Article: Are
e-Newsletters Dead?
By Julie Friedman Bacchini
A
few years ago, e-newsletters were the latest and greatest
in Internet marketing … then there were blogs … now
it’s all about social networking sites … and
next month or next year, it will be something else.
So it’s appropriate to ask: since everybody’s
inbox is overflowing with email these days, are e-newsletters
dead? Should businesses even consider e-newsletters as
an option anymore, or are they just a waste of time?
No, e-newsletters are not dead. Far from it. E-newsletters
have always been, and will remain, a great way to communicate
with your clients and potential clients. But here is the
rub: because of email overload, your e-newsletter will
require careful planning, professional execution, and personal
respect in order to be effective. The days of “I’ll
just send out an e-newsletter and everyone will love it
and buy my products” are over and gone … if
they ever existed at all, which I doubt.
First, careful planning.
Don’t
just decide on a random Tuesday to start an e-newsletter.
If you do, I guarantee that it will be a) ineffective,
and b) short-lived. No. Every communication you send out
should be subject to careful planning. That means you should
run it through the same set of questions you apply to every
strategic business decision. For instance:
- Does this fit
my business model?
- How will this integrate with my other
marketing efforts?
- What time, money, and resources will be required
to make this a success? Am I willing to make that commitment?
- How will I define success for this venture, or
what will be a successful return on investment?
Second, professional execution.
Once you have decided that an e-newsletter could benefit
your company in quantifiable ways, it is time to pursue
implementation. And it is at that point that too many e-newsletters
fail, being unattractive, boring, and poorly written. Professional
execution requires:
- Attractive graphics. The visual appearance
of your e-newsletter is the first make-or-break test. If
it looks amateurish, it will go directly into the Deleted
folder. Only if it looks professional will it have the
chance of being read.
- Value-added content. If you are promoting your
e-newsletter as an information resource, then the information
had better be good, useful, and detailed. People do not
like getting company propaganda thinly veiled by shallow
factoids when they thought they would be getting solid
information.
- Quality writing. You can have the best content
in the world, but if the writing is poor, sloppy, or
boring, no one will read it. It is essential that your
e-newsletter be written cleanly and clearly, with appropriate
grammar, style, structure, and tone.
Third, personal respect. I want to emphasize this to the
extreme: do not abuse people with your e-newsletter. Think
of your own behavior: do you appreciate it when someone
signs you up automatically for their e-communications?
No, you do not. You consider it spam when someone does
it to you: don’t do it to them.
Instead, you need to respect your customers and potential
customers. That means that you must give them a reason
to sign up for your e-newsletter. For instance:
- Give them
a sample of the quality information they will be getting
in your e-newsletter.
- Demonstrate how your e-newsletter will save them
time because valuable information will be delivered to
them automatically.
- Show them how they can save money on products
and services that are important to them by subscribing
to your e-newsletter.
- Allow them to choose the type of information
they will receive.
Will it take longer to build your list if you aren’t
spamming people, but are instead seeking their proactive
choice and participation? Yes, it will. But the list of
people you generate will be individuals who are seriously
interested in what you have to say and in what you are
offering – they will be quality contacts, self-qualified
leads, and consistent customers. That’s your end
goal, isn’t it?
Are e-newsletters dead? No. They still remain an amazing
relationship-building tool that meets the bottom line criteria
of successful marketing: they can get the right message
to the right people at the right time.
All it takes is careful planning, professional execution,
and a healthy dose of respect.
© 2009 Julie Friedman Bacchini
Article Source: http://www.neptunemoon.com
About the Author:
© 2009 Neptune Moon
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