By Sharon A. M. MacLean
I’ve published well over 50 blogs this year and those about e-newsletters still hold a favoured position among followers.
Surprised?
Your e-newsletter continues to anchor the trifecta of the blog and landing page that drives traffic to your site. It’s true that e-newsletter open rates are dropping an average of 1 percent per year, but for now, emailed newsletters rein. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project http://www.pewresearch.org has yet to declare another tactic used more by all generations—from millennials (18 to 33) to elders (74+).
This week alone, I spoke with three clients who asked for a communications strategy that started with a newsletter, mostly because they wanted to stay in touch with their customers. They’re right to be concerned. The Chartered Institute of Marketing http://www.cim.co.uk advises, “There is no definitive answer to this question, but most sources say the answer is that it costs between 4 and 10 more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.”
The key here is to beware of attrition rates and the need to keep the sales funnel full.
The newsletter remains a beloved practice—business and organizations have been staying in touch with their clients and patrons for decades with this method.
Yet, we need to remember how reading habits have changed. At one time, I composed newsletters with an average of eight pages for customers and employees. Editorial meetings with department heads were held on a regular basis…reporter teams at branch offices were set up to feed copy into a central editorial location…editorial calendars were arranged to keep all of us on track…and still we scrambled to track down copy with photos from contributors who invariably missed their deadlines. The time and resources it took to write, edit and design, print, stuff envelopes and mail those newsletters was formidable.
Video shorts and podcasts add interest
Most people don’t want to read your e-newsletter that deeply anymore. They want to scan your e-newsletter and even watch a very short video or listen to a podcast; that’s it. So, the ability to restrain yourself from long explanations about your products or company policies is a waste of time. They also want stories to explain how your products improved their lives. Subscribers want to scan your content for calls-to-action or a news story; think e-bulletin.
Here are 9 best practices for your e-bulletin
- Keep your design simple. Make it a single column, and use black text on a white background for the body content. Resist patterns and graphics.
- Write about 500 to 600 words per item. If you need more than 500 words, link to an article on your website or a blog where subscribers can read more.
- Think about adding a 30-second video or podcast to capture attention since today we’ve got the technology to link media.
- Share. Design your social networking icons into the newsletter.
- Write as if to a friend. Your e-newsletter should use language that makes your subscribers think they are part of your company. It’s a good idea to have your e-newsletter arrive in customers’ in-boxes from a person rather than from a corporate entity. The days of “push” communications rather than “pull’ are over.
- Create a “Thank you for subscribing” email that pitches your website, blog, and social networks. Find an automated email system that allows you to create follow-up emails that are automatically sent to new subscribers. I’m excited to know that my own automated email system, Instant Customer, added a newsletter program to their myriad choices : for publishing content.
- Keep subject lines short and sweet. Years of research points to 60-characters or fewer for subject copy.
- Send one to three e-newsletters per month. If unsubscribers go above 0.5 percent, then lower your frequency.
- Mix up your release dates. Don’t always send your e-newsletter on Mondays at 10 am. Reading habits ebb and flow and your fans will create a library to read on their preferred schedule. Avoid becoming predictable.
Go ahead. Create a newsletter. It’s fun, too.
Beth Niebuhr
I’ve always heard that a newsletter should always be sent at the same day and time. Yay! You’ve given me an excuse for the fact that I vary between Tues., Wed., and Thursday. You’ve made my day. Now I’ll write my ezine!
Sharon A.M. MacLean
Same for me, Beth. Think the difference is that people have so many devices and open all over the clock.
Beverley Golden
As a writer, I love creating my newsletters and really get that short and to the point is so important. If I have a Huffington Post article I share a snippet and then link to the post, as you mention. Personally I am feeling the online space is inundating us all with messages coming at us via emails. I wonder how many people are reading and how much they are actually absorbing! Enjoyed your 9 best practices and learned a few new things myself by reading it! Thanks.
Sharon A.M. MacLean
Really curious about how you got a column with HP! Pray tell?
Bobbi
Great pointers. I need to update my newsletter. 🙂
Sharon A.M. MacLean
We’re always updating something!
Kristen Wilson (@k10wilson)
Can NOT agree with you more… our email marketing is the BEST solution to stay in front of our consumers. When asked (small biz owners) what one thing they regret not doing sooner, their list was one of them… why… because it takes time to create and build it.. so.. seriously.. NO better time than to start on that ASAP!
Sharon A.M. MacLean
Do you think of your newsletter in the same way as you might for an email letter with a landing page?
Liz daRosa
Great items Sharon. There were a few I hadn’t thought of & am always looking for best practices to improve my newsletter. One aspect of technology I haven’t tried yet, although I’m sure it’s not difficult, is a video. Maybe I’ll give that a go with my next newsletter…
Sharon A.M. MacLean
I think the video idea is brilliant –especially if it adds to the opening rate because it’s still unique. Would love to hear your results, if you do.
Carol Rundle
Haven’t done a newsletter for myself, but I used to do one for a company I used to work for. They were a lot of work, a lot of research to make sure the info was correct (it was an accounting company, so there was legal stuff). Gives me something to think about.
Sharon A.M. MacLean
They are a lot of work , Carol. But less so, if we keep them to 1 or 2 pages.
Natalie Palombi
I’ve definitely gotta get on the newsletter wagon – I’m obviously missin out!!
Michael Kawula
Adding video definitely makes a blog more interesting. It’s catches attention and people can actually see action rather than just reading.Breaks it up at least when it’s added now and then as a change to keep from the same old.
Sharon A.M. MacLean
What type of video capture do you use, Michael?
Erika Kalmar
Great tips. Writing it as if to a friend is especially important. I’m getting so many newsletters that have that impersonal corporate feel and those are the ones I tend to unsubscribe from.
Sharon A.M. MacLean
We’re putting more and more blocks against corporate speak, Erika.
Delia Rusu (@happyblogplaza)
I love your tip Sharon about sending out a little tip in a video! Guess what I’ll be sending in my next newsletter? 🙂 Thanks for the great idea!
Sharon A.M. MacLean
I would love to hear how you do it, Delia.
Beth Blacker
I definitely believe in newsletters. I think that there is a lot of information that we assume people see on social media but giving your clients a reminder about you in your inbox is still, in my opinion, the best way to stay present in their minds.
Sharon A.M. MacLean
In with you, Beth.
tradurretranslateblog
Thanks for great tips. Really need to get my newsletters started.
Sharon A.M. MacLean
Keeps us hopping!
Katrina Moody (@KatrinaMoody)
Great tips here — I’ve had a fairly inactive list on my old blog for a while but am starting all over again on my business site so it’s nice to refresh myself on some of the best pointers! 😀
Sharon A.M. MacLean
Our lists are never ending, Katrina. 🙂