Although email newsletters are not a new concept, they are still very effective. Whether you’ve already got a newsletter or are thinking about launching one for your business, here’s how to get the best results from it:
Promote It:
When targeted visitors come to your website, they’re interested in what you have to offer. However, they’re not going to know what you want them to do if you don’t tell them.
Many business owners are disappointed that no one’s signing up for their newsletters. However, what they don’t realize is it has nothing to do with the quality of their newsletters. Instead, it’s because they haven’t made it easy for visitors to sign up.
If you want to make your newsletter a central part of your online marketing strategy, you need to prominently feature it on your website. Then you want to maximize your sign-ups, you can consider using a small lightbox pop-up that asks new visitors to sign up. And you want something less aggressive but still effective, the upper right side of your website is a great place to feature a sign-up box.
If you actively blog, many bloggers have found that placing a sign-up box below their posts works very well for attracting newsletter subscribers.
Keep in mind that in addition to making your newsletter sign-up box(es) visible and easy to submit, you also need to give a compelling reason for visitors to take action. While this may be as simple as stating that they’ll get valuable information for free, many businesses find they get the best results by offering a free report or other valuable piece of content in exchange for signing up.
Use It to Build a Relationship:
One of the most common mistakes that businesses make with their newsletters is only using it pitch their products or services. Although your newsletter can be a very effective selling tool, you need to build a relationship with subscribers before you start trying to sell them.
The best way to build a relationship is to use your newsletter to provide information that’s genuinely useful. Whether you send a weekly or monthly newsletter, the key is to think of content that’s going to be useful to subscribers and then deliver it to them.
By using your newsletter to give back to the people who subscribe to it, you can establish a level of trust that will make them much more receptive when you’re ready to ask them to make a purchase.
Make a Compelling Offer:
Even after building a relationship with your subscribers, you want to make sure that when you ask them to buy from you, the offer you pitch is as compelling as possible.
The most common way to do this is by offering a discount. However, there are more creative options that can be just as compelling. Whether it’s offering a bonus or creating an exclusive offer that’s only available to a limited number of subscribers, the key is to get recipients excited about what you’re offering.
Does your business currently have an email newsletter?