A company e-newsletter is another cog in your marketing arsenal. It can keep your customers, prospects and vendors up to date on company news in a relatively inexpensive way. It provides information that otherwise would not be known via advertising only.
The information contained in a newsletter can range from product spotlights to employee news to sales promotions. It strengthens the bond between your company and its key audiences.
What are some of the steps to a successful e-newsletter? Building an audience is key, along with a long-term plan of what the content will be, as well as a schedule of distribution. Without those, an e-newsletter is just another piece of email for the trash. The audience is already in place if you keep and organize your customers’ and vendors’ email contact information.
We suggest starting with a mailing list of at least 200 names and using an email service such as Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. Determine a schedule: monthly, quarterly or some other timeframe. This is important because you build expectation of value which is related to the content; content needs to be relevant and interesting to be of value to your audience members.
Readers want information they can use, relate to and engage. Product spotlights, personnel news, awards and achievements, milestones in company history and special sales promotions are some of the content topics to pursue. Keep the content brief and provide a link for more in-depth reading. Make your newsletter responsive to smaller devices since you want the e-newsletter to be of value to mobile users.
Analyze the behavior of the readers to optimize future e-newsletters. What is the open rate? Are click-throughs working? Are there new subscribers or unsubscribers? What topics receive attention?
In summary, e-newsletters can be a cost-effective marketing communications tool if you have meaningful content, a good mailing list and a consistent publishing schedule.