Do you ever get the feeling that you send out your newsletter into a dark, black void? That you take the time to put words together and then….nothing happens?
Unfortunately, you might not be wrong.
Why your Newsletter Stinks
In order for people to care about your newsletter, it needs to offer them something. While you may be sure that it does, if your open rates are low and you never get any calls about your newsletter, you might not be giving people a reason to care.
Here are the things people care about:
1. Discounts and Free Stuff You may be surprised to learn this but people love free stuff. They also love saving money. If they know that your newsletter regularly includes ways to get or earn free things or periodic discounts, they’re much more likely to have a reason to open them.
2. Exclusive Offerings Maybe these things aren’t free or cheap but if people can only get them through reading your newsletter, chances are they’ll open your newsletter and read to learn more. So, let’s imagine you sell pens. At the holidays, you put out a Christmas pen and a Hanukkah pen. Maybe your newsletter can include an exclusive snowman pen available only to newsletter subscribers. People love to be “insiders”.
3. Useful, actionable insights If you’re using your newsletter to sell like this: “I tried this great new product and I loved it. Buy it from me now!”, it’s unlikely people will care a whole lot. Especially if they’re trying to save money, unsubscribing from your list could shoot to the top of their to do list. On the other hand, if every time they open your newsletter they learn something that they can immediately put to good use, they’re likely to keep opening. In addition, if the things you suggest work, it means they begin to trust you as an expert in your field. Then, when you try to sell them something, they’re a whole lot more likely to care.
If you’re going to send out a newsletter on a periodic basis, you may as well take the time to make it worthwhile. If your customers don’t open your newsletter and read it, it’s largely worthless to you. Give your customers a reason to open your newsletter regularly and you’ll find it’s time well spent.
This post couldn’t be more timely. My email marketing is non-existent and I just wasn’t grasping what information that would be included outside of the posts themselves. It all seemed redundant but you definitely gave me some new perspective and its time to up my game. I am in the process of redesigning/rebranding so it perfect timing to take it all to the next level.
I’m so glad the timing worked out the way it did!