Do people read newsletters or are they a waste of time? Done properly they can be a successful investment that pays over a long period
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Table of contents
What makes a newsletter work best
The rule of consistency beats all others. A regular newsletter that contains helpful information and entertainment is a source of customer touch that is not equaled.
Buying patterns may only happen months or even years apart so the memory of your good service is soon forgotten. That is unless you send a consistent reminder to sit at the back of their mind for when the time comes again
Customer touch is complemented by a newsletter
One rule of marketing is that consistent customer touch is necessary to maintain the relationship between you and your buyers. However, the buying cycle may be a long one so
being a friend along the way helps that connectivity.
How often you send a Newsletter is up to you but always lean towards more than less and Monthly is probably the maximum.
Customers expect your material and experience disappointment when you don't keep up with your side of the arrangement.
No business will not benefit from a newsletter marketing approach.
Newsletters are not a sales tool
This is important and the fact is often forgotten by many writers. Newsletters are about information or even entertainment and an extended bonding element of marketing.
Your friends don't want you selling to them every time you meet and neither do your customers.
Your range of products should provide ample sources of material to use.
One of my customers sells curtains and blinds, products that are rarely on my shopping list however they are always of interest. Jay tells all about the season's colors and any product enhancements that have been made. Sometimes quick fix remedies or other trivia that readers may find interesting.
There are no specials or product offerings just great commercial information.
Always sell in your Newsletter but?
I have just spent a paragraph telling you not to sell and now I have changed my mind?
Not really it is just that we never know where the customer is within the buying cycle and when they are HOT we want to offer a call to action.
Your contact details must be clearly shown and a simple sales pitch can solve the problem.
Easter discounts on now. Bulk buy opportunity, buy three and get four are examples of simple closing pitches that don't distract from the body of the Email.
You can also have links inserted into the mail to find those that are exploring more opportunities. These links to authority sites provide a guide to the interest factors and importantly those customers that should go into your follow-up list.
In reality, we are always selling and a nice information product is just a support product
Keep your marketing list clean
There are always those that will never read or respond to your material and they should be regularly culled. They are just messing with your figures so feel no embarrassment in letting them go. People's needs change and sometimes the office reception just deletes all mail that is not pertinent to the day.
Yes, they can ask you to stop however many simply can't be bothered and simply hit the delete button so do it for them.
How long should a Newsletter be?
I prefer short and sweet because most of us are attention deficit and time pore therefore just skim read in many cases. However, it all depends on the content.
A customer of mine retails Car tires and sends a bi-monthly newsletter of several pages covering all things cars and tires.
New cars, old cars, rare ones, and everything in between. Loaded with the information. I consume every page being a bit of a Rev Head myself and find the material very interesting.
His selling cycle is often in years however the sale is big so it is well worth maintaining contact over that time
Do people read newsletters if they don't recognise you
Maintain your Identity with great branding
Again, consistent logo and colors provide an important factor that is easily recognized by every reader.
You need Open rates and your branding when recognized makes that a lot better. Another customer does a newsletter on buying and selling businesses. Many times I think I have not got time for this but will open a page just to show him I am a follower because that will show in the statistics and I appreciate the effort he has gone to.
However, If I don't recognize the sender I will often hit the delete button if the material presents no real interest factor.
Follow your stats and take action
Every carrier will have a stats page filled with information about your list and what actions have been taken.
- Number of pages sent
- Open rate. The number of readers that have looked at your material
- Click rate shows the action takers and important potential customers
- Opt-Out numbers, say goodbye, and think no more about them
- Spam count, You will always get the odd one but too many will hurt you
Every industry has guideline stats that you should aim to better. To do that understand what is not working and fix it to gradually grow your list into a valuable asset.
Conclusion
The writer has been sending newsletters for nearly a decade and continues to this day. They are an excellent return on small marketing investment.
When visiting customers I often receive praise for my Newsletter content from those people that I did not realize still had a working interest.
Even I have underestimated the power of the written word.
Your seven points of marketing are important and this is one of the best
Do people read newsletters by Peter Hanley?
