketing. Identify every segment of your target audience. This will also help you tailor and personalize emails to each segment and get the maximum benefit. If you just send one email to every segment, you’ll risk neglecting all other segments for just one.
Expand your subscriber list
The scope of your email campaign depends on how big your subscriber list is. The best way to expand your subscribers is by having a stunning and conversion-focused website. Your website is your digital front door and should give a stellar first impression to whoever visits it. It should also reflect your brand identity.
Having a website blog is a must. This is where you churn out content regularly and engage potential customers. Consistency is key, so have a content calendar and post articles twice or thrice every week. Ensure the content is relevant to your target audience and adds value for them. For instance, if you provide keto meals, you could write an article on the best easy keto recipes you can make at home.
Lastly, add a “subscribe” button at the end so that readers get notified whenever you post an article. It helps expand your subscriber list for your email campaign.
Offer a free sample as a gesture of goodwill
People love freebies! One of the greatest obstacles to meal-planning services is that it’s too big of a risk for a customer to subscribe to your meals and end up not liking them. You have to make it easy for them to buy from you, and there’s no better way than giving them free samples of your weekly or monthly menu.
Mention these free meal samples in your weekly newsletter, but use a customizable email template from PosterMyWall so that the information is presented visually to potential customers. Just pick a pre-built template, customize it to how you want it, and use colors that reflect your brand image.
Highlight positive customer testimonials in your emails
Praising yourself and how good you are in an email won’t convince anyone. You must get listed on GoogleMyBusiness and classified sites and demonstrate to your audience that people trust you with their meal-planning needs. You could also post a few customer testimonials on your website, but most people think they’re curated and fake.
Potential customers are more likely to trust the word of your past customers than yours. And the only way you can harness the power of customer testimonials is to stay atop your customer service game and provide the best or unique meals for your audience. Highlight your successes and what customers think of you in your emails — it’s the quickest way to gain your audience’s trust.
Make people want to follow you on social media
Email marketing is just a cog in the big machine called digital marketing. It works in tandem with social media marketing and other advertising channels. Therefore, it’s important to use your email campaigns to encourage people to follow you on Instagram or join your Facebook community.
Similarly, your social media pages redirect people to your website, where they can subscribe to your emails — so it’s a cycle that feeds into itself. Mention your social media handles in every email you send to your audience. Of course, for that, you’ll need to make your social media pages enticing and filled with valuable diet-related content.
A final piece of advice
While the above-mentioned email marketing strategies work like a charm, remember that every business is different, with a unique selling point and target audience. Therefore, there’s no one set of rules that works for everyone. Try out multiple strategies and tailor them to your specific needs. Eventually, through trial and error, you’ll identify the strategies that produce the best results for your meal-planning services business.
