Back in the heyday of e-mail marketing, companies would send out regular digital newsletters en masse with the full expectation of a 25% open rate. The content did not really matter in those days, as long as companies were using their newsletters to tell their customers at least one thing they didn’t already know. Digital newsletters cost nearly nothing to produce, making them the ideal tool for letting customers know you hadn’t forgotten them.
My, how times have changed. Any company insisting on sending e-mail newsletters today is risking being considered a spammer. And we all know what happens to spammers, don’t we? They become blacklisted on all the major spam lists. Having said that, the digital newsletter is not dead. You just have to know how to use it.
Here are five tips that will enable you to get the most out of your digital newsletters without incurring the wrath of anti-spamming software and blacklists:
#1 – Forget E-Mail Delivery
First and foremost, forget e-mail delivery for your digital newsletters. Although e-mail continues to be the number one method of communication among businesses and professionals, it has become irrelevant to the average web user who now exists nearly universally in the social media world. In other words, most of your customers at the retail level are not even reading e-mail on a regular basis. What you do send is likely to end up being caught in a spam or junk filter. Instead, publish newsletters on your website and use social media outlets to announce when they are released.
#2 – Target Information
The most successful online marketers no longer use the machine gun approach to reaching an audience. Rather, they prefer the sniper approach that involves targeting information to specific groups of people. Making this work requires taking the time to find out what information your customers are looking for. Then you create newsletters revolving around that information. Give them what they want, and your newsletter will succeed. Give them what they do not want, and … well, you know the rest.
#3 – Include Incentives
One of the best ways to encourage your audience to read a newsletter is to give them an incentive for doing so. Special offers and coupon codes are two great examples. By including incentives in your newsletters, you are not only encouraging people to read, you are also creating a tangible measure of whether or not your newsletters are successful.
#4 – Make Them Relevant
At the risk of repeating ourselves yet again, the concept of relevance is universally important to all web content. Relevance results in better search engine rankings, more readership, higher quality back links, and a more loyal audience. There’s really nothing else to say about it.
#5 – Publish Regularly
Nothing drives consumers crazy more than planning to read a newsletter only to find out that the latest one is not available. You can solve that problem by establishing and maintaining a regular schedule for publishing. That schedule can be monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly; it matters not. What matters is that you set a schedule and stick to it. That way your readers will anticipate the next edition, looking for your social media announcement around the time it’s due.
We Write Newsletters
The digital newsletter is still a powerful marketing tool provided it is adapted to the modern online paradigm. We would like the opportunity to show you what we can provide by way of newsletter content. Our skilled writers can create newsletters for just about any business or organisation – newsletters that will present your information in a very positive light. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.