Most of us realise it is less expensive to retain a customer than to find a new one. Also it is easier to up-sell and cross-sell to an existing customer. So a customer retention strategy is a key ingredient to success particularly in more difficult times. Email can play an important role in your retention strategy.
Here are some important keys for making this successful.

• Email is a proactive way of keeping top of mind with your customers. So set up a publishing schedule e.g once a month, which keeps your company in front of your customers.
  
  
• Email enables you to up-sell and cross sell your products and services to your existing customer base. Make sure your website supports your email promotion with simple to use landing pages to order your products or to receive your services. Track the click thrus to identify who is showing particular interest in the products/services you are promoting. Allocate staff to follow up the click thrus your newsletter generates.
  
  
• There are lots of emails being sent to your customesr so make sure your content is well targeted and of interest to your customers. If neccessary segment your mailing lists so that the information delivered relates specifically to your readers. MarketingSherpa has found that any segmentation can increase clicks by up to 70%.
  
  
• Set up processes to respond quickly and personally to any customer or potential customer who gets in touch. Make sure the replies from your organisation are friendly and helpful.

Grab a pen and a piece of paper. Draw the following: Two large circles side by side, connected with a straight line. Now, draw another circle around the entire thing. These four elements – two circles, a straight line, and an all-encompassing circle – should be top of mind whenever you sit down to write your newsletter.

Here’s what I mean:
The right hand circle represents your target audience. These are the people with whom you wish to communicate. Presumably, since the purpose of publishing your newsletter is to attract more clients and more business, the target audience is people who "look like" your ideal client. Notice that I said ideal client – not vague demographic group or mishmashed compilation of anyone who could theoretically hire you. This is the person who, if the phone were to ring at this very moment and you could decide, would be on the other end of the line. Write for his/her benefit.

The left hand circle represents the things you know that are valuable to your target audience. Your knowledge from their perspective. Nobody wants more e-mail, and the only way your target audience is going to read your newsletter month after month, is if they view what you’ve got to say as essential; something that helps them do their jobs better or live their lives easier. If you’re a recruiter, it might be insights into finding and hiring great people. If you’re a plumber, it might be tips and perspective on maintaining the plumbing in a home. You get the idea: Information in your area of expertise that your target audience needs.

The line between the two circles represents the content of your E-Newsletter. Each time you publish, a little piece of what you know travels from your circle, down the line, to the target audience. Not too much at a time… just enough to help them today and keep them coming back for more. The all-encompassing circle represents your voice and personal perspective. This is the piece that is usually missing. And while it’s certainly essential to provide valuable information to the right audience, if that’s all you do, you’ll have trouble ever positioning yourself as an expert with a discernable style.

Certainly, as a professional in your field you need to know the basics. But that’s not what gets you hired, and it’s definitely not what makes people go out of their way to track you down. It’s your authentic voice and "let the chips fall where they may, this is what I think" point of view, wrapped around the useful, on target information, that will have them lining up outside your door.

Many of you will have seen newsletters that provide an executive summary of various articles with a link at the bottom of the article to read the full text. Is this a good idea?
From my experience the answer is a definite yes. Let me give you the main reasons why we recommend this to our clients and in seminars we run.

• It makes the newsletter shorter and it is easy for the reader to scan the articles.
  
  
• If you have click thru technology in your newsletter then you can gauge which article creates the most interest. This is very helpful market intelligence.
  
  
• When the reader lands within the newsletter section on your website you can direct them to other articles, products/services and various calls to action. So by using this simple method you have generated increased traffic to your website.
  
  
• Marketers will also be able to see which links lead to conversions, etc. The information tracked can also inform segmentation or follow up emails - and will definitely help with creating ever more relevant and targeted content with each send.
  
  
• Finally there is evidence that short punchy newsletters - without a lot of repetitive product information - have more likelihood of avoiding filters - thus reaching the inbox of your mailing list.