Are E newsletters dead?
Are E newsletters dead?
Fed up with clearing out my mailbox with junk mail catalogues, I placed a “No Junk Mail” sticker on my letterbox. I had actually thought about doing this for a while and hadn’t got around to it primarily because, I do quite enjoy reading a good catalogue and there was 2-3 that I looked out for each week. However, it came to the point where my recycle bin was the first point of call from the letterbox. It just wasn’t working. Given my dilemma, I decided to sign up for the e newsletter catalogue from the companies that I wanted to hear from and be junk mail free from the rest. So far, it is working very well.
I do strongly believe that there is place for both printed and electronic forms of communication and e newsletters certainly fall into this category. In your Marketing Plan, have examples of where you send out both printed and electronic updates at different times of the year. My recommendation is though, if you are serious about email newsletters/catalogues/updates, make sure that they are of high quality and if you want to take your program to the next level here are my tips for making it work for you.
Tip One - ensure it looks professional.
There is no doubt that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however there are some things that are just plain ugly. No doubt you have seen a few of these floating about in inboxes and letterboxes the like. It is a certain turn off.
It is important, whether you have a big or shoestring budget, that your newsletter reflects your brand in its presentation and layout. The first golden rule, for both printed and electronic newsletters, is that it must be easy to read or navigate and clean and simple in design. If it’s an e newsletter, make sure there are plenty of links to your website, links to other relevant websites or articles and pictures if possible. I also recommend avoiding the use of standard templates; they are standard or generic for a reason. Make the initial investment in a template that reflects your brand and as part of your brief make sure that it is designed to fit numerous applications. If necessary though, review other templates, including generic ones, to help you gather ideas for your own and to sort out what you like or don’t like. This is quite powerful information to include in your brief to. It will save you time and money to have gone through this process yourself before your agency or marketing supplier starts work for you.
Tip Two – ensure the content provides value
Whilst your newsletters are produced, sent and paid for by your business, they are actually not about you at all. If your newsletter content doesn’t have a high level of ‘what’s in for me’ for the reader, then it will fail. Your readers will certainly switch off, unsubscribe, return your mail to its sender (you) and ask to be removed from your mailing database. Ouch. So how do you avoid this?
The people who read or subscribe to your newsletters do so not to read about you, your company or how wonderful you are at XY and Z. It is true. What they are interested in though, is in finding out about how your products XY and Z can make them look good, make their life/jobs easier and help them keep up to date with the latest tools available to them. A much more interesting read.
If you are stuck for ideas about what to write for your next newsletter – here are some common topics that people like to read/hear about
1. Case studies on how to use a product to make life/business easier
2. New products or new research about your industry
3. Pictures from an event
4. Special offers
5. Interviews – with a leading expert or person that your audience can relate and look up too
Tip Three - your newsletter has lots of personality
Most of us don’t spend our spare time, either at work or at home, reading Acts of Parliament or legal transcripts. Which means that your newsletters should not be overly technical and send people to sleep. I recently received a ‘terms and conditions’ booklet update from my mortgage supplier and their suggestion for reading the document was to grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable. Next time I am feeling like an afternoon nap, I might grab it for a read!
My recommendation is that any newsletter that you produce needs to have a high level of human feel and personality in the content as well as in the design. As humans we enjoy communicating with humans and we like to relate to people, more so than technical documents or legal transcript.
I acknowledge though that writing with humour and personality does not come naturally to all of us. Especially, if for your work, you spend days writing in a very formal manner and technical manner. It is though, a skill that can be developed over time. If its not your skill set, outsource it to someone whose it is. Practise these skills in another way before you start to write your own e newsletter content.
Will newsletters generate sales?
The million-dollar question! In my experience, Newsletters will generate sales and can also help you build and strengthen your brand over a period of time. Either way, here are some direct and practical examples for you to reflect on –
• Business to Consumer– I recently went into Baby Bunting on the weekend only to discover that half of Melbourne had decided to do the same thing! When I finally got to speak to a staff member, I asked them were they always this busy? The response was easy “We are always this busy in the weekends after our catalogue comes out. It is the only time we offer items on sale.” I took note and registered online for the next catalogue edition.
• Business-to-Business – an example from the Next Marketing business. We recently worked with a client who hadn’t sent out an e newsletter in over two years and had previously sent them as a pdf file. In short, the new HTML newsletter went out and within one hour, the client had received three phone call enquiries and one email quote request. With each enquiry being for quite a few thousand dollars.
In summary, if you are on a shoestring budget, don’t let that be the one thing that stops you doing great newsletters. I have been told many occasions in my life and business career that I have ‘champagne tastes on a beer budget’! Which is probably true! However, I figure, why should I change now. Until next time!
Are E newsletters dead - To learn more about this author, visit Jo Macdermott's Website.
