10 good reasons to move your newsletter from print to email
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 8:49AM
This week's Journal entry has been kindly submitted to manage my website by denise cox, Newsletter Specialist at Newsweaver, Europe's leading email newsletter software provider.
denise has been involved in email marketing for over ten years. She also publishes 'The Business of Email' newsletter and award-winning blog, “email matters!” .
If your company is considering moving the company newsletter from print to email, here’s a list of benefits to be reaped from that move.
Email remains an extremely popular choice for receiving communications
A recent Stanford University study found 90% of the 4,000 participants said email was their No. 1 activity on the internet. It also is a top communication channel choice for opt-in subscribers and customers to receive regular communications from companies.
Your publishing costs will be slashed and lead times shortened
Long lead times, printing and postal costs will all dwindle when you move to email. You’ll also be able to insert important news right up to the day you send. Do not make the mistake of sending more communications to your audience because it is now a ‘cheaper’ way of communicating with them then it was in print. Yes it is cost effective, but email marketing must be handled carefully or you will hurt your company’s brand and recipient relationships. “Nurture don’t numb” - it’s not about volume, it’s about building valuable relationships with your subscribers.
Email newsletters excel at customer retention
In this day and age anyone can find anything cheaper and faster on the internet, making customer retention all the more important. Retaining customers helps your bottom line: the 2005 Harvard Business Review stated that cutting customer defections by just 5% can boost profits between 25% - 95%. Email newsletters allow you to remain front of mind. Aside from offering value, such as helping them maximise their investment in your products and services, it’s also a great medium for cross selling and up selling.
Email newsletters can be a powerful acquisition tool
Using email as an acquisition tool will only work if you adopt a “quality not quantity” attitude. Rather than finding as many new email addresses as possible to email, you should spend time and budget getting qualified targeted prospects. It is also important to understand the life cycle of your products and services, and then the purchase life cycle of your prospects. This will help you set the timing and frequency of your emails, which will facilitate turning prospects into customers.
You can customise the content of each newsletter
By using segmentation you can personalise the content of your newsletter. Personalisation will be based on existing data in your customer’s profile and on past behaviour. Even if you don’t have this depth of detail, there are still ways to begin providing personalised relevant content to subscribers. For example, you could segment by customer and prospect. You then send both lists the same newsletter, but with a different subject line featuring content within the newsletter that will interest the two different groups.
Email newsletters are a top ROI tool for your website
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen says email newsletters offer good Return on Investment (ROI) because they let you maintain a relationship with your customer that lasts beyond their visits to your web site. It’s also a great way to attract new opt-in subscribers who are searching online for products and services that your company provides.
Email newsletters are easy to pass along (or print off)
Email newsletters have a life beyond the recipient’s inbox. Subscribers can easily forward a copy of your newsletter to someone else, while retaining their own copy. They can also choose to make a print edition of the newsletter if they’d like.
You can easily and quickly test anything in your newsletter
The world of testing is your oyster with email – you can test subject lines, offers, calls to action, or time and day of send to see what works best. You can do all this before you do your full send.
Your newsletters will now be measurable
You will now have access to an array of statistical information and insight into recipient behaviour – identified opens, who clicked on what, who converted with what calls to action, among many other measurements.
Email allows your newsletters to be Timely, Targeted and Relevant
These are the three key elements to your success. Email gives you the facility to send newsletters to the right recipient, at the time most convenient to them, offering content that matters to them.
If you'd like more information about making the switch from print to email, contact manage my website
Reader Comments (2)
Good article, thank you.
Brilliant Article