Email Marketing for the Service Industry: Building an Effective Strategy

The service industry has its own marketing peculiarities. When it comes to email marketing for this niche, simple collections of discounts and promo codes in newsletters will not be enough. To get results, companies have to do more, and I will explain why in the section about building a subscriber base. In fact, companies often give up on email marketing because they do not see immediate results or high ROMI values after the first few newsletters.

In this article, I will tell you how to build an effective email marketing strategy for the service industry.

What is a service?

A service is any paid activity of a non-productive nature designed to meet a customer’s needs.’

Email marketing strategy for the service industry: key points and actions

There are a few key points specific to the service industry.

1. Brand personalization: focus on service agents and their qualifications.
2. Personalize and customize the user experience.
3. Feedback from previous customers is one of the most important product evaluation methods.
4. Regular communication and loyalty building is crucial to retaining customers during periods of reduced demand.
5. Other related and ongoing services can act as a method of extending the customer lifecycle.

Without these considerations, the strategy won’t work. Now, let’s discuss how you can incorporate these tips in detail, step by step.

Step 1: Define your marketing goals

Before launching your email channel, decide what goals and metrics you’ll target.

Here are some of the top goals that businesses typically set.

1. Increase traffic.

From email newsletters, subscribers can click through to a website or landing page, download a mobile app, or sign up for social media. This increases overall traffic. For a potential customer, it is an opportunity to choose the most convenient channel to receive information from the brand.

2. Improve loyalty.

Useful, well-designed newsletters without intrusive sales pitches make a good impression on subscribers. Such emails are expected, and subscribers want to open them.

Whether they are looking for inspiration or just want access to interesting, helpful content — all subscribers have different motivations for reading newsletters. What is important is that they gradually become engaged and loyal to the company’s product. And as demand for the service grows, some of those subscribers will order from you.

3. Increase brand awareness.

Regular newsletters help people remember the brand and notice it in everyday life. What we encounter more often is perceived as more trustworthy. Once the trust is established, the desire to buy grows.

When a newsletter is not only aesthetically pleasing but also interesting and useful, the brand is perceived as an acquaintance, a friend, or a helper who is always there. Conversely, intrusive or pushy newsletters that just try to sell are seen as spam.

4. Increase total revenue.

You can do this with mass promotions and automated triggered newsletters. Connect them to SEO, PPC, and other email channels. Together, they will drive the customer to a targeted action: placing an order.

5. Incentivize repeat orders.

Automate newsletters and send them after specific customer actions. That way, you’ll get them interested in repeating a regular service. For example, a visit to the dentist every six months. Or offer a related/continuing service, for example, a B1 English course after completing an A2 level.

Trigger emails should be sent to customers who are familiar with the brand. They are more loyal, have used the service, and are more likely to order again. You can also offer a bonus for a repeat order or a review of a previous order.

6. Implement reactivation emails.

Email marketing allows you to re-engage inactive subscribers and reignite their interest in your brand.

7. Take care of your customers.

Email newsletters can be used to notify customers that an action is successfully completed. For example, an order has been placed, the course has been successfully paid for, enrollment has been confirmed, and the application has been received.

These messages are called transactional emails. They reassure customers and help them effectively interact with the company.

Step 2: Build a subscriber base

In the service industry, subscribers are essentially a list of a company’s current and potential customers. They include:

1. Members of the target audience who have not yet placed an order.
2. People who have contacted the company themselves to order a product or service.
3. One-time customers.
4. Regular customers who place orders regularly.
5. Customers who are not currently in contact with the company but receive occasional communications from the company.

You need to get an email address from each of these people to send them emails. There are different ways to collect a subscriber base.

One peculiarity of the service sector is that using a discount or promo code as a lead magnet is not always possible.

Base your lead magnet on what your brand can potentially do for the customer and what alternative you can offer when discounting is not an option.

