Most consumers prefer email. Here’s how to do it well.
There are countless digital marketing channels connecting businesses and customers. As a scrap yard owner, you may feel immense pressure to understand and optimize them all. But with new platforms and social media campaigns launching all the time, it can feel impossible to keep up.
Which channels are appropriate for your business? Which ones will actually last long enough to be worth your while? And how on earth will you find the time to manage them all?
Thankfully, you don’t have to become a TikTok star—or dance at all—to reach your target audience. Because the most valuable channel of all is an old favorite: Email marketing.
Why does email marketing matter?
It’s a simple numbers game:
- 99% of consumers check their email every single day. That’s almost four billion people.
- 73% of millennials would rather hear from businesses over email than anywhere else.
- For every dollar spent on email marketing, the average return is $36.
People like email, and they use it a lot. If you want to connect with your customers, you need to be in their inbox.
The basics of email marketing for scrap yards.
Of course, you can’t just start sending messages without a marketing strategy and expect to get rich. There are a few things to know—and you do need to have a plan. Here are a few things to remember:
First, as a scrap yard owner, you have two audiences: People who bring you scrap and people who buy scrap from you. You’re going to have different strategies for these two groups. Keep these lists separate, and plan separate messages based on what’s most important to them.
Second, every single one of your customers is inundated with marketing messages everywhere they go. Many people get 100 or more emails every day. The average person’s inbox is jam packed with sales, promotions, and special offers, all clamoring for their attention. Your message has a lot of competition. So how do you ensure your email marketing efforts stand out?
It’s simple: You provide valuable content.
Most of us delete a good chunk of the messages we get each day. But there are a few businesses and brands whose emails we always open. Think about which emails you’re excited to get. Think about why you like them and the types of emails they send you. Now ask yourself, how can your scrap yard do the same thing?
6 ideas for excellent scrap yard marketing emails
Everyone’s going to have their own strategy for email marketing. The very best ideas start with one person thinking, “What if we tried something a little different?” But here are a few scrap yard email marketing ideas to get you started:
- A weekly report. This can be as simple as a casual note sharing what you noticed: Materials you received in high volumes, materials you haven’t received in a while.
- Price sheets. Scrap prices change all the time. Make it easy for your customers to know your prices by delivering that information straight to their inbox.
- Guides. You can write pretty simple guides on a wide variety of topics and send them to your customers for free. You might write about the differences between two metals, the best metals to scrap, and more. As a bonus, you can post these guides directly to your website, which may bring in more traffic.
- Announcements. If you invest in new capabilities or start accepting a new material, share that news over email.
- Promotions and incentives. Virtually every type of business uses email marketing to announce sales and promotions. Your scrap yard can do the same. You might offer a free gift for anyone who brings in a certain quantity of scrap. You could do free pickup for one week only. Some scrap yards do regular coupons. Don’t be afraid to get creative.
- Feel-good stories. Not many people associate scrap yards with warm fuzzy feelings. You can change that. Did you work overtime to clear extra material during a natural disaster? Did you move scrap metal for a local environmental initiative? Whenever your scrap yard does something that benefits the community, share the news over email. Your business’s values are very important to your customers. Show that you care, and they’ll pay attention.
Digital technology is transforming scrap yards.
Of course, email isn’t the only web tool you can be using to grow your business. Scaleit is proud to offer state-of-the-art truck scale and inventory management software at an unbeatable price. Our developers understand the ins and outs of the scrap industry, and we built our program based on its unique needs. You can make your business more efficient, protect yourself from risk, and boost your profits with Scaleit.
To learn more and see Scaleit in action, schedule a demo