We’re all familiar with newsletters in our inbox. Some of these resonate really well with audiences well others fall a little…flat.
For this reason, many marketers and email senders often doubt whether they should be sending newsletters.
Today, we intend to help you decide whether sending a newsletter is for you, and what the benefits of sending a newsletter are for businesses and marketers.
Let’s begin by looking at a few reasons why newsletters are powerful digital tools to use for most marketers, and define the factors you need to consider when deciding if sending a newsletter is suited to your business and email strategy needs.
The power of newsletters for any email sender
To begin, we need to distinguish between a newsletter and a promotional email.
Yes, the two are interconnected, and can often be the same thing, but understanding the distinction between them is crucial to getting this email balance right.
The key difference between a newsletter and a sales/promotional email boils down to their primary focus: informing vs. selling.
What is a newsletter?
Most often, newsletters are regular emails focused on informing and engaging with subscribers. They provide valuable content like industry news, company updates, tips, or interesting articles, and their goal is to build relationships and brand loyalty, not necessarily drive immediate sales.
What are sales or promotional emails?
It’s pretty obvious to most, but these emails aim to directly persuade recipients to take an action, such as making a purchase, downloading a free trial, or signing up for a service. They often highlight promotions, discounts, or new product launches and their tone is more urgent and sales-oriented.
Knowing this difference helps define where to put your focus. No one enjoys being sold to all the time, which is why newsletters are a great tool to have in your client engagement arsenal.
Here are a few reasons we encourage sending newsletters for marketers and businesses:
It’s a dedicated channel
Newsletters allow businesses and individuals to directly communicate with their audience.
Unlike social media platforms or websites where your content might get lost in the noise or algorithms, emails land directly in your subscribers’ inboxes.
This is powerful for any marketers because you own the channel and ability to reach your audience directly.
It’s a relationship builder
Newsletters provide a platform for building and nurturing relationships with your audience.
By consistently delivering valuable content, you can establish trust and credibility over time, while allowing you to create a channel for your audience to provide you with feedback on their needs, wants and experiences.
It’s a traffic source
Newsletters are an effective way to drive traffic to your website, blog, or other online platforms.
The goal for any email sender is to entice action. Newsletters help drive home the reasons why action should be taken and affords senders the ability to grow traffic to their channels effectively through email.
It’s an engagement tool
Newsletters can help increase engagement with your audience.
You can encourage interaction by including calls-to-action, asking for feedback, or inviting subscribers to participate in polls or surveys. The possibilities are near endless, and you’ll also have the ability to monitor and adapt your content based on the actions of your audience.
A win-win for any marketer or business looking to build audience engagement.
It’s one of the most measurable digital channels
Most good email marketing platforms (like our expert email platform for any email sender) provide analytics and insights into your campaigns, such as open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber behaviour.
This data can help you understand what content resonates with your audience and optimise your future campaigns for better results.
Very few alternative digital channels offer this depth of tracking and insight into audience behaviour.
The value behind sending newsletters is evident – Don’t sleep on this! 😉
Deciding if newsletters are right for your business
Now that you understand the power of sending a newsletter, here are a few key factors to consider when deciding if a newsletter is the right marketing tool for your business:
Audience
Do you have a built email list? A newsletter relies on a dedicated audience who opts in to receive updates. Without a list, you won’t have anyone to send it to.
Is your audience receptive to email communication? Some demographics prefer social media or SMS. Consider how your target audience likes to be reached.
Content & Goals
Do you have valuable, ongoing content to share? Newsletters should offer interesting information, not just promotions.
Can you consistently provide fresh content that your audience will find useful? If not, you may want to strategise before starting (we can help you with this too!)
What are your marketing goals? Newsletters can nurture leads, drive website traffic, or boost brand awareness. Consider if a newsletter aligns with your overall marketing strategy.
Resources
Do you have the time and resources to create and manage a newsletter? Newsletters require planning, design, and content creation. Be realistic about your team’s capacity, and if you don’t have the capacity, then speak to us and let our expert team help you win.
Do you have an email marketing platform? You’ll need a platform to manage your list, design emails, and track results. Start with our world-class email and SMS platform here.
By considering these questions, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about whether a newsletter is a worthwhile investment.
We’d be willing to be that it’s a game-changer for your business – But don’t take our word for it, get started and if you need our help to get you going, we’re a click away!