Invoice emails help you get paid on time for your products and services. They keep your billing processes transparent and build a stronger relationship with your clients. Precisely because of that, many businesses have started using comprehensive invoice templates that make their invoices presentable and professional.

However, did you know that you can use your online invoices for more than billing? As your invoice emails have high open rates and are valued by your customers, they can also serve as an outstanding marketing opportunity.

So, here are a few practical ways to use your invoices to promote your business.

Personalize Incentives to Boost User Experiences

The small business ecosystem is growing at an astonishing rate. And, the only way to stand out in the sea of businesses similar to yours is to build a solid brand. A brand is your company’s identity. It gives you a unique personality, voice, and values that evoke emotions in your customers and motivate them to come back. Just look at popular brands like Coca-Cola or Nike. Probably the first thing that comes to your mind when I mention them is their logo, slogan, or brand colours, right?

Precisely because of that, you need to consider your major brand elements like your logo, social media buttons, email address, colour scheme, and tagline when crafting your incentive. Believe it or not, adding these elements to your invoices is one of the most effective ways to spread your brand awareness and build stronger relationships with your customers.

There are numerous invoicing software options that let you create branded invoices. They let you choose the themes that reflect your brand personality and add customized band elements. Once you create your perfect template, save it for your future usage to create consistent user experiences.

Provide Flexible Payment Options

When designing your billing system, you need to tailor it to your customers’ needs and cash flow. Let them pay their invoices when it suits them most and provide them with multiple payment options. This is how you will build trust with them.

For example, many accounting companies and CPAs face the problem of outstanding accounts receivable. Namely, almost 30% of these invoices are 90 days past due. Now, the solution to this problem isn’t angry emails or phone calls. Even late invoices can be a good opportunity to strengthen customer relationships and promote your business as customer-oriented. Precisely because of that, many accounting firms need fee financing to boost their cash flow faster. By submitting their clients to the fee financing service, businesses give their customers the opportunity to pay their invoices in smaller, monthly instalments and provide them with greater flexibility.

Offer Incentives

Customers love brands that value their loyalty. And, if you want them to keep buying from you, you need to reward them.

Now, there are numerous types of incentives to choose from, depending on your brand personality and needs. These could be, for example, coupons, discount codes, loyalty promotions, freebies, free shipping, and so on.

Why should you integrate loyalty programs and invoicing? Well, invoices are bills and receiving a bill is never a pleasant experience. So, your goal is to personalize your invoice emails and use them to provide some additional value. Sending out incentives is a nice surprise that keeps your customers happy and reminds them why they chose you over your competitors in the first place. It also helps you build trust with your customers and get them to spread the positive word of mouth about your brand.

Send out Referral Codes

Today’s customers don’t trust ads anymore. To make the right buying decisions, they ask for their friends and families’ reviews. Above all, they value online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

This is why asking for customer referrals is incredibly important. It gains your customers’ trust and helps you position yourself as a credible online resource. All you need to do is add a unique referral code your customer needs to share with their contacts or social media followers. In return, they will get some of the incentives mentioned above.

Promote New Products

One of the most beautiful things about invoices is that people read them carefully. As your recipients’ eyes are glued to your email, why not use it to spread the word about your new product and offer a sneak peek into its features.

The idea behind this tactic is simple - to create buzz around your new products and demonstrate that their experience will be even higher the next time they buy from you.

Sure, this form of brand or product promotion needs to be relevant to the person reading it. Focus on your customers’ previous negative experiences and let them know how your new products can help them solve these problems.

Ask for Feedback

Your business doesn’t exist in an isolation. To stay competitive and keep your customers happy, you need to tailor it to their needs and expectations. After all, satisfied customers are a reason for your existence.

This is whey collecting customer feedback is important. Now, you’re probably familiar with different tactics of gathering customer feedback, from online surveys to social media reviews. However, did you know you can use your invoices to find out how they feel about you?

All you need to do is post a link to a page where your customers should leave feedback. Provide your email address, phone numbers, and social media links to help reach out to you easily, via multiple platforms.

Pro tip: Customer feedback is an amazing opportunity to take your business to the next level and boost customer relationships. So, whether it’s positive or negative, reply to your customers’ reviews regularly and make sure your answers are polite and professional.

Over to You

Invoices have always been the backbone of your business. Unlike your promotional email newsletters and ads that may go unnoticed, invoice emails grab your users’ attention and are analyzed thoroughly. This is what makes them a perfect place for your business promotion.

However, keep in mind that your customer doesn’t expect to open the document and see a bunch of ads and links everywhere. This would only hurt their user experience and discourage them from buying from you again.

To keep them satisfied, add your marketing elements subtly. Choose colours that blend with the rest of the page, pick legible fonts, make your text easy to follow and, above all, keep the space clean and decluttered.