Your newsletter should not be your only email communication

Some people think newsletters is all that is to be done with email marketing. Maybe a subscription comfirmation email, but that’s it. Why on earth would anyone want more / different emails, looking at it from a subscriber’s point? Why would any marketer want more email campaigns and types to manage?
For one thing, email is one of the most effective marketing channels on the planet. Despite Google+ opening up for businesses in a few weeks, it will cost you a lot more effort to earn money from that channel than from email. The same goes for social media as a whole (sorry, social media experts).
Why is that? Is email really that effective? Yes, email is patient and loved by many. Even though Facebook touts its active user base now at 750 million it will still be difficult for your company to make money there. The reason for this is that Facebook is not your home ground. Competitors can advertise on your Facebook pages, for instance. Costly marketing money lost there.
However the email space and your website is yours. Precious space and time to be filled with as much communication you as a marketer can master and the subscriber can handle. Here’s some tips and pointers:
– Updates on subscriber status: when someone changes their profile, send them a confirmation email: simple and straightforward, just to let them check their data on correctness, and for you to have another promotional moment.
– Separate product updates. A newsletter is fine, but when you know which subscribers are using what product or service, you can be relevant in your communications: send out special product updates on new versions, demos, trainings, documentations etc.
– Event notifications: when is your next client / partner / prospects event? Don’t have one? Why not? Gathering 20 to 50 prospects in a single room to show off your product is an amazing lead tool and conversation starter. You’ll be top of mind (when executed correct, of course) with a positive vibe for the next few days, which will help to spread the word. Same goes for client and partner events: to really connect and show stuff is worth so much, face to face beats all other forms of communication including email.
– Client surveys: what do the people that pay your salary think of you? Send this out periodically and share the results: anyone and everyone wants to know whether they fall in the big mass part of the results or are some of the outsiders when it comes to the answers.
– Updates on your community: blog posts, community achievements, client feedback, quotes, news from other companies that share your passion… you get the picture.
By doing all this you can offer a nice continuous stream (without flooding, of course) of emails to subscribers, to keep life a bit varied and interesting. Don’t forget to make a publishing calendar as well to have everyone know what’s coming up in the next days and weeks. Nothing makes people more ashamed as being called by a client and the client talking about new stuff sent out by the marketing department and the employee not knowing about that communication.

efficiency, newsletter