e-Mail Newsletters:
5 Best Practices For Your Business
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word count for this issue: 487
• Approximate time to read: 1.9 minutes (@ 250 words per minute)

Are you thinking of creating a company newsletter or do you already have one? No matter what your situation is, you should put a little bit of a strategy behind your newsletters. This is especially important since people spend 20% of their day looking at their inbox. 

#1: Define Your Newsletter’s Goal or Purpose?

Remember, if you cannot determine a newsletter’s objective, you will never know what is working. Here are some goals/objectives of a company's newsletter (which changes everytime you send a campaign): 

* To educate someone on a particular subject?

* To showcase a client?

* To promote a new product/service?

* To announce a new salesperson or system upgrade?

* To stay top-of-mind with your prospects?

#2: Make Sure Your Content Needs To Resonate With Your Target Audience.

Sure, you can blast a generic one-size-fits-all newsletter but if your main purpose of sending one out is to say “BUY FROM ME!,” your open- and click-through rates will be below average at best.

Conversely, you are much better off saying, “Read this valuable information as it can help solve a business problem for you.” Sending relevant content will be your key to success.

#3: Always Grow And Update Your Databases.

One of the best things you can do is grow/update your marketing databases. If not, your open rates will flatten out over time. 

#4: Use Proper Formatting.

Nothing could be more boring than a white background and a wall of black text (I see it all the time). If you want to attract a reader, break up the copy with sub-headlines, bullet points, and brief paragraphs. Additionally, people read top to bottom and left to right. To help the flow of a newsletter, it’s in your best interest to add pictures, videos, and colors to engage a reader.

#5: Add A Low-Risk Offer To Help Someone Learn More.

To help a prospective buyer take the next step in the buying process, go back to my first point and remember what your goal(s) or objectives are for a newsletter. Are your goals to:

* Direct a reader to a specific page on your site? If it is, highlight a hyperlink to that page.

* Want to promote a special whitepaper or company overview? If it is, highlight a hyperlink to download that guide (or a landing page on your website).

* Want to get a client or a referral source to refer you or your business? If it is, add a one-click button that directs someone to a “refer us to a friend” page on your website.

Executive Summary: In your e-newsletters, as with all other e-mail marketing campaigns, keep your message on track. If you are yelling “BUY, BUY, BUY” or “LOOK AT THIS OFFER” you will disengage readers faster than you will engage them.