Why you really need a newsletter

Email gets a bad wrap as a cesspit of ads for performance-enhancing pills and financial scams. But the reality is that most people open their email inbox before they open their social media accounts, and they see their inbox as very much a “by invitation only” space. Being asked in is a privilege and puts you a long way ahead of others trying to reach people via social media or other channels.

That makes email newsletters a powerful marketing tool, letting you showcase your talents or wares to an audience that is already receptive to your messaging since they’ve personally invited you in.

Newsletters also give you far more control over your contact list and content than social media. If a social media provider disappears then all your content and — crucially — your followers disappear with it. With an email newsletter, if your service provider disappears, you still have your mailing list and can switch pretty easily. As far as your audience is concerned, nothing has really changed.

They also provide a great deal of data about how your newsletters are being read. From how many people opened the email, when they opened it, where they were in the world, to what links they clicked. It’s by no means perfect and foolproof, but it’s enough to let you tweak your newsletter to be of more use to your audience.

Regularly providing engaging content is far more effective than flogging your latest product or service.

Doing a newsletter can seem like a daunting task, and in some ways it is. As well as the actual content, there’s the mechanics of putting the newsletter together, promoting it, tracking it and assessing its impact. Just in time to start the process over. What’s crucial is sticking with it, because it will take time to get traction and grow your audience. Given the work involved, it’s best to pick a tempo that suits your capacity — you may find a monthly newsletter works perfectly well. Although if your content is time-sensitive, you may need to publish more frequently. Whatever you settle on, here are a few other things to consider.

Three key tips for your newsletter

Ask questions

Actually, this is a good tip for any form of communication. Before you hit the keyboard, ask yourself: who is this newsletter for, and why am I writing it? In other words, who is your audience and what do you want them to do? Your audience may be your current clients and your goal is to provide analysis they’ll find useful for their business. This is a great way to burnish your reputation as a thought leader in your field. Whoever your audience is and whatever your newsletter’s goal, defining these two criteria will help you focus your content and your calls to action (see below).

Show, don't tell

Your newsletter shouldn’t be a sales pitch. Regularly providing engaging content is far more effective than flogging your latest product or service. Of course there’s room for a sales pitch, but it shouldn’t dominate. Instead, your newsletter should be showcasing why your audience should be throwing cash at you (if that’s what your goal is). So make sure there’s a real benefit for them when they open that email. It could be a short piece of pithy analysis, or some free tips to make their day easier (like how to write a newsletter), a user guide, or some industry news. All of this should lead to a clear “call to action” (CTA) that answers the “what” question above. Do you want them to read more on your website? Sign a petition? Become a member? Whatever it is, make it a clear option for them to follow. Your CTA may just be “notice how freaking awesome we are and hire us”. In which case, just make it easy for them to contact you.

Find a provider

You can’t just write an email and send it out to your 5,000 contacts. Well, you could, but your ISP would ban you pretty quickly. Instead you need to use a provider such as Mailchimp or beehive who will host and send the newsletter for you. Your mileage may vary on who is better, but they all offer similar services that will let you draft and send your newsletter and track its performance. They nearly all offer a free version that will get you started, allowing you to pay for more bells and whistles as your needs grow. When putting your newsletter together, make sure you use a responsive design — that is, one that’s automatically optimised for the device it’s being viewed on.