The Importance of Email Marketing & Newsletters

It seems that the days of handwriting letters and actually putting them in the mailbox are over. I can’t even remember the last time I received….or wrote, for that matter……a handwritten letter. Some say that’s a bad thing. Others say you can’t stop progress.

Whatever your opinion is on that subject, the fact remains that email has become a staple in everyday living of the majority of Americans. Have you noticed that you don’t receive all that much junk mail in your mailbox anymore? Instead it shows up in our email Junk Mail folder, where we can just delete it and move on. Good for the environment, in any case.

The beauty of email for business, besides the obvious ease and convenience, is that we have the potential to reach thousands of people that we might not have ever had contact with, at a fraction of the cost. We can keep in touch with our existing clients and recruit new clients with considerably less effort.

Before we go much further, let’s talk a little about SPAM. This, of course, is the digital version of junk mail. We all hate it, and we all get it. Because of the increase and annoyance of spam over the years, the federal government has implemented laws to ensure that people aren’t inundated any longer with over flowing inboxes of spam. Called The United States CAN-SPAM Act, the act was put into place in January 2004 to establish requirements for those sending out commercial emails, enforce penalties for spammers, and give consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them. There are 4 basic guidelines, but the bottom line is that you cannot provide any false or deceptive header information or subject lines, an opt-out method must be provided, and your email must be identified as an advertisement. For more information about the CAN-SPAM Act, see http://www.spamlaws.com.

While the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t specifically say that you cannot send unsolicited emails (at least not anywhere that I could find), most companies that provide the interfaces and database management for email marketing have set up their own policies where they do not allow you to send unsolicited emails. This means that the contacts you upload into their database must have already opted in to receive email communications from you. You probably already have a larger network than you realize. Gather up the email addresses of every single person you know; friends, family, clients, business associates, etc. From here on out, every single person you come in contact with is a potential recipient of your words of wisdom. You can also add to your network through Social Media outlets (Facebook, Twitter), placing a newsletter sign up on your website, etc. The list will start to grow.

So, what will you write about? This will usually stump some people for a bit. You might think that nothing you have to say could possibly interest anyone else, but I’m here to tell you, that you do! We are all more knowledgeable about something than someone else, so write about what you know and what you’re good at. If you are a whiz at fixing cars, write about the newest and greatest gizmo that you’ve found. If you are a horse training phenomenon, write about how to teach your horse to drive, or do tricks. One thing that helps me is to keep a notebook. I have pages in my notebook with lists of all the things I can write about. When an idea comes to me, it goes in the notebook. From there, I will start another page to elaborate on that idea and get an outline going. The rest just comes.

Be clear, concise and most importantly, give your reader relevant information that will help them out. Industry tricks & tips, the latest scoop, or even just a great story will keep them interested. Don’t just hit them head on with sales pitches. A good idea is to offer a small promotion in your newsletter that ties in with your key article.

Another tip – when you finally start to write content, write it in a word processing program first, rather than directly in your newsletter. This gives you the opportunity to format completely and then save it as an article for future use. There are many places you can publish your articles online, which will in turn help increase traffic to your website (more about this in a future issue……See, something else to write about!).

There are numerous services that you can use to host your email marketing campaigns. Mail Chimp, Aweber, Constant Contact and iContact are four very popular services. They offer complete database management and templates to help format your newsletter, along with autoresponders, customizable sign-up forms, and more. These companies also provide all the necessary disclaimers that should accompany your emails, along with handling the unsubscribes and bounces that will naturally occur. If you have a website, it’s a good idea to build your newsletter in the same format as your website, for consistency. This is part of your branding and recognition factor. Your website designer can help you format a newsletter that will be consistent with your site.

With all that technology has to offer us these days, and with the state of the current economy, now is a great time to take advantage of email newsletter marketing. It’s a great way to stay in touch with your current clients and to expand your client potential for a minimal effort and cost.

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