Tags: e-mail
I receive a number of e-mail newsletters and I send out a regular one of my own. It seems that the e-mail newsletter has become an essential part of the marketing mix for companies large and small. Consumers are invited to sign up with the promise of a flow of fascinating and useful information. The reality is often different with the result that disappointed readers unsubscribe from the distribution list. Based on the things that amuse, interest or annoy me, here are some dos and don’ts to help you succeed with your e-mail newsletter:
Don’t:
- Think it is about you and your products. Try to look at it from the reader’s point of view. You have to provide something interesting and valuable to customers so lots of product news and features are not the answer. Tips, hints, how-to advice and user stories are better. Why not ask readers what they value most?
- Try too hard to sell. Your newsletter will probably contain some calls to action and subtle offers but too many special deals, heavy pressure and sales pitches will turn readers off.
- Make it long, detailed and dull. Surely no explanation is needed yet many newsletters display these mistakes. As with all marketing communication you must ask – how can I make this message shorter, clearer and more interesting?
- Mail too often. Most people are suffering from newsletter fatigue so a regular monthly mailing is preferable to something every few days.
Do:
- Start with an engaging title. The title determines whether your readers open the e-mail so make it intriguing or challenging. ‘Release 4.75 now available’ might attract a few techies but something that focuses on a customer benefit will get more people reading e.g. ‘How to cut your travel expenses by 20%’ or ‘Practical tips to double customer retention.’
- Make it easy to read. You want several short articles on subjects that add value for customers. Just give the main storylines with links for further reading.
- Use colour and pictures. Liven up the newsletter with some good stock photos – but not all of your CEO! You may worry that some subscribers cannot read HTML messages. If so carry out a survey. If you aim for the lowest common denominator with a plain text newsletter it will look very dull to most people.
- Add some humour or human interest. Give you readers something funny or quirky as well as the heavy information. When I analyse my click-throughs I find that the most popular links are nearly always for the fun items and puzzles.
- Make it easy to contact you. Provide phone, e-mail and physical address details so that you look professional and are easy to reach.
- Provide an unsubscribe facility. It is essential that people who no longer want the newsletter can easily unsubscribe.
- Make it personal. Write it in a friendly conversational style and make it from a real person.
- Manage the process. Use a newsletter management service (I use Constant Contact). Encourage website visitors to sign up. Delete the e-mail addresses that bounce.
The e-mail newsletter is one of the least expensive and most effective communication tools that you can use. If you give it the attention it deserves then it can be a terrific way to stay in touch with customers and prospects. A good regular newsletter will improve your image, increase traffic to your website and increase sales. A bad one will just be ignored.
Useful and pithy advice. In our e-newsletters the funny, quirky items always get the most click-throughs.
This is spot on and serves as a good summary guide for those undertaking the considerable task of putting together an e-newsletter. The last point, “Manage the process” reinforces some critical best practice elements in e-mail marketing.
The importance of the initial sign up process cannot be underestimated. With competition to get into the inbox increasing all the time, it is vital that messages are timely and relevant. Irrelevancy is the new spam, and there’s a definite need for sending companies to ensure that preference centres are implemented effectively, so that on sign-up customers can specify both frequency and content.
Preference centres are fast becoming a standard element which enables marketers to capture customer requests and formulate them into relevant marketing segments for a more optimised strategy. Not only do they allow for a more tailored communication stream, but with irrelevancy minimised, customers become more engaged which leads to an increase in loyalty, purchase activity and most importantly, an improved ROI.
In addition, its important to look at the entire marketing mix and look at what channels your customers are using most effectively. For instance, marketers are using the e-mail channel to drive their message via social media campaign. This is just another example of how to combine different types of media into your e-newsletter strategy. By empowering consumers to share messaging through their choice of social network, marketers can potentially access a new pool of prospective customers, increasing the likelihood of purchase by virtue of targeted viral campaigns.
Lastly, an e-mail’s subject line provides one of the biggest opportunities to increase open rates. There are various schools of thought on the best way to develop a subject line, but the common denominator of all research is the importance of testing. However, it’s important to remember that consumer responses are as varied as e-mail campaigns and the companies sending them. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating.