What Is The Purpose of Using a Newsletter?
As we live in the digital era, businesses must rely on creating effective content strategies. One of the most popular ways to do so is by publishing content on all sorts of social media platforms. Companies flock to it, and that with good reason. After all, chances are, you hardly know anyone that doesn’t have a social media account. Most of us use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, almost on a daily basis, and that’s exactly why companies put such an emphasis on social media marketing. Everybody is there.
However, with all the focus that is directed to social media, many businesses end up neglecting one crucial online marketing tool, and that’s the email newsletter. Most likely because they don’t realize what the purpose of a newsletter actually is. They think that users are far less likely to spend time checking their email than browsing social media accounts. And that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, around 91% of U.S consumers use their emails on a daily basis.
And still, companies overlook this marketing strategy due to one reason. They don’t really know what it is good for. And that’s what we are going to talk about today. We are going to find out what is the purpose of a newsletter.
The Uses Of A Newsletter
1. Building Long-Lasting Relationships With The Customer
As opposed to social media platforms, where people are constantly bombarded with a large number of flashy ads which are most likely to be ignored, newsletters do something different. They do not focus on catching the user’s attention. They rely on actually creating informative content, more like blog posts than just ads, that offer valuable information to the users.
With that being said, users will not be seeing you just as a pushy marketer, but more like a friend. It helps create more of a personal connection with your audience. Therefore you will earn their trust more easily, assuring a long-lasting relationship with them.
2. It Raises Brand Awareness
Customers may not gain a full understanding of what your company is, what it does, and what it sells just by viewing some of your ads on social media or by receiving promotional emails here and there.
Newsletters allow you to have a more in-detail explanation of what we’ve just mentioned. By letting users have a good grasp on what your company is all about, you are more likely to earn their trust. Besides, you could always encourage users to find out more by including links to your website, therefore boosting traffic.
3. Promotion
One more thing that newsletters are especially good at, is that they run well alongside other promotional campaigns. For example, you could write an in-detail article about a product that just launched, raising the chances of the user to actually buy the product.
Not only that, but you can also run special offers exclusive to readers, therefore enhancing the value the users get from the newsletter. You’ll also give people another reason to sign up for the newsletter.
So, what is the purpose of a newsletter? Well, the answer is that it depends on what type of newsletter you will use. There are multiple formats, each one having its own objective. So, let’s take a look and get a better understanding of the types of newsletters we can use.
4 Types Of Newsletters
1. The Standard Newsletter
As the name suggests, this is one of the most common newsletters. Companies use this format mostly for providing news and updates to their users about their product. In other words, standard newsletter is used to keep customers informed on what the company is up to, and to maintain a close connection between the client and the business.
2. The Triggered Newsletter
The triggered newsletter comes in the form of an automated message that gets sent whenever a certain event occurs. Such as when you first signed up for it, birthdays, or holidays. They also serve the role of a friendly reminder. Therefore, triggered newsletters are mostly used to establish a personal connection with the user.
3. The Promotional Newsletter
You’re most likely used to this type of newsletter. As you might have guessed, companies use this newsletter to complement other promotional campaigns, in order to further promote their products, and increase the chances of you ending up buying them.
4. The Reengagement Newsletter
Reengagement newsletters are used to reestablish contact with a user that is no longer interested in the company. They act more like a reminder. Companies use this type of newsletter so they won’t completely disappear from your radar, and potentially spark your interest again.
Now that we’ve learned more about what the purpose of a newsletter is you might be considering creating one for your company. So how do you do it, exactly?
How To Start a Newsletter
1. The Goals
The first step you have to take is to figure out what you want your newsletter to accomplish and how it will benefit your business.
As we’ve previously mentioned, newsletters are used to:
- Build trust with the audience,
- Establish long-lasting relationships,
- Get more traffic to your blog or website, to further promote your products,
- Provide a sense of exclusivity to your subscribers, by offering them special discounts, or by providing them with certain sneak-peeks of the product development.
Now, a newsletter doesn’t have to accomplish all of these goals at once. You basically have to focus on one that suits your business model the best. For example, a bookstore might focus on providing users with short resumes of the books they sell through the newsletter. That way, they can keep the customers engaged and also promote their products.
Whereas, other businesses may offer bits of content that are explained in more detail on their blogs, or website. Meaning that for them, the newsletter has the goal of generating more traffic on their website.
Now, you also need to keep in mind that your goals have to be aligned with what your readers may want from your newsletter. This, of course, depends on the type of business you’re running. Some readers might subscribe to your newsletter to get discount codes or hear about new products before anyone else. This works best for shops or manufacturing businesses.
Other readers may want to get educated, inspired, or entertained by your content, therefore blogs suit them the best. Establishing the goal will also define what the purpose of your newsletter actually is.
2. The Consistency
The next thing you might be curious about is how often should you send a newsletter. Well, that depends on the type of audience you have. You need to find a sweet-spot. But keep in mind to not post less than once a month, or more than once a week. Otherwise, people will either forget about you or get annoyed by you. One more thing you have to know about. The time of day you send your content matters too.
This entirely depends on your audience. For example, employees will most likely check their email before, or after work, whereas businessmen will open their inboxes throughout the day.
3. The Content
Now, if you’ve figured out what your newsletter should accomplish, you probably have a general idea of what kind of content it should include. But there are still a few things to keep in mind.
Remember to make your content short, and easy to read, and provide a link with a more in-detail article to your website. Users rarely plan to spend a lot of time in their emails, Therefore, they will most likely just skim-over through your email. Also, make the subject lines in a way so it grabs the user’s attention.
Conclusion
Now that we found out what the purpose of a newsletter is, you hopefully understand the importance of having one as well. Its major advantage is that it grants you the ability to create long-lasting relationships with your customers, something that social media platforms can’t really do.
Social media ads seem a bit too flashy and pushy nowadays. And users typically get to ignore them. So keep in mind that, when creating a newsletter, try not to appear as the pushy salesman we are all used to, but more as a friend.
Offer content that gives value to the user, such as tips on how to use and maintain the products you sell, coupon codes, or something that people who aren’t subscribed to your newsletter won’t be able to take advantage of.
Also, keep in mind to align the goals of your newsletter with what the reader wants to achieve from it. And remember to post regularly, not too often, but not too rarely either. Also, the time of day you post depends on what type of audience you have. And finally, make your content easy to read, and create a short yet catchy subject line in order to catch the reader’s attention more easily.
