Use the weather forecast to get more sales through Mailchimp

If you have an online shop (eCommerce) then you likely have lots of content that you can send in your email campaigns. If you are service based, a charity or a small business you may wonder how you’ll have enough content to send regular email marketing.

Attendees of my Mailchimp training often tell me that they don’t have enough content or news to be sending campaigns more than a few times a year. This, fortunately, isn’t quite true as there is always lots of information that will be of value to our subscribers that will also benefit our sales.

Below I illustrate how weather may be used to create content for email marketing that will drive sales.

Get local business sales through email marketing

The photo attached to this article was taken at a local coffee shop I frequent. Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) weather can get hot and many coffee shops have signs advertising the advantage of air-conditioning when seated inside the premises. This is a tactic that works well as people welcome some respite from the heat. What amazes me is that businesses don’t translate this weather based impulse decision-making into email marketing.

Use the weather to generate sales through email marketing

Here is how I would convert this air-conditioning scenario into sales through email marketing:

1. Put an Android tablet or iPad with the Mailchimp Subscribe app at the entrance of the coffee shop. This will help to get customer email addresses.
2. If it’s a hot day then send a short campaign highlighting how people will enjoy your air-conditioning. If it’s raining then highlight how people can sit in dry comfort while enjoying a beverage and meal.

Email campaigns don’t need to be carefully prepared. In fact, often the most effective campaigns are those that are impulse driven. Sending email campaigns with Mailchimp can be very quick; if you’re a local business then significant sales can be attained at a very low cost.