We all know that it is significantly less expensive to sell to an existing customer with repeat business that it is to try and acquire a new one.

However one of the biggest tasks facing many businesses today is gaining and keeping prospective customers. Today, many businesses recognize how important it is to build relationships with their customers and to keep in contact with them they invest a lot of money, time and effort to try and maintain contact through postcards, direct mailings and ads in the media.

There is an easier, cheaper and much more effective and profitable way to keep in touch with your customers. Savvy business owners use email as a powerful marketing tool to build relationships and get repeat business from existing clients. In particular, they encourage customers to subscribe to their company newsletter that the company delivers by email.

It is so effective and profitable that businesses in all niches are doing it, from restaurant owners to veterinarians. In fact a newsletter is one of the most important marketing tools that you can use because you will generate many more sales by having your own mailing list and sending people who requested it, your company newsletter.

There are other benefits too as you will get free targeted traffic to your website and special offers whenever you need it. You will generate more income because the subscribers on your mailing list are willing to read what you send them.

To prove just how effective online newsletters are, let us consider some of these benefits in more detail:

Effective Communication

Newsletters are an ideal way to communicate with your customers. They help clients and potential customers to become familiar with your business and brand. Your newsletter will help you to convey a specific message and will help get that message across to many other people very quickly. They are also a perfect tool for making a personal connection with your readers that will enable you to establish brand loyalty.

Brand Recognition

You can use your newsletter as launch pad to announce new products and services that your company promotes. Your newsletter will create brand recognition and will help get your brand more exposure through the newsletter which in turn will entice more buyers.

Increase Client Loyalty

If you have an informative newsletter that your readers enjoy reading it will help the customers and readers to develop a loyal following for your brand. They will prefer to do business with you rather than your competitors. As long as your newsletter contains valuable and relevant information, you will find that your clients will appreciate the newsletters and will look forward to the next issue.

Increase Traffic to Your Website

Include your website links in your company newsletter and it will encourage your readers and customers to check out what’s new which will increase website traffic. If you are consistent and regularly produce your newsletter you will find that it will become a very reliable and profitable asset in terms of website promotion which will then lead to many more sales.

Newsletters are Cost Effective Marketing Tools

One of the best features about having a company newsletter is that they can be delivered efficiently and effectively at very affordable prices. They are far cheaper than traditional, more expensive forms of marketing which are not nearly as effective or targeted. Don’t take your newsletter readers for granted. Just because it is so cheap and effective to distribute, it does not mean that you should compromise the content in any way. You will lose readers and customers in their droves. The secret to newsletter success is a combination of good quality content and regular distribution.

Increase Your Business Exposure

Newsletters are often read by bloggers and people interested in your industry or the product and services you provide. As a result, if your newsletter is good they will talk about it and give your business much needed exposure to prospective customers who might not have known about your business.

Longer Shelf Life

If you make your newsletter enjoyable and add interesting content with tips, calendar events or a recipe or ‘how-to’ article your newsletter will give it a much longer shelf life and people will refer back to it or recommend it to their friends and colleagues.

An Excellent Selling Tool

Your newsletter is a perfect way of informing your customers and readers of upcoming sales and promotions. This will create anticipation and excitement and you will watch your sales grow month on month.

Establish Your Credibility

There is no greater platform for establishing your authority and credibility than a newsletter. By sharing relevant and useful content you will show your readers and customers that you are experts in your industry which will strengthen their confidence and make them want to buy from you rather than your competitors.

Save your Company Time and Money

By regularly producing and delivering an electronic newsletter you will save your business a lot of time. Sending out a newsletter is fast and much cheaper than traditional forms of marketing. You will be able to target the people most likely to want to buy or use your products and services.

Top Tips For a Successful Newsletter

Make your newsletter informative and helpful

Not so long ago I signed up for a newsletter expecting that it would contain helpful articles, ideas and tips. However, instead of being informative it was boring and was packed with promotional stuff and sales pitches.

Don’t fall into the same trap with your newsletter

Yes, you want your newsletter to carry some promotional information but it also needs to be informative and helpful. Your subscribers don’t want to read one sales pitch after another and you will be wasting a valuable opportunity if that is all you decide to provide for them.

Make your message compelling

It is easy to express our enthusiasm when we are taking face to face with somebody, particularly if it is a friend but it is a lot harder to convey the same enthusiasm in writing.

