You need a newsletter, it’s that simple. Regardless of your business you’ll benefit from having a newsletter.
We’ll cover how to set up a newsletter later in this article, but first we’ll elaborate on why you need a newsletter.
We all know that customer retention is important. It’s cheaper to keep a customer than it is to try and get new ones. Newsletters are all about customer retention and loyalty by keeping your business front of mind with regular interaction from your brand.
While loyalty and retention are are the big parts of a newsletter, they’re also an opportunity to communicate important updates and promotions to your customers.
Furthermore, since organic reach on Facebook is declining, newsletters are a cheap way to communicate with your customers.
Basically, a newsletter is an inexpensive way to interact with your customers and keep your brand front of mind.
How Do I Start A Newsletter?
While there’s tons of newsletter software out there we recommend Mailchimp for getting started. Mailchimp is free for your first 2,000 contacts and pretty functional without having to spend anything. It’s also easy to use.
So how do you start a newsletter? Simple, sign up for Mailchimp, make a template, and get going.
Of course you also need contacts to send your newsletter to. There’s a lot of ways to get newsletter subscribers:
- Sign up existing customers – just ask them first
- Put a newsletter sign up form on your blog sidebar
- Make a popup on your site that pops up when people go to leave your site
Although people usually hate popups, we’ve found the popup on exit trick works very well. According to Sumo, the average popup conversion rate is 3.09%, but it can vary greatly depending on context, website, and other factors. While your business may not have as much success with exit popups, it’s a good place to start.
Once you start getting subscribers to your newsletter, you then need newsletter content. This is where a general content marketing strategy comes in.
What Should I Put In My Newsletter?
If you have a wider digital marketing strategy you’ll easily find things to fill your newsletter with.
If you’re already blogging regularly, putting a few blog articles in your newsletter is a good start. They’re also a good way to give value to customers; saying “buy stuff now!” is not always affective.
General updates are also good for a newsletter. Perhaps you have new seasonal products to update your customers on. Or if you’re in a more service oriented business there are regular reminders to give your customers; for example quarterly bookkeeping reminders from accountants.
Promotions also work well in newsletters, but there’s no need to overdue it. Perhaps there’s a quiet period in your industry and you may want to run a promotion in your newsletter during this time, or you need to get rid of a product quickly.
However you go about it, a newsletter will likely benefit your business. If you need help getting started or just need a copywriter for your newsletter, feel free to get in touch. We’re happy to help.
