Email marketing is how you stay in front of customers you already have, so they call you again instead of the competitor they found on Google. A customer who used you once will use you again, but only if they remember you exist. Email is the cheapest way to keep that memory alive.
5 of 7 · 11 stepsEmail the customers you already have, from a domain you authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Send a welcome series to new leads, a monthly newsletter to your list, and seasonal reminders by what you did for each customer. Ask for reviews by email and never buy a list.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state.
A customer who used you once will use you again, but only if they remember you. Email keeps you in their inbox so they think of you when the next problem hits. It costs almost nothing and it reaches people who already trust you.
The businesses that email their past customers get repeat jobs and referrals at no extra ad spend. The ones that do not lose those customers to whoever shows up in their inbox next. Email is the cheapest way to not lose the leads you already earned.
Before you send a single email, set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records on your domain. These are DNS records that tell email providers you are a real business and not a spammer. Without them, your emails land in spam, no matter how good the content is. Your email provider will walk you through it, or whoever manages your domain can do it in 15 minutes. Do this first, because nothing else matters if your emails never reach the inbox.
You add the three records in the morning. By afternoon, your test email lands in the inbox instead of spam. Without them, the same email lands in the spam folder and nobody reads it.
Sending domain checklist
[ ] SPF record added (identifies which servers may send from your domain)
[ ] DKIM record added (signs your emails so providers can verify them)
[ ] DMARC record added (tells providers what to do if SPF or DKIM fails)
[ ] Test email sent and confirmed in the inbox, not spamWhen a new lead gives you their email, send them a short series of three emails over the first week. The first says thanks and introduces your business. The second explains how you work, what to expect, and your warranty. The third answers the top three questions new customers ask. This is the email that turns a lead into a customer who trusts you, before they ever need the next job.
A lead books a tune up and gives you their email. They get a thank you that day, a what to expect email two days later, and a common questions email on day five. By the time they need the next repair, they already trust you.
Once a month, send one email to your whole list. Include one maintenance tip, one recent job photo, and one review. Keep it short. The point is to stay in their inbox so they think of you when something breaks. Do not send a weekly newsletter, because it is too much and they will unsubscribe. Once a month is the right rhythm for a service business.
A roofer sends one email a month with a tip like 'check your flashing before storm season,' a photo of a recent roof, and a review. A past customer reads it, remembers them, and calls when a leak shows up three months later.
Do not send the same email to everyone. Send the AC maintenance reminder to people whose AC is due. Send the roof inspection reminder to people you roofed for three years ago. Send the water heater flush reminder to people whose heater is old enough to need it. A relevant email gets opened. A generic blast gets deleted. Segment by the job you did and when you did it.
The subject line is the only thing that decides whether your email gets read. Keep it under 50 characters and make it about the customer, not about you. A subject line about their problem beats one about your company. If they do not open it, the content does not matter. Write the subject line first and make it something you would open.
'3 signs your water heater is about to fail' gets opened. 'Our November newsletter' gets deleted. The email inside is the same. The subject line is the difference.
Most of your customers read email on their phone. Use a single column, large text, and a big button for the call to action. If your email is three columns of tiny text, they cannot read it on a phone and they delete it. Design for the phone first, because that is where it will be read.
Every email must include your physical business address and a one click unsubscribe link. This is a legal requirement under CAN-SPAM, not a suggestion. If you send emails without them, you can be fined. Your email tool adds them automatically, but check that they are there. A missing unsubscribe link is a compliance problem.
Watch your open rate and your click rate. If your open rate is low, your subject lines need work. If it is high, keep doing what you are doing. The numbers tell you whether your emails are landing or getting ignored. Without tracking, you are guessing. With it, you know what to send more of.
After a job is done, send an email asking for a Google review, with a direct link. Email is a good channel for this because the customer can click through from their phone. Time it for the day after the job, while they are still happy with the work. A review request a week later gets a fraction of the responses.
Never buy a list of emails and blast it. Those people did not ask for your emails, they will report you as spam, and your sender reputation drops. Once your reputation drops, even your real customers stop getting your emails. Grow your list from your own customers and leads, one at a time. A small list of people who know you beats a big list of strangers.
Every few months, remove the people who have not opened an email in a year. They are not reading you, and sending to them drags down your open rate, which tells email providers your content is not wanted. A clean list of engaged readers gets delivered. A big list of non openers gets filtered to spam, including for the people who do want it.
Once a month for a newsletter, plus a few triggered emails like a welcome series and a review request. More than that and you will see unsubscribes. The right frequency is the one that keeps you in their inbox without annoying them.
No. A simple template with your logo, one column, and a clear button is enough. The content matters more than the design. A well written plain email beats a beautiful email with nothing to say.
Usually because your domain is not authenticated. Add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records so email providers can verify you are a real sender. Without them, even good emails get filtered to spam.
Yes, if they agreed to get emails from you. If the form only collected their address for a quote and they did not agree to marketing emails, you cannot add them to your newsletter list. Get consent first.
One maintenance tip, one recent job photo, and one review or customer story. Keep it short and make it useful. The point is to stay in their inbox so they think of you when the next problem hits.