Want to get more leads and sales for your business? Of course you do! Here’s one way to do it: publish an email newsletter.
Stop groaning. I can hear you now… “Email! I don’t have time to publish a newsletter. And besides, my customers get too many emails now. They’ll think I’m just spamming them.”
Stop the Excuses!
Let’s take these excuses one by one.
Time – If you want more business, you’ll make the time. That’s a lame excuse. Besides, if you’re writing a blog, you can repurpose that content and publish it in your newsletter!
Too many emails – You have a point. People do get a lot of email, but that doesn’t mean your customers don’t want to hear from YOU. Especially, if you have something useful to tell them.
Spam – Your customers will think you’re spamming if you send them emails every day, and the emails contain one message, “Buy from me!” But that’s not what I’m advocating. Your newsletter should contain information that will be useful to your customers and prospects. And as long as you send it on a regular basis, such as once a month, bi-weekly, or even weekly, they won’t think you’re spamming them. If you do happen to lose a few subscribers along the way, don’t sweat it. Your business will benefit by having people on your list who truly WANT to be there.
4 Reasons Why You Should Publish an Email Newsletter
That takes care of the excuses. Now, let me give you four solid reasons why you should send your subscribers a newsletter:
1. Creates a positive relationship with your customers – If you send your subscribers useful information, they will thank you for it. What type of info, you ask? It depends on your industry. In my case, I send my subscribers search marketing and social media marketing tips once a week. If you are a realtor, you could send tips on how to prepare your home for sale, or how to choose a moving company. Get the idea?
2. Provides inexpensive advertising for your products/services – As I said earlier, the newsletter should not be “salesy.” But that doesn’t mean you can’t advertise your products or services at all. The newsletter should be 80-90 percent “informational” and, 10-20 percent advertorial. If you’re hosting a webinar, or conducting a special sale, it’s perfectly all right to include a quick blurb about it at the end of the newsletter.
3. Drives traffic to your website and/or blog – When you include links to your website or blog in your newsletter, you get the immediate benefit of extra traffic. But most email service providers like Mailchimp also provide invaluable analytics. You can see just how many people clicked the link. And if you have the link tied in with Google Analytics, you’ll be able to get more in-depth information, such as how long people stayed on your content, and how many other pages of your website they visited. You can then use this information to tailor future content, based on how your articles performed.
4. Generate leads/sales – Of course, the number one reason why you should publish an email newsletter, is that it can generate new leads and/or sales for your business. When you publish high quality content on a regular basis, you build up trust with your audience. When they’re ready to buy, they will be much more likely to buy from you and refer you. That’s the best reason of all!
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Image courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net / Stuart Miles
