Great marketers know that a quality email list is one of the cheapest ways to bring in business. It costs little to send emails to your list, especially when compared to tactics like direct mailings through the post office.

You can easily send out emails to let people know about a special home inspection deals, home maintenance tips or anything else you’re up to at the moment. Of course, simply sending out emails doesn’t necessarily mean more sales. Use these techniques to turn your subscribers into buyers.

Build a Relationship with Your Readers

Having an email list isn’t just about letting customers know about current promotions. It’s about developing a relationship with them.

When people think about home inspections, you want your name to pop into their head. Do this by sending out regular, useful information. Home maintenance tips are almost always big hits, as are articles about preparing your home for different seasons.

Plan to send emails once a week or every other week so that your company is always fresh in subscribers’ minds. Keep it fairly short, though. Most people don’t want to read a 1,000+ word article in their email.

If you’ve got something longer, post it on your blog and offer a teaser telling people to head to your blog to read the rest.

Offer Discounts

People love to feel like they’re getting a great deal. When you send out special discounts to your subscribers, they feel special and they’ll be more apt to purchase from you.

This is especially true when your rates are competitive for the area. Even a small discount can put your company at an advantage and prompt someone to schedule an appointment.

Set Up a Referral Program

Word-of-mouth advertising is some of the best kind of advertising, and you can encourage this by offering a referral program. Offer current customers a discount or cash reward when they refer someone who purchases your services.

Many businesses also offer the person being referred some type of discount. In each email you send, include a little “Did You Know?” snippet to remind people of your referral program.

While people don’t need the services of an inspector that often, there’s always a chance that they know someone who does need those services.

Discuss the Importance of Independent Inspections

Use your content to drive sales. Most people think about getting a home inspection only when they’re thinking about buying or selling a home, but there are many more times that an independent inspection could be useful.

As you know, it’s helpful to have an inspection done after a major storm to see if there’s damage that could be covered by insurance. But do your customers know this? Use your emails to remind them.

People also might feel better having in independent inspector look at the roof before calling a roofing company so that they know the roofer isn’t exaggerating problems. While general tips are useful content for your newsletter, don’t forget that you’re trying to sell your services as well.

Make It Easy to Share

Any article you send to your subscribers might also apply to someone they know. For instance, if you write some tips about dealing with icicles, a reader might remember how bad the icicles on his mom’s house were last year and want her to read the article.

While the person can easily share it by hitting the “forward” button in their email program, it’s helpful to include a link for sharing it as well. Social media outlets like Twitter or Facebook also make it really easy to share content that you place on a blog. Once click of a button and you could have thousands more people checking out your article.

Grow Your List

The more people you have on your list, the more chances you have to make sales. Work to grow your email list whenever possible.

Put an email signup form on your website and make it easy to see, and give people a reason to sign up for your list. One of the best ways to do this is to offer a small e-book filled with useful tips to those who sign up. Some may be more likely to sign up with promises of discounts.

Close with a Strong Call-to-Action

When you send out an email that offers useful information, it can be easy to forget how the main purpose of sending out emails is to get sales. Even when your email seems unrelated, it’s important to include a call-to-action at the end.

Try to use something that relates to the tips you gave, but would give the subscriber a good reason to call and hire you. For instance, you might say, “If you noticed something amiss when you followed our tips, give us a call. We’ll tell you if there’s something really wrong and what it will take to fix it.”

Write Interesting Subjects Lines

It’s not enough to send emails to people. They need to actually open them!

Write subject headings that are enticing. If your subject is something like, “March 2016 Home Inspection Newsletter”, people won’t feel like they have to open it.

On the other hand, if it’s something like, “5 Little Problems that Will Cost You Big Money Later On” people will want to open it and read on. Try to use words that strike an emotional chord with your readers.

Track and Tweak Your Efforts

You don’t always know what techniques will work with your readers. Even time-tested methods can flop with certain demographics. That’s why it’s so important to track what happens when people get your email.

Do they open it? Do they click through to your blog or website? Do they call you to set up an inspection? A free email program like MailChimp can help you measure all of these stats.

Once you see which types of techniques work best with your subscribers, repeat those techniques to build a list that’s super-responsive.

Developing a mailing list is an ongoing process. You need to send out regular mailings to your customers to build up that relationship. When you do this, you set yourself up as an expert in your field, and people are more likely to think of you when they need an inspection.

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