Marketing with Newsletters

Business marketing today encompasses so much more than just 20 years ago.

Your customer is inundated with information as never before. How can you stand out and get your message through?

In our last two articles in this series, we discussed how to use your company Web site to your advantage and examined trade advertising. Here is a look at a third marketing tool, one that is underused: newsletters.

There are two types of newsletters commonly used by businesses: the old-fashioned print-and-mail type and the newer electronic versions. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages. In today’s business environment, it makes sense to use newsletters as a key communication tool between your company and your stakeholders.

Advantage: Electronic Newsletters

For many reasons, consider using an electronic version over the printed kind. First, printing costs alone can run you hundreds of dollars each time you publish. Then there’s the cost of postage. Using e-mail to send your message is simply a more efficient way to do it.

Next, and possibly the best advantage to using electronic versions, you can link your newsletter articles back to specific pages or tools on your Web site. Once on your site, your customer can take a look at the entire company – your history, your products and people, everything.

Another advantage to using electronic newsletters is that many of them utilize proprietary software that enables an administrator to view statistics on how many people are opening the newsletter. The software can even track how many times the newsletter was opened (read), what articles were read and whether or not they passed it along to a colleague. This is valuable information for you to have when it comes to talking to your customers.

I spoke to several software gurus when we began editing newsletters. There is still an issue with measuring how many people open the file in “preview” mode. Overall, they said the average number of openings in “preview” mode comes to nearly 50 percent of the number who open it in a full-view mode. They pointed out that with certain software, you should be able to conduct surveys and generate feedback.

One disadvantage to using electronic newsletters is that some spam filters are so powerful that your newsletter never gets through to your customer. To combat this, I suggest you do a separate e-mailing explaining to your customer how to add your newsletter sender’s address to their “safe sender’s” list. To further combat this problem, post your current and archived newsletters on your Web site. You can direct customers to visit your site to view the newsletter with a simple e-mail using text only.

Design

I strongly recommend using a professional designer (like your Web designer) to handle the look of the newsletter. Sure, there are templates available for electronic newsletters, but most of them are boxy and are designed for family use. You are representing a professional company, and anything coming out of your office needs to look professional.

Once you settle on a design (format) for your newsletter, subsequent newsletters are easier to “publish.” But the design is all-important. It must be eye-catching to begin with. The first newsletter you send out needs to make a statement. You need some copy that is of importance so readers get involved. Graphics are a must.

Content is Key

There are many companies using newsletters, so you need to be different. Our own EGA Newsletter generally features articles on the industry, some “news” articles you won’t see in the trade publications and, as you may know, every so often I throw in my own personal comments. We also have run readers’ comments, when we feel they have something noteworthy to report.

Your own company newsletter should have news about your company, your products and your people. Your employees will get a kick out of seeing their name and photo in the newsletter. It is a way of putting a human touch on an impersonal company. Another way to keep your newsletter of interest is to have your editor write a unique article about some aspect of your business. Give your readers something they won’t see in the trade publications.

Mailing List Essentials

Another aspect of electronic newsletters you need to be aware of is when you get “kick-backs” from “bad” e-mail addresses. Sometimes, an e-mail address is simply entered incorrectly. Check and re-check your list – names and domain addresses are easily misspelled when you have a large number of people on your list. Other times, you will see that a person’s server will not allow your newsletter to go through. As we mentioned earlier, you can send a simple e-mail asking the recipient to put your address on their “safe sender’s” list, or call the person to be sure you have the right address.

Also, people will simply opt out of your newsletter. Always give them an option to opt out – it can be annoying to keep receiving mail you don’t have time to read. Set it up so they can do it directly from the newsletter (which should be linked to your e-mail address list) so you have nothing to worry about. Make sure you have an automatic response go out to them assuring them they are off the list.

If you want to see another great example of a company’s electronic message, visit www.sweetpotatoes.com and click on the Newsletter tab on top. Their newsletter is sent to nearly 400 customers and friends of the company. It is informative and easy to read and helps establish a communication link between the company and its stakeholders.

Utilizing a well-designed and well-written newsletter will help bring your customer closer to you. Any time you can reach out to your customer and make contact, you are gaining ground on your competition. Electronic or print, newsletters are an exciting way to generate interest in your company.

Marty Nicholson is a partner with Edith Garrett & Associates, a consulting firm that helps the produce industry with third-party food safety audit preparation, supplier certification, fresh-cut product development, market research, marketing and advertising strategies, Web site design and copywriting. For more information, call (828) 684-3686 or visit www.edithgarrett.com.