Before you start flooding inboxes, keep the following best practices in mind.
Frequency matters. According to research by Chadwick Martin Bailey, 69% of consumers unsubscribed from emails because they were sent too frequently. By sending too often, you risk losing your leads and any revenue they may have brought with them.
Additionally, about 53% of emails are opened on mobile devices so it’s important your message looks just as good on a smartphone as it does from a desktop by using an email template optimized for both.
For firearms dealers who offer e-commerce, another effective email marketing tactic is sending abandoned-cart emails to retrieve your lost potential for transactions. Sending three abandoned-cart emails has proven results of 69% more orders than a single email (Omnisend, 2018).
Abandoned-cart emails are one of the most effective for boosting revenue, particularly for female consumers considering they are more active online shoppers than men.
Your Female Customer Base Has Grown, Now What?
With millions of women becoming first-time gun owners in 2020,
what is your store doing to re-engage them here in 2021?
Of the more than 22 million background checks run for the sale of a firearm in 2020, a staggering 8.4 million were for those who purchased a firearm for the first time. This surge continued well into the new year with the firearms industry setting a new January gun sales record. According to the NSSF, firearm retailers sold more than 2 million firearms in January, a 75% increase over the estimated 1.2 million guns sold in January 2020.
With this increase in overall gun sales has also come an increase in diversity. Last year, sales among women accounted for 40% of all sales, and purchases by African Americans increased by 56% compared to 2019.
Aside from the ongoing challenge of keeping up with demand, dealers and ranges across the country are faced with the challenge of how to train and convert first-time female buyers into lifelong customers.
Safety First
The key to re-engaging first-time customers, particularly women, starts with understanding their primary motivation for purchasing. The COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide civil unrest following the police killing of George Floyd sparked a lot of fear and anxiety.
“Our customer base includes about 10–15% women on a regular basis,” said Jeff Knittel, owner of Shooter’s Depot, a shooting supply and indoor range in Chattanooga/North Georgia. “Since February 2020, our female-customer numbers have grown over 200%.”
“They have come in with total fear in their eyes. They live alone and not in a good neighborhood, or they’re afraid of all the civil unrest. They say they have to protect themselves,” he added.
Those feelings of fear and anxiety don’t simply go away as soon a woman walks out of your store with a firearm in her hand. In fact, as a first-time purchaser, there’s a good chance she might feel more anxious over the thought of actually having to use it for personal protection one day.
Like most dealers, Knittel said they highly recommend women take a safety course when they buy their gun.
Upon completing their basic pistol certification course, which typically lasts 1.5 to 2 hours, women are encouraged to enroll in the advanced defensive shooting course.
The course covers the safety rules and proper procedures for grip, aim and trigger pull to effectively hit the target, as well as the concept of defensive-focused shooting to give shooters an edge in a critical dynamic situation.
Representation Matters
You can offer every safety and training course possible, but if you don’t make a concerted effort to promote female representation it’ll only take you so far.
The most obvious step may seem like hiring female sales staff, firearms instructors and/or range officers, but it’s the seemingly small things that can sometimes make the biggest difference.
Hosting a local A Girl & A Gun chapter can pay immediate dividends for your range — it provides guests
with a sense of community, which in turn leads to additional revenue opportunities through repeat visits.
For example, the homepage of the Shooter’s Depot website prominently features two photos of women. Their membership page depicts a dad placing ear protection on his daughter to convey the message of a family-friendly atmosphere. In fact, half of the pages linked in the website’s main navigation menu feature images of women and girls.
Shooter’s Depot is also a host range for the Northwest Georgia Chapter of A Girl & A Gun women’s shooting league, which they promote on both their website and Facebook page.
“The group meets here once or twice a month and leaves women with a more comfortable and welcoming feeling to start their life in the shooting sports,” Knittel informed.
Women should also be represented in the products you carry. Shooter’s Depot stocks not just concealed carry purses, but also women’s apparel.
“The brands of shirts vary, but I usually am able to keep women’s GLOCK polo shirts in stock, and concealed carry purses from Gun Tote’n Mamas,” he noted.
Leverage Technology & Data
Along with the increased feeling of needing to protect themselves, 2020 left many women pulled in more directions than ever. A significant number shifted to working from home or leaving the workforce entirely to support children who suddenly became virtual students — all of which led to increased use of the internet, social media and mobile devices.
Dealers who want to keep first-time female gun buyers coming back to their store or range should embrace technology to keep the lines of communication open.
Women make up 54% of all Facebook users, 51% of Instagram users, 50% of Twitter users and a whopping 70% of Pinterest users. Having active social media is no longer an option, but a necessity.
However, social media platforms have made it near impossible for anyone in the firearms industry to utilize paid advertising features, so it’s important to diversify your digital marketing efforts.
The world of digital marketing can be overwhelming, particularly for small businesses that don’t have the resources to hire a full-time person or team in-house, or hire a marketing agency. But getting results doesn’t have to be so complicated.
Jeff Knittel, owner of Shooters Depot, runs through the selling points of a subcompact pistol to a prospective
customer. His store has experienced a 200% jump in female customers since the start of the pandemic.
The gold standard of marketing still involves getting people to sign up for your email list, which can be as simple as asking for their email address when they make a purchase.
Shoot Smart in Texas encourages email sign-ups through their website by offering a ‘free New Gun Owner Checklist.’ The simple pop-up appeals directly to first-time gun owners with the verbiage: “Just bought or received your first gun and wondering, ‘Now what?’ Get on track the right way with our easy to use New Gun Owner Checklist. Enter your email now to receive the checklist for free.”
Shoot Smart understands email marketing is about curating a relationship with customers using relevant and timely content. Other emails received in the weeks after subscribing included an email newsletter with the subject line “Your Gun Was Stolen. Now What?” which featured links to informative blogs such as mistakes to avoid if your gun is ever stolen and how to maintain your personal firearm inventory. A promotional email was also sent with the subject line “Your Gun Needs Exercise.” Inside read: “Your gun misses you. Bring it to the range for some exercise.” with an offer for half off lane rentals during select dates.
Considering 21% of opened emails are opened within the very first hour of delivery, and 41% by the end of hour three, email is the fastest way to reach new and current customers.
Email Best Practices
You’re probably wondering if email subscriptions and opens actually translate to sales. Around 60% of consumers say they’ve made a purchase as the result of a marketing email they received. Contrast this with the 12.5% of consumers who say they’d consider using the ‘buy’ button on social media and it’s not much of a contest.
For every $1 you spend on email marketing, research indicates you can expect an average return of $42.
Make sure your email marketing messages are on point: frequency matters, as does making them mobile-friendly.
If your store offers e-commerce options, sending abandoned-cart emails can be an effective strategy.
Key Takeaways
It’s much easier and affordable to keep a customer than continuously trying to find new ones. And with the recent surge in first-time female gun owners, making a concerted effort to convert these women into repeat customers is vital to the continued success of your business.
To keep them coming back, be mindful of their reasons for picking up a gun in the first place, prioritize female representation in your store, on your range and in your marketing and keep in touch using the technology women rely on to make their lives simpler.
Ashley McGee is a writer and marketing consultant specializing in editorial and advertorial articles, content marketing and social media management.
