Why Isn’t Your Firm Using a Newsletter?
With all the attention on social media, there’s a tendency to forget tried and true marketing strategies — like Newsletters. Newsletters should support the rest of your online, email, and social media strategies. Let’s take a look at why your firm should be using a newsletter, at least every quarter.
Newsletters build influence and encourage reciprocity
During apprentice training this past week, each apprentice reviewed a chapter of Influence, Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini with special attention to how Cialdini style influence applies in the age of social networks. A thread going through much of the book is that the norm of reciprocity is both universal and strong.
If you give someone something, they feel like they need to give you something back. Using a newsletter to provide valuable information, support, and assistance to readers creates an obligation tor them to reciprocate in some way. This lowers the threshold in sharing your message because it gives readers an easy way to pay back for the valuable information your provided.
Newsletters Build Authority
A second aspect making newsletters important for your business is that newsletters build authority. Cialdini also points to the role of authority in building Influence. Again, the relationship between authority and influence is widespread — its a function of our training almost from birth.
How to Create Newsletters the Build Influence
- Build a list through visitors to your website, your retail store, and your social media connections.
- Remember, to get an opt-in before sending the newsletter. Each copy of the newsletter should include instructions for opting-out of future newsletters. This is a little thing, but it creates a lot of goodwill among readers.
- You can also distribute the newsletter through your store.
- Generate content YOUR READERS will find valuable. Keep self-promotion to a minimum in this content and celebrate readers, their needs, and them. You can highlight readers in the newsletter. In fact, create a contest to get your picture of your story in the newsletter as a means of building your list and spreading the word about your company. Think about using your newsletter to promote a cause your readers find worthwhile. Try to include content that’s not available in other places rather than just re-purpose existing content — although its OK to include some popular posts in your newsletter.
- Be constant. Distribute the newsletter on a regular schedule and publish a calendar so readers begin anticipating the next newsletter.
- If your newsletter is electronic, it should be embedded in the email rather than requiring readers to open an attachment. This increases readership significantly.
- Electronic newsletters should contain social share buttons to encourage sharing with social networks.
- When newsletters are released, share them on social networks and on your website.
Good Luck. Ideas? Share how you’re using newsletters to promote your business.
Not only do newsletters build influence, encourage reprocity, and build authority, they also have other advantages that can result in the true success of marketing your business. Newsletters provide time saving strategies that can generate a focused marketing style. There are steps that need to be taken to produce an effective newsletter. Format is a must! Using sample templates will help the readers understand the content more than changing the format each time your newsletter is distributed. The content of the newsletter must be in simple, readable terms to gain acceptance from your readers. Conversion rates will increase if the format is appealing to the reader. Online newsletters have the advantages of utilizing permission marketing tactic that will allow businesses to access a larger target audience with little effort. It also allows the use of repetitive advertisement, with your newsletter constantly in their emails or a place that your customer visits frequently they will continue to see the company’s name and instill it into their memory so when the time comes where a customer needs a product they will remember your brand.
Angela,
I read a disturbing stat the other day that said less than 30% or web users used rss.
Makes you wonder if you should be sending your blog posts as emails.
I read the same stat, which is what motivated this post. Thanks for making the connection.
In my experience as a web professional, I have a tendency of asking my clients these type of questions. Most of the time, my clients have no idea what an rss is for and how to use it. I estimate 7 out of 10 would not know what an rss feed is used for. The same goes for ssl certificates!
I agree with IG… people just don’t care much for it