With the popularity of social networking and blogging many believe the days of the enewsletters are numbered if not over. However a closer consideration of the pros and cons of both mediums leads to a different conclusion.

Knowing your target market
If your market is other people in business then the question is how do they use the internet for their business needs. Most of them are too busy running their businesses to spend time diddling around on the internet. In general, they prefer to stick with what is currently working for them and email works for them. Signing up for an eNewsletter is a process they are comfortable with. They only have to make that decision one time and they are on your list until they unsubscribe.

Multiple Target Markets
Another benefit of eNewsletters is that you can control who gets what content. By segmenting your data base into multiple mailing lists you can send information that is directly relevant to your readers. You can’t break down content this way with a blog.

Monitoring results
A great advantage of using a newsletter delivery system is that you can track specifically who responds to your articles and which ones attract the most response. This generates leads and sharpens your marketing and sales communication.

Push vs. Pull Technologies
The main difference between eNewsletters and blogs is how the recipient receives the information. An eNewsletter is a “push technology” while a blog is most commonly used as a “pull technology.” With an eNewsletter, you are in charge of when they receive it; while with a blog, they are in charge of when they read it. Yes, people can easily delete your newsletter email but it’s even easier not to visit your blog.

This is the same with a website and a newsletter - a website is passive waiting for people to visit while the newsletter is proactive in taking the message to the reader. Best results come when strategies are put in place to create synergy between the website and the enewsletter.

Beyond Information Overload
Where the challenge used to be in finding information, today’s challenge is to sort through it all, figure out what’s important and what to do with it. Popular eNewsletters not only provide pertinent information, they also tell the reader why they should care and what to do with it.

It’s Not an Either/Or Situation
Smart marketers will say the best results come from using all available technologies and where possible integrating them. For example you can put links to Social Networks on your newsletter and alternatively you can promote your newsletter within your social networking contacts.

In deciding how to use these technologies the most important thing to remember is who is your reader and what are they willing to do to get your content.

As a result of a survey of 300 business executives BBI came to the following conclusion. "It is clear that small and medium businesses value the information they get from email newsletters," says Stu Richards, CEO of BBI. "Marketers right now should be investing resources in this form of communication because it offers an excellent vehicle to position their company as a trusted advisor."

Here are some of the key findings:

• 65% of respondents said they read some issues thoroughly and skim others, 12% said they skim all of them, and 11% said they read every one completely.
  
  
• When asked what is most important in deciding whether or not to read a vendor's email newsletter, 64% said it was who the newsletter was from. The subject line (16%) was secondary.
  
  
• Four out of five respondents said they had at one point unsubscribed to a vendor's email newsletter.
  
  
• The top reasons for stopping an e-newsletter? Irrelevant content (63%) and didn't want something that wasn't being read (58%).
  
  
• The vast majority of SMB executives want to receive their email newsletters weekly (45%) or monthly (34%). Few want them daily (11%) or quarterly (6%).
  
  
• Half of SMBs were indifferent as to what day they would like to receive email newsletters, but those that did express a preference preferred Monday. "First thing in the morning" or "anytime during the day" were the times they said they were most likely to read their e-newsletters.
  
  
• A successful email newsletter can have a positive impact on the vendor's image. A third of SMB executives said they had an improved image of a vendor from its e-newsletters. However, the opposite may also be true when an e-newsletter is poorly executed – 14% said the email newsletter damaged the sender's image.
  
  
• "By understanding what SMBs expect from the email newsletters they receive, marketers can deliver better communications that clearly meet those needs," BBI's Richards noted. "Business-to-business marketers should be using this information to refine their SMB-focused email newsletters to get the best possible response. And companies that currently don't communicate with their customers and prospects this way should consider launching their own information-driven e-newsletters."