Communicating with customers is a huge part of what drives your business. However, knowing the most effective way to communicate can be a tough call to make. You need to know your top priorities and main goals to determine which method is best for your customers. Both blogs and newsletters work well for creating engaging content and successfully communicating with your current and potential clients. These mediums are vastly different and serve unique purposes.
In this post, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of newsletters. We will focus on how newsletters can affect the way you communicate with your customers and tips that will help you implement newsletters in your business.
Newsletters 101:
Newsletters are the door that allows you to more strategically engage your clients on a one on one basis. They serve as a great credibility builder and proof of your expertise. If you want to improve customer communication, newsletters are a great option for proactively engaging your contacts and regularly updating them on what is new in your business and industry.
Who receives it?
Newsletters are emailed directly to a list of current and potential clients that you have acquired. It is critical that you have been given approval to add them to your distribution list. *Be very careful to not send out newsletters to lists you have purchased.
What topics should be discussed?
A single newsletter can explore a variety of topics or you can have a focused theme for each issue. Including links to professional articles, sharing your insights, and providing tips and tricks is a great way to further customer engagement.
Consistency is key for newsletters. In each issue you can share two news articles relevant to your industry, create a tips and tricks section, and include a message from you or your company. You can mix up the style of that main message by using interviews, checklists, or videos. Providing your customers with fresh and valuable content is the perfect way to encourage them to rely on your company as a valuable resource. We also suggest that you include a call of action in your newsletter to direct your readers in where to go and what actions to take next.
How often should newsletters be sent out?
Each business has different goals and varying amounts of content they want to include, but we recommend you send your newsletter out once a month. This is often enough to stay top of mind with your customers, but not too often that you annoy the recipients. If you want to have a theme that is focused on the seasons or you don't have content that needs to be delivered as regularly, sending your newsletters out quarterly could be appropriate for your business. Depending on your company, pay attention to when your customers are more engaged, and what is more likely to make them respond to find the perfect times to send them out.
What are the main benefits of newsletters?
Newsletters allow you to share relevant, interesting information that will differentiate your business from the competition and become a resource to your database of contacts. Consistent contact with people helps to builds trust - especially if you share a little personal/cultural information or fun facts about the accomplishments of your business. Share what is unique to your company and give readers a reason to be invested in learning about you. We all know the more comfortable we are with a company and the more we feel like they are interested in helping us, the more likely we are to be interested in doing business with them.
What are the challenges that come with newsletters?
Unfortunately, you do not have control over if the recipient opens the newsletter or not. Capturing the reader's attention right away is important for making sure clients will read them. This means strong headlines, interesting photos and clear organization are vital to not losing your reader's attention in the first few seconds after they open your newsletter.
Do you use a newsletter to engage your customers? What is working or what isn't? Comment your thoughts below! Read part 2 of this blog to find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of blogging!
As always, if you're interested in starting a newsletter and need some guidance, we would love to help.
