E-Class #38: Marketing Materials – Newsletters

Checkpoint:

• You have identified the type of customer loyalty program that would work best in your business, and that you can afford.
• You have created that program in your business, trained your staff, and have begun to tell you customers about it.

The most successful (and profitable) small businesses send newsletters for five reasons:

1. Newsletters build trust.

A consistent newsletter that features useful information or expert advice will boost credibility, and encourage trust. Newsletters also allow your reader to get to know you and your company, which creates stronger relationships and increases loyalty.

2. Newsletters educate customers.

Successful newsletters often ‘tell’ more than they ‘sell’. They provide an opportunity to educate customers on the full range of products or services you offer, as well as on any relevant changes, additions and developments in your business.

3. Newsletters promote your offering.

Obviously, a newsletter will promote what you have to sell. Whether this is a single product of the week, or an entirely new product line, the newsletter will arrive directly in the customer’s inbox and describe what’s in it for them.

4. Newsletters maintain awareness.

When you use newsletters to keep in touch with your customers, you increase the number of times they are exposed to your brand, which boosts awareness and advertising recognition.

5. Newsletters build community.

Regular newsletters that feature useful information and community events create a community of people with a common interest: your knowledge, expertise, and offering.

In this E-Class we will cover:

• Why you should send newsletters
• How to write an effective newsletter
• Content ideas for effective newsletters
• How to distribute your newsletters

The steps involved in writing an effective newsletter are similar to writing other marketing collateral. Here’s the process you’ll need to follow:

An effective newsletter should be easy to read, contain interesting and relevant information, and be visually engaging. When you send information to your customer’s inbox, you are asking them to invest their time in reading what you have to say. Make sure they finish feeling that their time was well spent.

1. Decide who you are writing the newsletter for, and what you want the newsletter to do.

As with every other piece of marketing collateral, you must establish who you are trying to reach before you put your content together. Don’t make the mistake of assuming everyone will be interested in what you have to say. Who are your readers? Are they internal (employees) or external (customers) to your organization? What are their interests? Do they like to be entertained or do they just want information? How much time do they have to read your newsletters?

Use language that they can easily read and understand. Are you talking to computer programmers or teenagers? Would you spend time reading a book that wasn’t interesting or was written in a language you didn’t understand? Speak to the readers using language and references they will relate to.

Here are some helpful tips to consider when writing for your audience:

• keep the tone informal and conversational
• write in first person to establish a relationship
• be direct – use as few words as possible and keep it simple
• avoid flowery or overly descriptive language
• stay away from salesy or advertising language

Like every other piece of your marketing collateral, your newsletter must serve a clear purpose, and stick to it. The content should all support this overarching purpose, which will ensure the newsletter is a strong communication tool.

Is your goal to:

• Provide information?
• Fundraise?
• Recruit new staff?
• Maintain contact with customer base?
• Promote offers and services?
• Drive sales?

2. Choose interesting and relevant content for your newsletter that will matter to your readers and make sense for your business.

Company News

You may not think so, but your clients and customers are interested in short bits of news about your company and its people. They want to hear about your accolades and successes, since they have helped your achieve them. They are equally interested in reading about the expansion and development of your business, as they have contributed to that growth.

Feature Product

A feature product or service column is a great way to profile new products or shine a light on existing products that you sell. Use this space to provide an image of the product, and list both benefits and features. Ensure that your feature product is reduced in price to encourage customers to visit your store and purchase it.

Employee Profile

Just like readers are interested in your company, they are equally interested in the people who work at your company. Profiles of new or recognized employees helps to build relationships, and establish trust. Your customers will connect the face on the newsletter, to the face that is helping them find what they are looking for, and ultimately close the sale.

Cartoons

Cartoons in good humor that relate to your business or service can go a long way – literally. If readers find the image funny, there’s a good chance they’ll forward the newsletter to their friends and family, which means your message has a further reach. Using humor in your newsletter also helps to keep the tone light and informal, showing that you don’t take yourself too seriously.

Testimonials / Stories

A box or column featuring testimonials of the month or a customer story can be an engaging element of your newsletter. People are naturally curious to read about others’ experiences and thoughts about consumer products and services. Testimonials are a great way for customers to hear the benefits and praises of your product from someone else.