Examples of service industry lead magnets:

• Checklists and guides.
• Tutorials and reviews.
• Free consultations.
• Bonuses as additional related services.
• Demos and limited access
• Catalogs and portfolios
• Test results
• Access to online events
• Links to other useful articles

In short, customers should get something in return for giving you their contact. In addition to lead magnets that attract one-time customers, explain the long-term benefits of subscribing:

• Latest company news.
• New products and promotions.
• Subscriber-only discounts.
• Early access.
• Personalized promo codes.
• Update notifications, etc.

It is important to keep segmentation in mind and conduct questionnaires to learn more about the subscriber and their preferences. Ask questions during the subscription/registration process or through questionnaires in promotional emails.

Another option is to allow subscribers to manage newsletters from their personal account on the site.

The subscriber can then select the topics of interest to them and update their information themselves. You should set up integration with your email service to synchronize information updates and place the contact in the right segment for subsequent newsletters.

Subscription form and lead magnet best practices

Medical niche (Oxford Medical):

Passenger transport niche (KLR Bus):

Affiliate network niche (PDL Profit):

Step 3: Launch bulk newsletters

What to discuss with subscribers

Depending on the purpose of the newsletter, there is a distinction between promotional and informational emails:

1. Promotional emails are sales emails. They talk about the service and its benefits.

Here are some examples of different newsletter topics:

• Compilations of different recommendations. For the medical industry, it can be newsletters offering a selection of cosmetology recommendations. Similarly, for real estate services, housing options in a certain region; for a foreign language school, the opening of new groups for elementary level intake; or for a travel company, tours in a certain destination.
• Collections of promotions. These are newsletters containing a compilation of the different discounts that are available.
• Mono newsletters are devoted to describing and promoting one service
• Promotional services for a specific information occasion. For instance, the release of a successful French or Spanish TV series will increase the demand for language learning. Other examples are the introduction of new laws, which will increase the demand for legal services, and the hosting of the World Cup, which will increase the demand for tourism in the host country.
• New services. These are emails sharing information about new services offered by the business.
• Discounts and promotions on specific services.

2. Informational emails.

Not all newsletters are intended to generate direct sales. Some newsletters are sent to share information. As they are read, they build subscriber awareness and loyalty that will lead to a purchase.

Such newsletters are mandatory in the content plan to avoid “audience burnout” from a constant stream of messages with the message to buy.

Here are some examples of topics for informational emails:

1. Useful information for subscribers. These include blog articles about the site, articles sharing tips and niche-related info, and emails with unique info and life hacks.
2. Important changes. These emails share new happenings, such as the opening of a new office, new delivery methods, or scheduled changes.
3. Meet the team. Use newsletters to share details or qualifications about team members.
4. Company accomplishments. Emails talking about accomplishments, such as winning awards, staff development, and media coverage, can help foster trust.
5. Customer testimonials. Reading positive feedback from others will encourage brand loyalty.
6. Useful information for a specific information occasion. For legal services, this can be an explanation about a new law. For medical services, it can be an article discussing immunity protection during a pandemic. For travel services, the email can share new border crossing conditions.
7. Holiday greetings and other variations of situational marketing.

For example, let’s say you have an IT school. Before launching a new course, send an email talking about the value of the profession, the demand for it, and the prospects. Share testimonials from graduates and their successes.

If you have a gym, talk about the club’s trainers, their athletic achievements and qualifications, and the training process. Share tips on how to keep fit, as well as feedback from other visitors. After the warm-up, a promotional email with a discount for the gym subscription will be much more effective. Subscribers will be loyal to you because they are familiar with the brand and trust in the professionalism of trainers.

When sending bulk emails, consider the preferences of your audience. Don’t rush to introduce multiple different categories and flood your customers with emails.

Some customers may only need monthly digest or promotional emails, while others may want newsletters with tips and tricks, themed collections, or gamification.

Conduct regular surveys to find out what topics your customers are interested in, and adjust the frequency of newsletters and the ratio of sections accordingly.

Bulk email best practices

Promotional emails:

Useful informational emails:

Step 4: Automation and personalization

In any niche, automation and triggered newsletters allow you to personalize communication with each subscriber, make timely and relevant offers, and optimize promotional email resources. Most importantly, they help you avoid unsubscribes and spam complaints.