For example, if a friend was raving about an exciting movie they had seen or a delicious meal they had eaten they will sound excited, animated and vibrant. But if you were to ask them to put their feelings down in writing, in most cases it would come across much flatter and less enthusiastic and infectious. It simply would not sound like them at all or convey how they really feel about something

This is the challenge that you have when you create your newsletter. You need to find your own voice and get your message across in a way that is distinctive and authentic.

This can be hard to do if you are sat in front of a computer screen and are not sure what to write or how to get your message across.

A good tip is to record is to Skype or FaceTime a friend or relative and get them to ask you questions about your product and service or anything else that you were planning on putting in your newsletter. Forget about saying the ‘right’ words and just speak as you normally would. Record the conversation and then transcribe what you said at the end.

It might sound like an unconventional and long-winded way to go about things but it is much more enjoyable than trying to write a boring newsletter that takes you a few days to write but still comes across as too formal and boring.

Tell interesting stories about you and your business

Some people try to make their newsletters too formal and professional. While this is not a bad thing, it usually gets in the way of making the newsletter interesting for your reader.

The key to an interesting newsletter is to include stories and anecdotes that engage your readers.

We all love a good story and are interested in hearing stories from people we are interested in.

Telling a good story doesn’t have to be complicated. You can start with what has happened recently in your industry. Have there been any new developments or changes? Say how you feel about them. Explain what impact or benefit they will have on your customers and colleagues.

Have your clients had any good or bad experiences? Were you able to help them?

Don’t just tell a story for the sake of it. Have a point to make or a moral, just as you would in stories or experiences that you would relate to your friends. Explain what you have learnt or what others could learn from your experience.

This will engage your readers and in most cases, prompt them into action, to contact you or buy your product or service.

Have a clear call to action

This is important and works, no matter what kind of business you are in.

Let’s say for example that you run a cake decorating business and business is slow. You decide to run a special promotion in your newsletter to drum up business.

You need your customers to respond. You can’t hope that they will, you have to ask them to do it.

Your message has to come across loud and clear. Simply saying “please respond” is too vague. It doesn’t tell your customers exactly what you want them to do or how to do it.

A clear call to action needs to be specific. If you want your reader to click on a link, them to ‘Click Here’ and tell them why they should click on the link.

If you want them to order your product or service, again tell them and give them a reason for doing so.

Some businesses that are new to writing newsletters think that this might sound a bit heavy handed or over the top, even insulting to their readers because it doesn’t seem to give their customers enough credibility to think for themselves and respond. The fact is, most of your readers are too busy to try and work out what you want. Your newsletter is competing with a lot of other ‘noise’ out there like social media sites so you need to give them a nudge in the right direction and explain exactly what is that you want them to do.

Be consistent

Tell your customers when you are going to deliver your newsletter – and stick to it. It doesn’t matter if you choose to send it weekly, twice a month or monthly. Send it our when you say you will.

People like and trust consistency. One of the biggest reasons why some newsletters don’t deliver the results expected is because of inconsistency. Your readers can’t get a chance to get build a relationship with you. You can’t just send them a newsletter whenever you want and hope they will respond. You can’t be a stranger to your readers.

So in summary:

1. Don’t send them sales pitches – make your newsletter informative and helpful.
2. Find your own unique ‘voice’ and try to connect with your readers.
3. Make your newsletter interesting and engage with your readers by including industry and customer stories.
4. Have a strong call to action. Never assume that your readers know what you want them to do. You need to tell them.
5. Be consistent and deliver exactly what you say you will.

Newsletters are profitable….but can be hard work.

Newsletters are a very powerful and cost effective marketing tool. You will be able to announce new products, special offers, and drive traffic to your website with a compelling, friendly newsletter.

Your clients will appreciate you making the effort to stay in touch and you will see your profits soar each month as it gains popularity. However, there is no denying that they do require effort and dedication.

We find that businesses love the idea of having a company newsletter as they can see the benefits of doing so but most business owners are too busy running their day to day business activities and lack the time to write and produce a quality newsletter that will engage with their readers and encourage more sales. In addition they are not really sure which format to send their newsletters out or how to send them.

If we have whet your appetite and you can see how a newsletter can benefit your business contact us today as this is where we can help you.

We can plan out your e-newsletters for you and contact you monthly for the relevant information to include in the newsletter. It is a perfect partnership as you can get on with running your business as we do the hard work. It’s our job to keep your newsletter and any other form of email marketing ticking along and sounding amazing so that customers will love you and your business. We will make the information engaging and encourage brand loyalty.

Contact us today and watch your online profits grow.