Events

If your business hosts regular customer events and seminars, include the pertinent information in your newsletter in a prominently featured events section. Alternately, if your business is an active community participant, consider featuring upcoming community events that you are either sponsoring or attending. Including this kind of information can encourage readers to hang on to the newsletter as a “save the date” piece. If you choose to feature community events, do so strategically. If you cannot include all community events, you may create a problem for yourself.

Expert Corner

This is one of the greatest added value components of your newsletter: your knowledge and expertise. If relevant to your business, include a column that provides information to your readers from an expert source: either you, or someone you have asked to contribute their knowledge. Doing so will position your company as an expert in your industry, and give your reader another reason to hang on to the newsletter. Keep the content relevant – both to your business and current events.

Special Offers

A newsletter is a great way to inform your readers of special offers and sales. Always include the regular price, or total cost of a package, as well as a high quality image. If you do not regularly offer discounts, ensure the reader is aware that this is a rare event.

3. Use engaging copy to write your newsletters, and keep it short and to the point.

The backbone of your newsletter is the content. Without solid, valuable content, even the most attractive and well-formatted newsletters are virtually ineffective.

With so many other things competing for your customer’s attention, it is crucial to make your newsletter interesting and relevant. How does it add value to their lives? Why does it deserve their attention?

Entertain.

Make use of a newsletter’s informal tone, and entertain your reader. Add content from external sources, including humorous stories and cartoons that are related to the purpose of your newsletter and the product or service you are offering. This will break up the more serious content.

Write well.

If writing is not your strong point, hire a writer to draft your newsletter. This may also be a good idea for busy business owners that struggle to find the time to complete a monthly outreach piece. Make sure you avoid industry jargon, and if you have to use it, make sure to define it for your reader.

Provide information.

It will be clear to the reader if you are sending a newsletter just for the sake of getting your log into their inbox. Make sure that your newsletter provides information that is relevant and useful to the reader. Have something to say that will benefit the reader, even if it is external content like media clips, events, or website links.

Get to the point.

No one has time to read exhaustive amounts of copy, no matter how relevant it may seem. Keep the newsletter tight and limited to a few short news items and some information on your offering. Here are a few tips for managing content length:

• Include a summary of the newsletter content at the top
• Provide short summaries of each article, with a link to “read more”
• Make generous use of headlines and sub headlines
• Put concise information in bullet form

Include a call to action.

Always provide a call to action, even if it is a subtle one. You are spending time and money to produce a newsletter in efforts to ultimately increase your business. Ask for the sale – just like you would in a brochure or sales letter. Get readers to visit your website, pick up the phone, fill out the registration form, or lend their support.

Include testimonials.

After you spent all that time gathering great testimonials, make sure you put them to use! If you choose not to dedicate an entire section of your newsletter to customer testimonials, make sure you include them in the header, footer, or margins of the page. They also work well to break up sections of text.

Give it a name.

Just like a newspaper, give your newsletter a title that readers will remember and connect to your business.

4. Design your newsletter so it’s attractive and easy to read.

While content is the backbone of your newsletter, appearance has the ability to engage readers and attract new subscribers. It is also a key factor in the readability of your content, which can make or break a solid readership. Stick to these guidelines for success.

Keep the layout clean and simple.

Keep the layout clean and free of clutter. Overuse of bright colors and images will distract the reader from your well-crafted content. Use design to enhance your words, not detract form them. Simple design also makes template creation easy.

Use lots of headlines and bullets.

Make your newsletter easy to scan. Give each column a headline, and use bullets to highlight important points. Use sub headlines for important paragraphs, and important testimonials to break up lengthy copy.

Stick to your brand.

Your newsletter should follow your brand guidelines for elements like color, font, and logo placement. Even if your newsletter is electronic, it is important for each piece of marketing collateral to have a consistent look and feel.

Be consistent.

Once you have designed a newsletter template, stick with it. Each issue should have the same overall look and feel, with only minor modifications if required for image placement, etc. This ensures the newsletter looks professional and readers will learn to recognize it when they receive it.