In the service industry, triggered newsletters fall into the following groups:

1. Subscription triggers are a chain of trigger emails for subscription confirmation or subscription reminders.
2. Welcome email series are emails with the subscription bonus and the subsequent automatic newsletter chain for new subscribers to get to know the brand.
3. Transactional emails include emails for successful payment, successful registration, and end of early access.
4. Triggers by actions on the site. Triggers include abandoned service pages, abandoned orders, and abandoned reservations. Emails can offer price reductions for the abandoned services or an offer of other services similar to those the customer was previously interested in.
5. Loyalty triggers. These are reminders to repeat a service, e.g. a visit to the dentist every six months, congratulations on the customer’s birthday, and congratulations on the anniversary of the subscription or use of the service.
6. Triggers to encourage additional and repeat sales. Examples are a discount for a review or a discount on the next service. They could also include offers for a follow-up service, such as a front-end course after completing a basic HTML/CSS course, or a related service, such as a car or shuttle reservation after a hotel booking.

If the trigger newsletter strategy is set up correctly, it will optimize resources for sending promotional emails. The trigger is automatically triggered by a known condition. This way you avoid spamming your subscribers and don’t send “everything to everyone”.

The customer will only see relevant offers in their inbox and won’t have to search through their mail for interesting topics.

Spoiler: Most customers won’t even do that. They’ll just unsubscribe to prevent your emails from clogging up their inbox.

Trigger email best practices

Here are some best practices that will ensure you get the most out of trigger emails.

Subscription confirmation chain

A subscription confirmation chain for a business typically consists of a series of three emails:

1. A subscription confirmation email and a click-through “thank you for subscribing” landing page.
2. A reminder letter to confirm the subscription for subscribers who did not do so when filling out the form on the website.
3. A subscription bonus letter.

Here is an example for:

Welcome email series

The triggered welcome series is for new subscribers to introduce the brand, services, and the team.

PDL Profit:

karta.com:

Offering a continuing or related service to existing clients:

Transactional triggers:

Conclusions

1. A service is any paid activity of a non-productive nature aimed at satisfying the needs of a customer.
2. The main characteristics of the service industry are:

• A process as a form of product.
• Dependence on subjective factors such as taste, personal preferences and beliefs, past experience, loyalty, cultural characteristics, human factors, and others.

3. When building an email marketing strategy in the service industry, it is important to emphasize personalization and individualization. Regular communication is crucial to build loyalty and validate expertise, as well as offering ongoing and related services as an alternative to traditional repeat purchases.
4. The primary goals of email marketing in the service industry are to:

• Increase overall traffic and sales.
• Build loyalty.
• Increase awareness.
• Incentivize repeat orders.
• Provide customer service.
• Reactivate dormant customers.

5. It’s not always possible to give every subscriber a discount or a promo code. Here are some alternative lead magnets:

• Checklists.
• Tutorials.
• Free consultations.
• Catalogs and portfolios.
• Test results.
• Access to online events, etc.

6. It is important to alternate promotional and informational emails in the right ratio to retain as many customers as possible and avoid customer burnout.

7. Thanks to trigger newsletters, you can optimize your resources for newsletter development and achieve the main goal, which is first-time orders and repeat orders.

FAQ

Why do you need email marketing for your service business?

Email marketing will help you achieve key business objectives: increase sales, strengthen customer relationships, build loyalty, and increase brand awareness.

What makes the service industry different?

Service is a transformational activity and exists only in the moment of production and consumption. It is subjective on the part of both the provider and the consumer, as it depends on a large number of individual factors.

What types of newsletters to send in the service industry?

There are several types of newsletters that you can send. Here is an overall strategy.

1. Bulk email newsletters:

• Promotional emails.
• Informational newsletters.

2. Automated (triggered) emails:

• Subscription and enrollment triggers.
• Welcome series.
• Transactional emails.
• Site action triggers.
• Order activity triggers.
• Loyalty triggers.