PGH Marketing’s creative director and owner of VirtualAssistUSA, Daniella Cuomo has identfied five excellent arguments as to how a company newsletter can be a great attribute to internal and external communication efforts. Newsletters are one of the most powerful ways to boost conversion rates. Some of our clients hesitate to put out a newsletter because they are convinced it will just get deleted, so they think: why bother? Daniella and I couldn’t agree more as to the proven tactics listed below.
1) Plan your strategy: Pick a schedule, and stick to it. It is optimistic to think you will get around to putting out a newsletter every week, but unless you have a virtual assistant or a marketing firm to do it for you, don’t bother with that goal. Try to start with bi-weekly, or once a month. Secondly, think about your end goal. Is it to create your first info product? Then begin strategizing your path to that launch – think of filling your newsletter with contests, surveys and case studies that help you fine-tune your product for your target market.
2) Make it pretty: Consistency is key. It makes the readers feel more attached to the newsletter. Use your branding in the e-mail template. If you don’t like any of the canned templates, hire a web designer virtual assistant or marketing firm to create a custom HTML template for you.
3) KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid: Less is more, as they say. Streamline your newsletters. A good rule of thumb is to create a newsletter that can be read in less than one minute. You can use split testing features to determine what the best format is.
4) Write what you know: If you run out of a topics, a great idea is to ask your clients and colleagues for questions that they want the answers to. If you’re really stumped – don’t forgo the newsletter all together – ask a trusted colleague to write a “guest post,” targeted to your audience.
5) Mind your technicalities: Remember that the first 11 characters in a subject line will determine if the reader will open it or not. Always include the option for a HTML or text newsletter. Run a spam check for possible spam-trigger keywords before send out.