Do you think that sending an email marketing newsletter is a but spammy? I hear it a lot and it’s the main reason business owners avoid sending them. They don’t want to be appearing in inboxes when it’s not wanted or too frequently.
But here’s the thing. People who have signed up to your email marketing newsletter have expressed an interest in hearing from you, so why wouldn’t you communicate regularly with them? And the bonus is that when email marketing is done well, it’s highly effective and helps to grow your business.
Stick to the rules
The important point to take from the paragraph above, is to make sure that you only email people that have given you permission to contact them with marketing. They need to have ticked that box that says ‘Yes I’d like to receive information about X, Y, Z from you.’ If they haven’t (even if they’ve purchased from you), you shouldn’t be contacting them without asking them first.
Here are a few tips to help you get started with email marketing and the types of subjects you could email about.
Why have an email marketing newsletter?
We get so much in our inboxes these days and the ‘Delete’ button gets pressed within seconds of emails interrupting my day. And I’ve started unsubscribing to the ones I don’t want to see. But there are a handful of emails that I keep and read, and that I am engaged with.
Are you the same?
If you are, that’s exactly why you should have your own. Because it is a great way of communicating with those who are actually interested in your product or service.
But who’s interested?
You may already have a list of contacts that are subscribed. But if you don’t and you are starting from scratch, how can you let people know that they can subscribe?
You could
- add a pop up box to your website to ask people to subscribe,
- talk about it in your website content, such as your blogs, and
- add it to your social media.
You could also set up lead magnets which appeal to your target audience.
Want to know more about lead magnets? Click here to read what they are and why you should use them.
What should I talk about?
It depends on your audience, but the newsletters (which by the way I avoid calling email newsletters!*) are more about creating a sense of community, creating advocacy with my audience, and building trust. All with the aim of raising awareness to encourage purchases and re-purchases.
Here are a few ideas to include in your newsletters:
- A freebee, such as a guide or a downloadable planner
- Links to a relevant blog on your website
- Writing about something which is of interest to your audience (outside of what you are trying to sell)
- Links to companies that you resonate with or that you think will be of interest to your email community.
And of course, you can sprinkle some product or sales information or even a special offer from time to time. But I wouldn’t make this the key focus. Think about when a ‘salesy’ email lands in your inbox, is your automatic reaction to hit that ‘Delete’ button?
How do you manage an email newsletter?
There are many software offerings around – programmes that can manage your lists, help you to create emails, schedule them and allow you to monitor the results.
There are free plans or paid for versions. My software of choice is Mailchimp, because I’ve used it for a long time and know my way around it. But I also know of ActiveCampaign, EmailOctopus and Campaign Monitor. Take your time to look around them all before you decide which is best for you and your business.
When’s the best time to send?
According to those in the know, companies such as Mailchimp and Sendinblue recommend 10am is the best time to send. But it can also come down to when your audience is most receptive so do some testing to see when works best for you. You’ll be able to see when emails are opened, and which links are clicked on to assess which content is most engaging too.
*A bit about ‘newsletters’
I mentioned above that I don’t call these email marketing newsletters – for example, mine is called CherryAid Chatter. Because, let’s face it, an ‘email newsletter’ sounds reeeeally boring doesn’t it?!
Try and be creative with the wording and make it engaging. Play about with what you are going to call it. It could be a Bulletin, a Herald or even a Collective.
And it’s the same when you are trying to entice someone to sign up. Instead of ‘Sign up to our email newsletter’, try ‘Join our community’ or something like that. Demonstrate what the audience gets from signing up other than just another newsletter.
Simplifying your email marketing
So there you have it. My overview of email marketing newsletters.
I hope it’s helped you, but if you’d like to know more, feel free to join the CherryAid Chatter:
And if you feel you need any help with yours, get in touch with me and let’s see how we can get you sorted.
Thanks for reading,
Gill
