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Many in business would agree with the premise that it would be good for their company to keep in touch with their clients or customers via an enewsletter. But they stop short - perhaps because they aren't confident about finding enough content or because their email list is small. In this edition we give some simple answers to both these issues. If time or staff availability is the issue we can send your newsletter out for you and give you a detailed feedback report. So think outside the square - it can be done.
Ideas for newsletter content
A 'Tips' article on how to use a product or service - could have a consumer angle.
Case studies - these are always popular with business readers.
Interviews with industry experts
Q & A column - answer the sort of questions you get asked every day by your customers and clients.
Industry news, trends and statistics
Interviews with key staff
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More than a newsletter
Sometimes business people baulk at using newsletter technology because they are not sure they can come up with regular newsletter content. However it works the other way because once you have the technology in place you can use it for anything:
- new product release
- breaking industry news
- opening a new store
- listings - consumer or industry events
- calendar reminders
- photos from events
- change of website and so on
As I say to business owners - you could be in a sales meeting on a Monday morning come up with an idea - send it out before the end of play on Monday and by Wednesday afternoon have a detailed analysis of what interest it created amongst your clientele.
Quick, cost-effective and with accurate market intelligence - what other form of marketing works like this?
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We can help
If you would like to see your business distributing a newsletter but you dont have the staff or the time to do it yourself we can help.
- We can set up a newsletter account within our service with your own customised template.
- You can then send us the content you want included in your newsletter.
- We then compile this and send it back to you for your approval before it is sent out.
- Once the newsletter is sent out we provide you with a statistical report including who opened, what links they clicked on and who is worth following up as a potential sales lead.
- All you pay is a monthly fee based on the time spent by us to send out and report on your newsletter.
If you would like to find out more please get in touch.
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Ideas to build your mailing list
Your 'in-house' mailing list is a very valuable asset. This list represents your existing customer base and those who are potential future customers. These are the people you need to cultivate thru a targeted and consistent newsletter service. In building this list quality is much more important than quantity. One hundred interested, interactive readers who open your emails are a thousand fold more valuable than having 100,000 "who are they?" email addresses on your list.
Here are just a few ideas for companies actively seeking opt-in subscribers for their newsletters:
- Have Sign Up links on your website - these links can be placed at various points throughout your website. They should include a brief description about your newsletter and how often they will receive it. Don't ask for too many details. The more questions you ask, the less sign-ups you will receive. Unless you have very specific reasons why you need detailed information from subscribers, and are ready to accept a lower subscribe rate, then a good rule of thumb is to keep your form to no more than 1-3 relevant fields.
- Include a link to the subscribe form in your email signature file.
- Take advantage of transactional emails such as bills, acknowledgements, invoices or statements and include a link to your subscribe box.
- Have a 'forward to friend' feature in your newsletter. Have it next to each article to encourage sharing. Do not ask them to provide the friend’s address to you, simply offer an automatic forwarding function. The recipient of the forwarded newsletter will sign-up if they wish to subscribe.
- Promote your newsletter online - Use meta tags, inserting meaningful keywords to help search engines catalogue your content. You might even consider have a subdomain of your business address for the newsletter to further brand it. Look into pay-per-click search engine advertising to capture anyone actively searching for information relating to what your organisation offers. This will be a highly desirable subscriber.
- Promote your newsletter offline - Include subscribe instructions in your voicemail and company hold messages. Callers on hold might be sitting at their computer and sign-up.
- If you send out printed material to customers, such as direct marketing material, bills, invoices or statements, ask them to send in their email address if they wish to receive your newsletter.
- Capture addresses in an opt-in manner at your reception desk, at your events and any conventions where you have a stand or a sponsorship presence. Have a sign up sheet at trade shows and at any presentations your company gives - make it very clear what they're consenting to receive. When sending your newsletter include text welcoming new readers, reminding them where they signed up. Have your unsubscribe function prominently noted.
- Set up Cross Promotional relationships - this involves working with a complementary business sector or company in gaining new subscribers by promoting each others newsletters.
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