Would you believe it if you heard that a newsletter saved someone’s life? It may seem implausible, dramatic at best, but that is the power of email newsletters. Not buying it? Read on to discover how you, too, can leverage email newsletters for life-changing results!
What is Newsletter Marketing?
“Newsletters” may evoke negative connotations of crinkled A4s pulled out of school bags or compulsory but soulless corporate ramblings. That need not be the case though. Done well, marketing newsletters can be an engaging tool in a digital marketer’s toolbox – a form of communication that your subscribers look forward to receiving in their inboxes.
Falling under the umbrella of email marketing, newsletter marketing is the process of emailing a letter featuring newsworthy content to recipients.
What Not to Do
Note that the contacts on your email list must have given their unequivocal permission to receive emails from your brand. Permission can be in the form of opting into your mailing list or signing up for your newsletters. This is an important aspect of successful newsletter marketing, as failure to do so has severe repercussions:
If recipients mark your emails as spam, it will cause delivery problems.
Complaints could lead to having your IPs blocked on key ISPs across the globe.
If you get blacklisted for sending unsolicited emails, your hosting provider could shut down your account.
Legislation such as CASL, GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and CCPA protects users from the misapplication of digital technology, including spam.
You could be sued for violating anti-spam laws.
Fear not! None of the above put the life of our protagonist in jeopardy.
What To Do
Having scared the daylights out of you, let’s break down how to build your database of contacts – legally and enthusiastically!
First off, keep in mind that quality trumps quantity in this exercise. The success of your email campaigns is dependent on the engagement level of your contacts list. Do not be tempted to buy email mailing lists, but rather grow your database the right way using a sign-up form that subscribers must opt-in to.
Go ahead and simply ask visitors to your website to subscribe via a banner or sidebar or pop-up form. In fact, the more relevant places you populate with sign-up forms, the better. Consider adding one at the end of each blog you post or in your email signature.
Of course, with the volume of emails most individuals receive every day, you may need to bribe, er, incentivize them to do so. There are various ways to get your newsletter invited into your target audience’s inbox. Be creative and explore tactics that suit your business. Often brands offer valuable content on a topic relevant to new subscribers in exchange for their email addresses. Your content marketers can create sought-after resources like checklists, whitepapers, ebooks, and the like.
Offering a time sensitive sign-up bonus discount encourages those who are on the fence about subscribing to do so sooner rather than later. It also increases a sense of exclusivity for those belonging to your list. Contests and giveaways are another way to persuade readers to share their contact details with you. The key is to use powerful copywriting to prove your authority, describe what benefit your emails offer, and create a desire to receive them. Finish off with a strong call to action.
Next, whatever method you use to convince the public to subscribe to your newsletters, once they click, they should be taken to a dedicated newsletter landing page. Do not let interested prospects get distracted! Ensure that there is a call to action above the fold and use contrasting colors and imagery to signpost the path you want subscribers to take. Adding testimonials on the landing page can enhance the credibility of your brand. Link this landing page to all your business pages and email signature and include newsletter promotions in your social media calendar. (Use a tool like reCAPTCHA to prevent fake signups.)
Finally, another great way to boost your newsletter database is to design a series of emails post-purchase. You probably already know that it is anywhere from five to 25 times cheaper to retain an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. What better way to enhance your customer service than via an email series relevant to each customer’s purchase?
Practical Guidelines for Newsletter Content
Keeping relevance and engagement top of mind, how do you craft a coveted newsletter? Start by putting yourself in your subscribers’ shoes and ask yourself these four questions:
What is the purpose of the email newsletter?
What does the sender want from me?
What am I getting out of it?
Will I continue to read this / open these / forward these insights or trends to my friends?
The industry news, promotions, and informative content you share in your newsletters must stir up enthusiasm in your readers. Here are some ways you can make that happen:
Flesh out a detailed persona for the different segments of your audience and write copy targeted specifically to each.
Make sure that the email subject lines of your newsletters stand out from the deluge of new mails and are so enticing that they are opened first.
Make strategic use of the valuable real estate just below or next to the subject line. This email preview is limited to 140 characters, so craft a seriously captivating “elevator pitch” for your newsletter.
Hire a professional copywriter to weave your topics into a memorable story that stirs up all the emotions you want your clients and prospects to associate with your brand.
Do not sell, sell, sell. Your newsletter marketing is about nurturing relationships that are enduring and endearing.
Ensure that your newsletters are compatible with mobile devices as more and more online marketing is done via smartphones.
Choose a frequency that is fitting, be it a daily newsletter, weekly newsletters, or even only seasonally published. Quality over quantity.
Does Newsletter Marketing Really Matter?
The short answer: of course it does! Now for the long answer explaining why newsletter marketing really does matter.
Email marketing can inform your contacts, nurture leads and drive sales, boost customer loyalty and build a community around your brand. But did you know that over 4 billion people use email? Or that the ROI of newsletter marketing is $38 for every dollar spent?
That makes email marketing accessible and affordable.
It is also the most engaging form of digital marketing thanks to permission, segmentation, and personalization. This in a landscape where personalization can increase overall consumer spending up to 500%. With marketing automation, being this on-point for your readers need not be time-consuming. Plus you can use precise metrics to gauge the success of your newsletter campaigns.
Oh yes, and newsletters saved the life of August Birch. First when he helped people find the work they love; and then again when he matched his best work with the people willing to pay for it.
For a Winning Newsletter Marketing Strategy, Contact the Experts
Businesses that are not sharing relationship-building newsletters are missing opportunities for growth. A competent digital marketing agency serving Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Mississauga, Hamilton, Toronto, and GTA can get your site into the top rankings. Contact KEY27 Marketing for help with your newsletter marketing today.
About the author:
Octavian Nastase is passionate about internet marketing and he is the KEY27’s website conversion optimization specialist. With over a decade of experience in the field, he has helped businesses getting more clients from the online world and convert more of their website visitors into customers. Octavian is known for his creative approach to solving problems and his ability to break down complex concepts into simple, actionable steps. In his free time, Octavian enjoys reading, traveling, and being part of his children’s lives.
If you’re looking for someone who can help you get the most out of your website, Octavian is the person you want to work with.
