Turn Your Business Newsletter Into a Powerful Asset…
People Read What Interests Them. Be Engaging.
Your business newsletter can be your most powerful asset. Most likely, it is under-utilized as a selling and communication tool at the moment. Your readers have signed up for it and they are a captured audience. But only if you don’t abuse their trust.
Your Business Newsletter Shouldn’t Sell All The Time.
It’s a balance between providing a useful/engaging resource that holds the reader’s attention, and the knotty problem of selling. Too much selling and readers unsubscribe, too little and your bottom line suffers.
Striking this balance is up to you. Take a look at what you are producing from your own perspective. Is the information contained in your newsletter useful to you? Do you find it useful in your daily routine? Does it connect on a personal and emotional level? If so, excellent. If not get a friend or family member to give you their honest opinion. You need to entertain.
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
Author Dau Voire
Make Your Writing Conversational.
Your business is building a relationship with your customer (or potential customer). It’s a conversation. You wouldn’t stand in front of them demanding they buy all the time. You need to bait the hook, and build trust. If they trust you, have followed you, and are entertained by you. They will buy from you at some point. People don’t recommend or purchase stuff they don’t believe in first. People buy from people they trust and have a relationship with.
If you do a good job they will buy. If you do an excellent job they will buy and recommend it to a friend.
On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy
David Ogilvy (Advertising Guru)
Give Your Newsletter Subject line The Writing Time It Deserves.
Think about your subject line in context. Your prospect is quickly scanning lots of email subject lines. How will you make yours stand out to them?
One way to do this is to stimulate their curiosity We are all curious. The brain is hardwired to seek out the new and different and to discover the interesting. Also think about that age-old question we all ask ourselves: what’s in it for me?
We all have our own self-interest at heart, what problem do they have? How can you solve it? What’s the benefit you can offer them? Then write your headline with all this in mind.
Everyone’s Busy. Be Concise.
We are all very busy, relaxing, working, emailing, texting and being social online. People don’t have time and when they do it’s very short. So your communication should be either:
- Useful
- Beneficial
- Witty
- Concise
Or all of these things. Attention and time are valuable to us all. You should send out your communications regularly on the same day and at the same time. Once a week is a reasonable place to start. If readers expect it, and you don’t bother them too often hopefully they won’t unsubscribe.
A Minimal Design Will Emphasise The Text.
There’s a phrase used in the design industry called KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). The less cluttered you make your design the easier it’ll be to see the important information. People don’t like to work hard to see what you are saying/selling. Make it easy for them. Adding plenty of white space will create a visual breather and make your design appear less cluttered. If you are struggling with the layout, commission a designer to help. If you fancy having a go yourself I’d recommend Mailchimp. It has a drag and drop layout system that’s easy to get your head around. But you’ll still need a good eye for design.
If your email is selling make this obvious at the start, so as not to waste your reader’s time and annoy them.
The Uniqueness of Your Business Newsletter is its Best Asset.
If you are just starting your business newsletter, start by sharing. But at some point, you need to create your own content. Research is critical. Start following people and companies that appeal to you. Chances are they will appeal to your audience, as like attracts like. Also, research your articles, and use online references or books and magazines. Be sure to be as diverse as possible. If others have the same reference points as you, this will take away from your uniqueness.
Personality, Persistence, Profit.
If you are only selling watches. And you only talk about watches. This will get boring. It’s OK to have an opinion on a subject other than watches. Talk about entrepreneurs you admire, music or films you like. It’s OK to digress a bit. It will reveal your personality and make you more approachable and human. Write as you would talk. If you find this difficult, record yourself talking and type it up afterwards.
Be emotional. Emotion is healthy. People find it addictive in small doses. It’s why TV soaps are so popular. Also, it’s OK to have an opinion and express it. Not everyone will agree with you but that’s OK. It’s good to have a healthy debate.
Don’t expect to receive if you’re not willing to give.
Reciprocity Rules.
If someone is kind to us we want to reward them. This is human nature. Try to give your readers something useful. This could be a free sample, a video, some music or a PDF you have created. They will then feel obliged to reciprocate.
Experiment Like a Mad Professor.
Try out different subjects. Business newsletters can be sent at various times of the day, on a variety of days, and with different frequencies. Split your audience and try two different subject lines. This won’t cost you anything other than time and some unsubscribers. But this feedback loop will be so valuable going forward. Thanks for reading.