By Tracy Williams
Most eNewsletter tips articles focus on the content: make sure the information addresses the audience you're targeting; keep it short and to the point; and always, have something newsworthy to say or don't bother.
Those are all great tips, but they have nothing to do with WHY an eNewsletter is important.
Here is a top five list:
- eNewsletters give you a communications hub for all outreach to your customers and prospects. If it's critical for your audience to hear, put it in your eNewsletter. Include news coverage about your company that highlights how you help solve problems for customers. Reuse valuable charts, tips and content developed for other projects.
- Go where your customers are. Social media is becoming more and more important all the time, but email still rules. More than 90 percent of all businesses are on email, while according to some estimates as few as 60 percent have made the leap to social. That's not to say that eNewsletters and social media can't work in tandem. Use your best content from social in your eNewsletter and vice versa.
- When executed properly, an ongoing eNewsletter campaign is the perfect soft push for staying in touch with hundreds or even thousands of key contacts depending on the size of your business. Remind them what you do and why they should care with a shiny new eNewsletter every six weeks to two months. As long as you make it easy to unsubscribe, you have nothing to lose.
- Email is continuing to grow. As of 2013, there were nearly 3.9 billion email accounts worldwide, according to The Radicati Group. That number is expected to increase to 4.9 billion by the end of 2017.
- eNewsletters move the conversation to commerce. Two-thirds of consumers have made a purchase online as a result of email marketing, according to the Direct Marketing Association. In the business-to-business world, law and professional services firms report consistent success attracting new clients through eNewsletters, so we know they work. Have you ever gotten business this way? Reply to this email with "yes" or "no," and we'll report the results.
So stop waiting for the next big thing, and take advantage of the current big thing with an eNewsletter that tells your story, shares your news and keeps you top of mind with your customers and prospects.
Williams is president and CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications.