When people give you their email address, that’s a clear sign that they want to know more about your business. They want useful, timely information that is relevant to their needs. And generally, they also want sneak previews, early access, and even discounts to the product or service you provide.
Give Them What They Want!
Unlike a sales email, at least 80% of a newsletter should be devoted to pretty much anything other than sales. In a newsletter, you can focus on one topic or include a variety of non-sales tidbits that will appeal to your community:
- Personal greeting
- Articles about your area of expertise
- Tips and advice
- Surveys and questionnaires
- Links to your social media sites
- News about your business
What’s In It For You?
A newsletter is more than just a soft-sell piece. It’s a way to keep yourself and your business at the forefront of customers’ minds. By providing helpful information on a regular basis, you:
- Establish yourself as an authority in your field
- Build a more personal connection with your customers
- Strengthen their identification of you as a credible, reliable source
- Can custom-tailor unique letters to each segment of your audience
- Save money by nurturing relationships with an audience that is already interested in your service or product
How To Create a Great Newsletter
It’s not hard to put together an effective newsletter that your audience will find valuable. Remember the 80/20 — or even 90/10 — rule of featuring mostly useful information and just a little actual selling. No matter how much your customers love you, there’s only so much selling they will put up with before they stop opening your emails.
There are many email companies that provide free or low-cost services and they offer a variety of newsletter templates you can base yours on. You can even find templates in many word processing programs. But no matter what you decide to use, there are a few guidelines it’s important to always follow:
- Keep the newsletter short and sweet
- Make sure it’s 100% grammatically correct
- Always allow people to unsubscribe
- Emphasize just one call to action
- Sender name should be clear
- Subject headers should be brief, varied, and enticing
- Don’t flood people’s inboxes – no more than weekly communications
Get Professional Help
If putting together a newsletter is daunting, or if you would love to do one if you had the time, don’t forget about outsourcing. Hiring a professional to get the job done while you focus on your business is a great way to ensure your customers and new leads don’t fall through the cracks.
To get an effective newsletter created just for your business, contact me today!
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