We’ve all done it: received an email newsletter we didn’t know we had even signed up for, and find that it (and all the others before it) are now crowding up our inbox like flies to honey. We’ve all groaned, dragged them into our junk folder, and shook our head, wondering why you signed up for them in the first place. Now, as a business owner, you’re faced with a similar decision: email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with past, present, and potential clients, and can be the difference between a job or no job, but how can you turn a junk-folder-destined-nuisance into a successful and profitable outreach program? Easy. You just follow these helpful tips.
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Timing
Smart Insights, a business that offers marketing advice, tackled the question of email-timing, and wrote this about it:
“The DMA’s National Email Client Report 2015 shows us that over the past three years companies are contacting individuals less on a monthly basis. Email Marketers look to be becoming more strategic in their approach, recognizing that content needs to be relevant and are moving more towards behavioral and triggered based marketing, rather than programmatic timed campaigns. It’s very apparent that irrelevant, low quality emails can damage a brand and increase the number of unsubscribes.”
77% of consumers are already irritated by the amount of emails they receive. Don’t feed into that. Instead of aiming for frequency, aim for quality and content. Depending on how much of that quality and content you can provide, and what your clientele is like, you should be sending email newsletters out no more frequently than once a week, and no less than once a month.
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Outreach
Keeping your name in the forefront of customers’ minds is the number one reason for a newsletter. The majority of those who receive the newsletters will be former customers, who are a great resource for new business, but potential customers can also be reached through these newsletters, so consider adding a newsletter sign up button to your website. Depending on your field, you can also send these newsletters out to developers or general contractors in order to reinforce relationships or spur new ones.
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Content
Your newsletters shouldn’t just be pages plastered with photos and your name across the top. They should provide something to the receiver that will cause them to actually open (and continue opening) your emails. Consider these emails as ambassadors of your brand, and treat them as such. Home improvement tips, new trends, new products, new services, or even promotions can all be great content for your newsletters. These emails are a chance for you to show off your knowledge, expertise, professionalism, but most of all your business. Use your newsletters to promote your brand, but in a way that benefits both you and the person on the other end, so aim for about 90% info and 10% promotion.
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Delivery
Your content can be loaded with great info and opportunities, filled to the brim with passion and professionalism, but without the delivery to back it up, it’s all but useless. When customers open your email, they should be drawn in by clean visuals, well-written copy, and overall intrigue. Use unique titles (avoid spam words like “free”, “reminder”, or “click here”) and clear and concise language throughout. Play around with different formatting and themes before deciding on one, but when you do, try to stick with it. Keeping your newsletters consistent in their visuals will make it easier for customers to remember your brand, and therefore remember you.
Reaching out to customers through email newsletters is a great way to maintain positive working relationships whilst also inviting in potential customers, so use the power of email to your advantage by avoiding the junk folder with these tips. Try mixing up your content every once and awhile to stay fresh, and remember that if you don’t want it in your inbox, they definitely don’t either.
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