In the current highly digitised global environment, it goes without saying that for a business to grow, it is essential that the marketing strategy should be primarily digital. The two main action points for marketing success are, defining the goals of the business (or venture) and identifying the tools to achieve them.
Email Newsletters: Connect, Engage and Inform!
One of the most effective tools in digital marketing is the email newsletter. An email newsletter as the name suggests, is a communication sent out via email to inform prospective or existing clients of the latest updates, news, or tips about a product or service. The main aim of the newsletter is to keep customers/clients connected and informed about the latest developments in the organisation or business.
What then, one may ask, is the difference between an ordinary mail and an email newsletter. Emails that are normally sent as a part of a digital marketing strategy would include welcome emails, promotional emails, retention emails, etc. However, an email newsletter focuses on deepening a relationship by extending personal and product specific information relevant to the recipient. Building loyalty is what email newsletters do with the added advantage of being economical. No wonder around 83% of B2B marketers send email newsletters as part of their digital marketing strategy.
The Prominence of Email Newsletters
In fact, there is an unwritten 10/90 rule where email newsletters are concerned. Only 10% of the content is devoted to push marketing wherein services and products are promoted to prospective or existing customers. 90% of the content concentrates on maintaining ongoing connections with the existing customer database. The frequency of sending these newsletters may be weekly, monthly or quarterly depending on the goals and activities of the business entity. Retail email senders normally focus on a product or service while email newsletters contain articles relevant to the recipient’s lifestyles with the broader goal of strengthening customer relationship
Why Are Email Newsletters Effective?
There are many reasons which point to the efficacy of including email newsletters as a part of one’s digital marketing strategy. The coverage that newsletters provide is phenomenal as the percentage of people using emails is huge. Given the fact that almost everyone owns a smartphone, these days only enhance this feature. As a marketing tool for engaging with clients, they are highly effective as the ROI is extremely high. Personalisation by way of meeting the needs of different people and social groups is met. They increase the credibility of the business entity by sharing ongoing internal developments, thus enhancing transparency. The bottom line is that a more genuine customer relationship develops.
Drafting Email Newsletters: Important Tips to Keep in Mind
The importance of the email newsletter as a digital marketing instrument lies in its content. The subject line should be engaging enough for the recipient to want to open the mail. Fun, suspense and cliffhangers need to be inserted in the subject line. The content should elicit action from the receiver. It is also important that the subscriber be segmented.
The biggest demon that threatens Email Newsletters is the delete button! So as a corollary to help email newsletters fight their nemesis, they should invariably be useful, timely, newsworthy, contain special offers, promotions or freebies and the content must be personalised and tailor-made.
Considering all of the above, it is needless to say that a digital marketing strategy would be more effective if it has large doses of strategically sent email newsletters!