By Joshua Snape | 04/02/2018 10:30
Why should you retain or commence sending email newsletters as part of your digital marketing strategy when many people suffer from information overload?
Ideally, sending regular e-newsletters to subscribers allows you to develop and maintain a vital relationship with your audience. Additionally, e-newsletters feel more exclusive to your readers than simply following you on social media. If implemented and executed properly, this strategy provides a golden opportunity for ongoing revenue and customer loyalty.
Why Many Fail
Falling at the First Hurdle
When visitors come to your website, you must offer a reason to subscribe to your e-newsletter. Think carefully about your offer. “Sign up for our newsletter,” is nowhere near as effective as, “subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive offers and discounts,” for example.
New Subscribers
Be careful not to make the common mistake of simply sending your new subscribers the same ongoing content as existing subscribers. Without the benefit of context, your newsletters might quickly be seen as irrelevant and confusing and your new subscribers will unsubscribe.
Have a simple portfolio of content tailored to bring new readers up to speed quickly and then you can begin sending your regular content.
Irrelevant Content
People subscribe to get content that they need. If you believe your reader only wished to interact with you because of your brand and fail to supply content that your reader needs and wants, there will be a disconnect between your content and your audience. This will result in unsubscribing.
The way to avoid this problem is to ensure that your content is relevant, timely, personalized, and that it offers value.
Communication should be personalized, based on customer behaviour, such as the content that they have chosen to read on your site or the products they have chosen to interact with. You have to deliver content that is in some way unique and that offers the subscriber some sort of “insider” privilege.
Mailing Frequency
Send your newsletters too often and before long the recipient begins to mark them as spam. On the other hand, a relationship without regular communication is really no relationship at all.
The key is to create the right expectation. If you promise an email every day, you had better send an email every day…but make it brief! If you say that your newsletter is monthly then you cannot suddenly change the goalposts and start sending it weekly.
Embrace Success
In 2018, marketers need to get away from the mindset that they have a right to real estate in an individual’s email inbox. We are in the era of “permission marketing.” Customers and prospects can easily shut you out of their lives. However, if you abide by the above principles and view this special form of communication as a privilege, thus treating the reader with respect . . . then you are well on your way to a winning e-newsletter strategy that engages customers and increases sales.
For assistance with your content marketing strategy and tactics connect with us today.
Joshua is an accomplished writer, blogger and marketing consultant. His successful track record includes sales and marketing across four continents—Europe, N. America, the Middle East and Africa. Josh is also a successful entrepreneur and established his own marketing consultancy in Cyprus, which serviced clients throughout the Middle East. He now enjoys living and working in Vancouver for part of the year, and spends the rest of his time in the Turkish Riviera working remotely to assist clients communicate effectively in a wired world. Connect with Josh at: joshua@strategisconsulting.ca.