Why Should a Newsletter be Part of Your Marketing Strategy
While many people think that digital marketing is all about social media, seasoned marketers disagree! Ask any marketer(s) who knows their stuff, and they will tell you that social media is just a small part of the puzzle, which is incomplete without an email list.
In fact, as per a study conducted by McKinsey & Company, email marketing is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools to market your business efficiently.
It is likely to get you 40 times more positive results, in terms of reaching the right audience and acquiring new customers, than any social media channels.
So, if sending a regular email-newsletter is not already a part of your marketing approach, it’s high time you rethink your strategy.
Don’t worry: if you do not know how to create a successful newsletter that converts, we have got you covered. We have created a simple step-by-step guide that you can use. But, before we dive into that, let’s rule out the basics.
What is an Email Newsletter?
An email newsletter is a source of sharing information with your potential as well as on-board clients and customers. It is one of the platforms that are effective for both B2B and B2C customers alike.
Newsletters use a different approach than traditional advertising methods. For instance, you may see hard-sell messages on billboards or social media. But newsletters are typically used for bonding with your customers and providing them useful information.
These can be in the form of updates or providing actionable steps such as checking out your new blog post/product, attending an event, or making/completing a purchase.
In a nutshell, the role of newsletters is to bridge the gap between you and your customers’ to ensure that you don’t lose connection and attention with your core audience.
What are Some Most Popular Types of Newsletters?
While you may create various newsletters depending upon your campaign requirements, essentially, all of them fall under the bucket of – consumer newsletter, company newsletter, and organization newsletter.
Let’s take a quick look at these types in detail:
The Consumer Newsletter
If you want to create a newsletter with a purpose to reach out to your customers and keep them in the loop about what is new, then you should choose the consumer newsletter format.
Whom should you send this to?
- Your past or existing customers or clients.
- Potential customers or clients who have shown interest in your products and services.
What are the typical contents of a consumer newsletter?
Useful and relevant information that drives your existing customers to keep using your products or services and your potential customers to complete their purchase decision.
So, the information could be related to:
- A new product launch
- Industry news
- Tips for using the products or services they have (or want to) purchase
- Special offers or discounts
The Company Newsletter
This type of newsletter is used for internal communication by companies. It helps keep your staff and employees informed about what’s happening in the company, while also providing a platform to build morale.
Whom should you send this to?
- Employees
- Company insiders, such as directors or investors
- Retirees
What are the typical contents of a company newsletter?
- Any information that affects those who work at/for the company
- Any content that fosters team-work
So, the information could be related to:
- Updates about products or services
- New policies and opportunities
- Achievement recognition
- Human interest stories
- Recruits/Joinees
The Organization Newsletter
This type of newsletter is used for both internal as well as external communication. The organization newsletter is mostly used by companies, ministries, charities, or non-profits to reach out to both their inner circle and consumers.
Whom should you send this to?
- Your inner circle
- Those affected by/ connected to/ interested in your work
What are the typical contents of an organization newsletter?
Such newsletters have information about:
- Upcoming events
- New initiatives
- Feature stories about those benefiting from your work
Now that you know all the kinds of newsletters you can explore for your business, it’s time to go ahead and create one!
Take a Look: Techmagnate Newsletter
How to Create a Great Newsletter Strategy?
Have you ever eaten a dish so good you are left wanting for more? Well, creating a fabulous newsletter is almost like creating a lip-smacking dish.
You need all the right ingredients and a recipe. In simpler words, you need to have a plan!
So, take your time to define your unique strategy.
But since we promised that we have got your back, here is a guide that you can use to create a great enticing newsletter to build engagement with your audience:
1. Define Your Goal:
Do you know that the number one step to reaching your goal is to know your goal! So, get cracking and create a plan.
One of the first questions you should answer is – why exactly are you making this newsletter and what are you trying to achieve through this.
Jotting down questions that answer your objective in sending these newsletters can keep you focused on the results you want to achieve.
Address basic questions such as these, to help keep your aim clear –
- Do you want your customers to check out any new products that you have launched?
- Do you want them to read your new blog posts?
- Do you want them to RSVP an upcoming event?
- Or do you just want to know your customers that you care for them and strengthen your bond?
2. Define your KPI(s):
How do you check if a student has learned something well? You check his/her performance in a test.
The same goes for your newsletter and email-marketing campaign; how would you know if what you have created is accomplishing your end goal? By measuring its performance.
And for that, you need to define your KPI(s) (key performance indicators); for instance, if your goal is to get more visitors to your website, your KPIs would be the click-through rate, subscription rate, bounce rate.
