by Stacy Zemon
As a marketing tool, e-mail remains one of the most effective means of building relationships with clients and driving sales.
Most people look at everything in their in-box, even if it’s just the subject line. In fact, e-mail newsletters (or eNewsletters) have experienced a recent boom. Here’s how to make an e-mail newsletter work for your company:
Make a compelling offer: People need a good reason to add more e-mail to their overflowing in-boxes That makes the sign-up form almost as important as the newsletter itself. Clearly state what benefits subscribers can expect, such as exclusive discounts or insider planning tips.
Send often—but not too often: No business owner wants to gain a reputation as a spammer. But if you communicate too infrequently, customers may become less likely to remember your brand and less receptive to your sales pitches. For most DJ companies, sending newsletters once a month is optimal.
Choose a clean design: Be sure to include enough white space so each element of your newsletter is easy to find. If you include images in your newsletter, bear in mind that many people read e-mail with graphics turned off. If your e-mail consists of large graphics, readers will see blank space. Make sure there’s a mix of text and images.
Encourage conversation: In addition to surveys, offer subscribers regular opportunities to interact. One way to do that is by including quick polls in newsletters. You could ask subscribers to submit their wedding planning resolutions, and then link the poll to a forum on your website in which readers could post their answers.
Make the subject line count: Without an attention-grabbing subject line, subscribers may not open your e-mail. Choose a specific, succinct phrase that highlights the most crucial information in the newsletter. More subscribers will open an e-mail titled “20% Off Military Discount” than one called March Newsletter.
Don’t oversell: Though the ultimate goal of an e-mail newsletter is to boost sales, be careful that your missives don’t become a relentless bombardment of pitches. The best newsletters provide expert information that benefits readers. Of course, newsletter subscribers love deals and discounts, but don’t cram a lot of promotions into one newsletter or the deals might get lost in the shuffle. For maximum impact, focus on a single offer and highlight it at the top of the page, so that subscribers see it as soon as they open the e-mail.
Tie in blogs and social media: If you already publish a blog, there is no need to create even more content for your newsletter. A newsletter is a great way to drive traffic to your blog and your social media content. Publish excerpts of your blog posts, with links to the full content. Some e-mail marketing services offer tools that let subscribers share the newsletter with their Facebook and Twitter followers.
Keep tweaking: Open rates and clicks are the primary metrics used to determine a newsletter’s effectiveness. The open rate, the percentage of recipients who view the body of an e-mail, primarily gauges the quality of the subject line. The links clicked within the body of the e-mail are a direct indicator of what content subscribers find most compelling. Target numbers vary by company.
Do you have a great eNewsletter with high open and click through rates? Let us know the secret to your success!
Stacy Zemon - Publisher and Chief Scribe
To her credit, Stacy Zemon has spawned more professional Mobile DJ business owners than anyone in the industry — anywhere! She is widely considered a leading authority and has become a distinguished leader during the course of her extensive career as a DJ Entertainer. Stacy is author of the world’s best-selling DJ books: The Mobile DJ Handbook, The DJ Sales & Marketing Handbook and The Mobile DJ MBA, and is a longtime writer for DJ Times magazine. Her mission is to provide educational resources for DJs that support their professional growth and financial prosperity. Write to her c/o [email protected].
