In the age of spam laws and junk folders, when most people want to avoid clutter in their email, and Google is filtering out promotions in its inboxes automatically, how can you create a newsletter that your customers will actually read? Is it all a waste of time?
Newsletters remain a valuable way to interact with and inform your client base. The key is to make sure that the content you provide gives them information they can use. It’s okay to let your clients in on big news about your company, executive changes, mergers, acquisitions, etc. But you should avoid getting trapped in a rut of simply tooting your own horn. Unless your newsletter audience consists of only your major shareholders, telling them about how important you are or how much your profits have increased is not going to keep their attention.
What value do you provide to your customers? What can your expertise do to help them? Are you making changes to your company that could affect their experience or service? My gym sends out newsletters on a regular basis, and I read them every single time, because often, they are letting me know of their holiday hours, or that the pool will be closed for maintenance, or that I can bring a friend for free on a certain day. These are things that will directly influence my experience. If I don’t read the newsletter, I might drive to the gym only to find they are closed early. These things matter to me.
Perhaps this type of update doesn’t make sense for your company to provide. Maybe you are a thought leader. Providing tips and tricks in your industry that your clients can use and benefit from right now might prove of value to your customer. Industry news and trends can also be important. For example, if you are an investment banker, your newsletter recipients are going to want you to keep them informed on the movements of the market, and this will illustrate to them that you yourself are well-informed so that they can trust you.
That is the key. Is your newsletter providing its readers with a trusted resource? Do they feel like they are missing something if they don’t read it? Are the articles concise enough that they can be read and digested quickly? Be careful not to create articles that are so long that your readers feel that they don’t have time to read them. They might save them to read later, but the odds that they will actually find the time to do so are slim. The odds of your message reaching your audience are much greater if you can get their attention and keep it right when they open your email. (see: Content writing for marketing results: https://champinternet.com/_blog/Blog/post/content-writing-for-marketing-results/)
The regularity at which you develop and deliver your newsletter is also an essential element to success. In order to develop a loyal readership, you need to deliver your information at a regular cadence. If you can provide useful information at regular intervals, then your recipients will come to expect and look forward to it. It can make you look disorganized or cause readers to lose interest if you don’t send the newsletter regularly.
A newsletter is a great way to build brand recognition, maintain your contact databases, and generate interest in your company, as long as you develop a newsletter that is carefully thought out and provides real value to your audience.