Ultimately, keeping a clear KPI in place helps to measure the success of your newsletter campaign. Apart from success, it can also provide you with relevant insights on what’s working well and what needs improvement.
3. Factor in Your Target Segmentation and Delivery Time:
Probably the most important point while you’re creating any marketing plan. Market your brand to the wrong group at the wrong time, and the impact will be detrimental to your business.
Consider this – you are a wellness company that sells anti-aging products. If you send your newsletter announcing an offer on your anti-aging products to teenagers, you will not see the desired results.
Send the same newsletter to 40+ women, and your chances of achieving higher CTRs on your email and good traction on your website increases manifold. All because you reached out to the right audience and connected with them on what they need.
While segmenting your TA is a priority, the timing of these newsletters also plays a substantial role. It’s important that you send out your newsletter when the customer can grasp this information.
After all, sending out offers on anti-aging products at 5 am on a Monday will hardly receive any more attention than an evening on a Friday would.
4. Build a High-Quality Email List:
Once you analyze your target group, building your “relevant” email list should be a breeze, as you will be able to narrow down the right users to send your emails.
Another thing to keep in mind is to use your ‘subscriber’s list’ and resist the temptation of purchasing any ready-made email lists!
This is because your subscribers are interested in your products or services, and most of your conversions will only come if you provide them your newsletters.
On the other hand, buying an email list might seem like a tempting offer and an easier way out (if you have a small email list), but you are only getting your business in trouble!
By sending unsolicited emails, you run a high risk of being marked as spam, as you’re reaching out to groups who have never been in contact with you and who may not want to receive your newsletters.
5. Set Content Guidelines to Ensure Quality:
Chalking out content guidelines benefits you for two reasons; to stay on the right track and have a one-directional goal in your mind, and to stick to your brand’s tone and feel.
Content is crucial for people to love your newsletters, but your users will only appreciate your emails when it resonates with how they like to consume their content.
Opt for a humorous and catchy creative writing if your products are directed towards millennials. However, if you’re dealing with B2B prospects, it’s good to create content that depicts a helpful and direct tonality.
Remember, creating good content consistently over a period of time can help expand your audience and also help your business garner a good impression in the market. Trust in the power of content; they call it a king for a reason.
6. Choose a Good Newsletter Software:
Once you have created your guidelines, the next step is to ensure that you have the resources and technical infrastructure to fulfill your needs.
In other words, you need a newsletter template to create and send your newsletters and assess your email marketing campaign.
If you’re planning to choose the services of MailChimp for your newsletter, we suggest you take a sneak peek at their pricing to determine if you’re getting the full benefits for the price incurred.
If you want to know about inexpensive, budget-friendly options, we encourage you to check out these alternatives to MailChimp that offer email marketing automation with better templates and features, relative pricing, and good customer support.
As a source of inspiration, let’s take a look at the below brands on how their newsletter stood out from brands and what we loved about them and why you would too!
Some Examples of Brilliant and Engaging Newsletters:
Charity Waters
Why do we love it?
This infographic-like newsletter from the non-profit organization ‘Charity Water’ is a great example of an organization newsletter. It has a simplistic design with easy-to-read takeaway points.
More importantly, they lay out their cause and objective, followed by an on-point CTA. Clearly, the best example for any business to go ahead and follow a similar style of the newsletter to create a human connection with the brand. What’s not to love?
Memo
Why do we love it?
This Memo newsletter makes the perfect case for utilizing user-generated content to connect with other consumers. It is fun, engaging, and brings the focus on real-life product use cases with an interesting example.
Creative Weekly Book Club
Why do we love it?
This newsletter by Creative Weekly Book Club shows that it is not necessary to write long paragraphs to convey your message. It is concise, engaging, and complete all at once.
Moreover, this is the perfect newsletter that recipients can easily read on their mobile devices without scrolling through to get what it is about. It meets its goal of recommending a few books- and that is it!
We adore the cute icons, all in all, a perfect example of enticing a customer’s attention in the right way.
Closing Thoughts
The above examples only reflect the reward you can reap if your newsletters are aligned with your target reader’s expectations and requirements.
Create a newsletter that reflects your brand’s essence in a manner that connects deeply with your audience, and you will be well on your way to achieving brilliant results from your newsletter campaign.
All the best!
Contributor
This is a post by Rohan Mendiratta. He helps small businesses and marketers to build and engage with their audience via SendX: Email Marketing Software. Say hi to him on Twitter and LinkedIn.