With social media and the plethora of new ways to market your brand and products online, businesses can forget the power of email as a marketing channel.
However, according to Statista, as of January 2022, 92% of the U.S. digital population uses email as a means of communication, which is a higher connection rate than social media or online messaging apps. Still on the fence about investing time and effort into creating a newsletter? Starting to understand what a newsletter is and why it's important for your business will help you in the long run.
1. Use email newsletters to drive sales.
According to Litmus' 2021 State of Email report, 79% of marketers ranked email marketing as their most effective tactic, ahead of paid search, organic search, and social media.
I've found that to be true in marketing my own brand and insight studio, Tote + Pears. Since launching our newsletter over 10 years ago, we've achieved a 43:1 return on investment. Email newsletters are a great way to attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back.
People are more likely to buy from you when you care the most. Staying in your inbox can be an effective way to do that. A litmus study found that 34% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after receiving an email.
Consider having your local eye doctor send a monthly email to your inbox. This prompt acts as a reminder to schedule your next appointment. When e-commerce brands come out frequently and share insights and new sales, you might be tempted to buy something new.
Email newsletters are one of the most effective sales conversion optimization strategies and help move leads through your sales funnel.
2. Connect with your customers.
One of the most beneficial aspects of email newsletters is the warm connection with your audience and the opportunity to build trust and credibility. Conversational marketing designed to build a conversation with your customers that's personal because they have to opt-in, so there's a good chance that person is already familiar with your brand and wants to connect may be the best candidate for With consistency, your customers will start expecting (and ideally looking forward to) hearing from you.
You can also customize your email newsletter based on your customers' interests, location, and demographics for an even better experience. For example, let's say you own a clothing store and your target audience is mothers with children. Mothers with newborns are looking for different clothing options than mothers with teenagers. With a segmented email newsletter, you can cater to both interests with personalized content and adjust it according to the age of your family.
Once you understand your target audience, you can build a customer retention strategy that leverages email newsletters to stay connected with your customers now and in the future.
3. Encourage social media participation.
An effective marketing strategy takes users on a journey that connects them with your brand across multiple channels, including in-store, social, text message, and email. Email newsletters can be a great way to tie these experiences together, ultimately increasing engagement in other areas and further increasing brand awareness.
Simply add links or buttons pointing to your social media channels to your email marketing newsletter to keep your subscribers engaged with your brand. This is especially useful if you want to expand your social channels or increase customer retention.
For example, you can show your email subscribers to demos and social reviews from other customers, or invite them to create their own demos and social reviews. User-generated content (UCG) can be valuable.
4. Increase traffic to your website.
Similar to social media, email newsletters are very effective at bringing prospects back to your website. Potential customers can engage with your content, make purchases, or learn about new products and services.
Through personalized content, exclusive offers, or collaborations with influencers, you can use newsletter marketing as a way to drive people back to your main marketing hub, your website. You can share new products and direct users to a purchase page with a prompt like “Buy Now.” If you're hosting an event, you can feature animated graphics in your newsletter to grab your readers' attention. Click the button to be redirected to where you can RSVP and purchase tickets.
The best online newsletters can spark conversation and generate engagement. Tracking tools allow you to track subscriber engagement. Data points such as link clicks, site navigation, and purchases help us improve future customer experiences.
5. Start a simple newsletter.
Creating an email newsletter is easy. With today's newsletter platform, you can start engaging with your customers right away. These tools have been gradually improved over the years, adding features such as pre-built email templates, drag-and-drop functionality, and text messaging integration. Additionally, the tool leverages social media and website data to help provide content recommendations and suggest ideal delivery dates and times. Creating a newsletter doesn't require a lot of technical or design expertise.
How to create a newsletter email
Set up the signup form
You can have your customers and potential customers sign up using the newsletter registration form on your website. We can collect basic information such as email address, name, date of birth, and other data.
Please select a rhythm
You can consider what you want to communicate and how often you can communicate with them. Depending on your company, quarterly may be optimal. For others, monthly or even weekly updates may be meaningful to their audience. Whatever you decide, try to stick to it. Being consistent will give you better results.
Build your content strategy
Next, what does your audience want to hear from you? What information do you want to convey to them? Personalization could be the key. You can decide which topics are likely to appeal to your audience and use your brand to provide content that they will enjoy. For example, a pediatrician's office may have four sections in their newsletter. One section spotlights colds and their treatments, family events at the office and around town, developmental milestones for young children, and new staff members. A call to action might encourage subscribers to sign up for a reservation.
Build and send
Next, create and send your newsletter. If you're using an email newsletter platform, choose a template from one of our template libraries or hire a designer to write and write your content (aim for less than 400 words per newsletter), then call can be added. To action. You can schedule and send newsletters.
Take-out
Email newsletters can be a way to connect and stay connected with an already engaged audience. By being consistent, you can turn that person into a loyal and passionate fan, not just a customer.
A version of this article was originally published on September 3, 2013.
Photo: Getty Images
