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Forget What You’ve Heard – Email Newsletters Are Still Relevant
Newsletters have been around for forever and there’s a reason for that. They work. If you don’t have a newsletter for your company, it’s time to reconsider.
Whatever your business is, you can be connecting with your customers – and potential customers – on a more direct and personal level. Retail clothing stores, real estate agents, restaurants, consultants, travel agents, auto repair shops, and everyone in between successfully use newsletters to promote their businesses, specials, and brands.
Let’s take a look at why newsletters work:
Recipients are warm leads.
As long as you aren’t spamming with a purchased email address list, your newsletter is landing in the inbox of someone who agreed to its delivery. They may be past customers or they signed up to get coupons, but they know who you are and what your message is likely to be.
Email newsletters are customizable.
Personalization is a big trend right now. Each newsletter you send can address the recipient by name and be customized to where they are on their customer journey. List segmentation means different emails can be sent to certain groups for targeted marketing at its simplest.
Newsletter marketing can be automated.
Once you have set up your segments and created your email templates, you can automate many aspects of your newsletter. Plan a sequence that starts after that first sign up. Line up a different sequence for new customers. Send regularly scheduled news that is triggered by your latest blog post. The possibilities are endless!
Measuring is easy.
All email marketing services have analytics. You can see how many of your newsletters were opened and by whom. You can track which links they clicked. You can see how many people unsubscribed. All these details help you refine your newsletter to be better in the future.
Email is cheap.
Compared to many other marketing options, email is an inexpensive option. You might spend money on design, content creation, and ads to drive sign-ups, but the platforms themselves don’t cost much. If you start out with a limited budget, you can scale up as your sales grow.
So, what kind of content can be in a newsletter? Let’s take a home improvement store. Send out a weekly (or monthly) newsletter telling customers about your current sales, provide a coupon or two, list store hours and information, and add a few catchy photos of new products with their prices. You just reminded customers that you exist, plugged a few products that you want to see off the shelves, and incentivized future visits by offering a great deal –all in one email.
Unlike many other marketing choices, a newsletter does nothing but promote your brand, your sales, and your message. Yes, newsletters are great for businesses that sell products or services, but it’s also perfect for non-profits and other organizations that want to share information such as upcoming events or other news.
The Sprocket team has many newsletters under its belt, so if you’d rather relinquish this task, we would be happy to take over for you. Find out how we can work together by giving us a call today!
Photo by cottonbro studio
This article is an update to “Why You Should Definitely Be Sending Out a Newsletter” dated 8/27/2015.
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Breanne Bannon
Breanne is a Content Writer, Social Media Marketeer, and Sales Associate for Sprocket Websites.
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