In the internet age, it is easy to get caught up in wanting to the do the latest and greatest thing for marketing. Compared with Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, an email newsletter can seem so old fashioned. However, it remains a powerful way to reach potential customers and referral partners.
Even with the increasing use of social media, email remains the dominant online application. There are 4 times as many emails sent each day as posts, tweets, pins, etc. combined. Nearly everyone who goes online has an email account they check regularly.
If someone accepts and opens your email, you have more of their attention than with a post or pin. That is why email remains a great way to regularly engage potential customers and partners.
Building Your Email List
The CAN-SPAM act makes it difficult to buy a list of prospects. However, this is a good thing in the long run. You need to have some type of relationship before adding someone to your email list.
Email services, such as Constant Contact and iContact, police this rather ruthlessly. You need to build your list with people with whom you already have a relationship. This can be existing customers, prospects you have had a conversation with, and potential partners. For those who do regular networking, you can also add individuals with whom you exchange business cards. However, you must communicate regularly for the contact to remain "warm." You don't want them to forget who you are before they receive an email from you.
Creating a Newsletter
Some people are overwhelmed by the idea of a newsletter. However, it does not need to be fancy. Rather than a fancy design or layout, you want to provide useful information. You want to show prospects that you are an expert in a specific area.
A good way to think about it is that you want to make "deposits" in their emotional bank account, before you ask for a "withdrawal" in the form of business or a referral. You want to give before you get.
Don't Like Writing?
In the not too distant past, it was hard to create a newsletter without decent writing skills. Now, it is easy to share videos. So, if you like talking to people more than writing, then you could use video rather than writing a newsletter. Then use email to help distribute the video.
If you want to send a newsletter to prospects and partners, and don’t want to do it yourself, I would be glad to help. We work with a number of clients to get their newsletters out each week or month. Contact us to schedule a time to talk.