Use images generously.

Images are a powerful way to communicate with an audience, and illustrate the words on the page. Pictures, graphs, sidebars or callouts, charts and other graphic elements should be used wherever possible in the newsletter.

5. Send your newsletter on a regular basis – but make sure it’s a reasonable timeframe you can commit to.

Choose a frequency you can maintain. Newsletters can be time consuming, so be realistic about how often you promise to distribute them. This depends on your resources, and the needs of your business, but generally once a month to once every three months is a good time frame. Sending out a newsletter too often can be just as detrimental as not sending them often enough.

When you determine the frequency of your newsletters establish a publishing schedule and stick to it. Work your way into your customer’s routine so they are expecting and looking forward to receiving your newsletter.

Develop a publication plan in advance, planning the general themes and giving yourself, so you have time to gather information and ideas

6. Choose a customer- and environmentally-friendly distribution method for your newsletter.

There are essentially two ways to produce your newsletter: print (hard-copy) or electronic (online or email based). Each feature a variety of distribution options.

Take some time to consider your target market, and how they prefer to be communicated with. For example, if your market is teenagers and young adults, electronic newsletters distributed over email may be the most effective. If you focus on reaching seniors, then printed newsletters with large type are best sent through the post.

Print

Printed newsletters are becoming more and more rare as the popularity of email communication increases. Consumers are also becoming more environmentally conscious, and are not interested in receiving stacks of paper in the mail.

Of course, there are plenty of opportunities to use printed newsletters in your businesses. Generally, it is a good idea to produce a printed newsletter and have it available in your business, and when you are on the road, to distribute to potential clients and customers who may not be on your mailing list.

Create a list of the places you will likely wish to distribute your newsletter, and produce just enough to satisfy that requirement. The worksheet on the next page will get you started.

Online or Email Newsletters

The most popular newsletters are sent online using Customer Relations Management (CRM) tools in HTML format. There are several CRM tools available online, which charge a monthly subscription fee that is customized to the size of your distribution list, and the frequency of your distribution.

Some common programs are:

• Constant Contact www.constantcontact.com
• i-contact: www.icontact.com
• Campaign Monitor: www.campaignmonitor.com

These email marketing programs provide easy to use templates that allow you to design a clean professional email and send it out to your entire contact list.

The benefit of using online tools is that they automatically manage and track the success of each newsletter campaign, including:

• Tracking who opens the email
• Recording what links readers click on
• Tracking how many forward it to friends
• Unsubscribing those who request it

These tools can also be integrated into your website, so visitors can sign up directly at your site, and begin receiving newsletters immediately.

If you choose not to use a CRM tool, here are a few tips for emailing customers directly:

Use the BCC field. Respect the privacy of your customers, and ensure all email addresses are typed into the “BCC” field of your email, not the “To” field. Failing to do so means everyone on your list will be able to see which email addresses you have on your list. If competitors have subscribed to your newsletter, they will be able to grab the email addresses of your valued customers.

No attachments. Emails from unknown or commercial sources that have attachments are rarely opened. If you create your newsletter on your website in HTML format, you can send a brief note with the website address link to point readers in the right direction.

Use plain text. Make it easy for the reader to open and read your newsletter. Depending on the email program, your formatting may or may not be preserved on the reader’s end. If visuals are important to you, the best way to preserve formatting is to use an HTML-based template.

Keep the old ones! Remember to post archived newsletters on your site, so readers can catch up on what you’ve published before they signed up.

Start with a short, simple newsletter that you can easily produce and maintain, and watch your repeat business grow.

The key to building a successful (and profitable!) newsletter is to start small, and make sure every bit of content is relevant to your target audience. If your newsletter is too long, or too boring, no one is going to want to read it and it will stop getting opened.

As always, remember to test and measure the impact of your newsletter. Track the number of repeat customers that come in or make purchases after you send your newsletter, or consider “coding” the newsletter with a coupon or special offer. Then use the information you gather to improve your next one.

The next piece of marketing collateral we’re going to look at are brochures. There’s such a wide range of successful and unsuccessful brochures that I want to show you how to create profitable ones for all the areas of your business.

Until next time!