Email newsletters are an excellent way to stay in front of your target audience. Publishing a newsletter should be considered an important piece of your marketing plan. However, it’s equally as important to keep in mind this is a more informative, less sales based piece of writing. Fill your newsletter with tips, tricks and information that can help your audience. For example, if you own a plumbing company perhaps helpful tips to avoid damage to their system. Don’t make it all about “hire me” or sales. The purpose of the newsletter is to be informative and engaging, while showcasing your business and what you have to offer to your audience. When they (or someone in their network) has a need you can assist with, you want them to think of you and your business. Utilize the steps below to show up in your audience’s inbox each month.
Step 1 ~ Use an email marketing platform to send your newsletter. There are many options available. I use MailChimp and find it fits my needs well. Using a platform versus your email account is very beneficial as you can create and send the newsletter once to all of your subscribers. You can save a template of your layout to use each time you are creating a new campaign. In addition, you are able to see valuable analytical information such as open rate, link clicks and much more.
Bonus tip ~ Email marketing platforms require that subscribers give permission or choose to opt in to receiving emails from your account. It is very important to follow this rule. Too many unsubscribes or spam reports can lead to your account being terminated.
Step 2 ~ Once the written portion of your newsletter is ready, it’s time to work on the layout, appearance and design of your content. Make your newsletter more visually appealing by including images that go along with your topic. Ensure the layout is formatted well for readability. Include your logo, brand colors and fonts and a photo of you (or your team). Have your contact information readily available. Include links to learn more, call or schedule time with you. You can also include a more personal section. I love quotes, and include a quote section in each newsletter I publish. This section can be motivational, funny, fun facts, or anything of your choosing.
Bonus tip ~ There are many options to find and download free images for your newsletter. You can also design your own in Canva. They offer both a free and paid plan, and the platform is relatively easy to use to create great designs.
Step 3 ~ Have a plan in place to consistently send your newsletter. Add the steps to your calendar to allow time to choose your topic, compose the draft, format, edit and send. Don’t send it one month, then not again for three months. You want to be consistent with this endeavor. Your audience will know when to expect to see your newsletter in their inbox.
Step 4 ~ Always work to grow your subscriber list. You can never have too many people receiving your newsletter right? This is your network. Have a subscribe button on your website. When you meet someone new, ask if you can add them to your list. When you begin work with a new client, have adding them to your subscriber list be a piece of your onboarding process. Eventually asking people to subscribe to your list will become a habit, and this is a great habit to have.
Step 5 ~ So you produced and published your newsletter to your subscribed audience. Now you can repurpose that content across all your social media platforms. You can post the full article, use pull quotes from the article to create posts, turn it into a podcast and add it as a blog post to your website. So many options to use this content multiple times.
Using these tips should help you begin or step up your email newsletter game! This is an excellent, relatively inexpensive way to grow your network. Happy writing!