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Recently, I had this discussion with a client about whether there was any value in email marketing as they thought ‘everyone was doing it’. My advice is that I do believe there is still room for good email marketing and in particular high quality email newsletters. Why? For a number of reasons, but the most practical example I can think of is something I did recently at my own house.
Fed up with clearing out my mailbox with junk mail catalogues, I placed a “No Junk Mail” sticker on my letterbox. I had actually thought about doing this for a while and hadn’t got around to it primarily because, I do quite enjoy reading a good catalogue and there was 2-3 that I looked out for each week. However, it came to the point where my recycle bin was the first point of call from the letterbox. It just wasn’t working. Given my dilemma, I decided to sign up for the e newsletter catalogue from the companies that I wanted to hear from and be junk mail free from the rest. So far, it is working very well.
I do strongly believe that there is place for both printed and electronic forms of communication and e newsletters certainly fall into this category. In your Marketing Plan, have examples of where you send out both printed and electronic updates at different times of the year. My recommendation is though, if you are serious about email newsletters/catalogues/updates, make sure that they are of high quality and if you want to take your program to the next level here are my tips for making it work for you.
Tip One - ensure it looks professional.
There is no doubt that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however there are some things that are just plain ugly. No doubt you have seen a few of these floating about in inboxes and letterboxes the like. It is a certain turn off.
It is important, whether you have a big or shoestring budget, that your newsletter reflects your brand in its presentation and layout. The first golden rule, for both printed and electronic newsletters, is that it must be easy to read or navigate and clean and simple in design. If it’s an e newsletter, make sure there are plenty of links to your website, links to other relevant websites or articles and pictures if possible. I also recommend avoiding the use of standard templates; they are standard or generic for a reason. Make the initial investment in a template that reflects your brand and as part of your brief make sure that it is designed to fit numerous applications. If necessary though, review other templates, including generic ones, to help you gather ideas for your own and to sort out what you like or don’t like. This is quite powerful information to include in your brief to. It will save you time and money to have gone through this process yourself before your agency or marketing supplier starts work for you.
Tip Two – ensure the content provides value
Whilst your newsletters are produced, sent and paid for by your business, they are actually not about you at all. If your newsletter content doesn’t have a high level of ‘what’s in for me’ for the reader, then it will fail. Your readers will certainly switch off, unsubscribe, return your mail to its sender (you) and ask to be removed from your mailing database. Ouch. So how do you avoid this?
The people who read or subscribe to your newsletters do so not to read about you, your company or how wonderful you are at XY and Z. It is true. What they are interested in though, is in finding out about how your products XY and Z can make them look good, make their life/jobs easier and help them keep up to date with the latest tools available to them. A much more interesting read.
If you are stuck for ideas about what to write for your next newsletter – here are some common topics that people like to read/hear about
1. Case studies on how to use a product to make life/business easier
2. New products or new research about your industry
3. Pictures from an event
4. Special offers
5. Interviews – with a leading expert or person that your audience can relate and look up too
Tip Three - your newsletter has lots of personality
Most of us don’t spend our spare time, either at work or at home, reading Acts of Parliament or legal transcripts. Which means that your newsletters should not be overly technical and send people to sleep. I recently received a ‘terms and conditions’ booklet update from my mortgage supplier and their suggestion for reading the document was to grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable. Next time I am feeling like an afternoon nap, I might grab it for a read!
My recommendation is that any newsletter that you produce needs to have a high level of human feel and personality in the content as well as in the design. As humans we enjoy communicating with humans and we like to relate to people, more so than technical documents or legal transcript.
I acknowledge though that writing with humour and personality does not come naturally to all of us. Especially, if for your work, you spend days writing in a very formal manner and technical manner. It is though, a skill that can be developed over time. If its not your skill set, outsource it to someone whose it is. Practise these skills in another way before you start to write your own e newsletter content.
Will newsletters generate sales?
The million-dollar question! In my experience, Newsletters will generate sales and can also help you build and strengthen your brand over a period of time. Either way, here are some direct and practical examples for you to reflect on –
• Business to Consumer– I recently went into Baby Bunting on the weekend only to discover that half of Melbourne had decided to do the same thing! When I finally got to speak to a staff member, I asked them were they always this busy? The response was easy “We are always this busy in the weekends after our catalogue comes out. It is the only time we offer items on sale.” I took note and registered online for the next catalogue edition.
• Business-to-Business – an example from the Next Marketing business. We recently worked with a client who hadn’t sent out an e newsletter in over two years and had previously sent them as a pdf file. In short, the new HTML newsletter went out and within one hour, the client had received three phone call enquiries and one email quote request. With each enquiry being for quite a few thousand dollars.
In summary, if you are on a shoestring budget, don’t let that be the one thing that stops you doing great newsletters. I have been told many occasions in my life and business career that I have ‘champagne tastes on a beer budget’! Which is probably true! However, I figure, why should I change now. Until next time!
Are E newsletters dead - To learn more about this author, visit Jo Macdermott's Website.
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