subject: Building Effective Relationships With Your List: The Power of Newsletters [print this page] Building Effective Relationships With Your List: The Power of Newsletters
If you are looking for a way to effectively communicate with your customers and keep them up date with all your latest news then you need to consider producing a regular newsletter.A frequent newsletter sent to your list can be a great way to keep your customers informed. You can also use your newsletter to hand out advice, give tips and promote your business at the same time.
The newsletter can also contain shorter versions of articles on your site and other links to your main site or blog so it can be a very effective way indeed of getting customers to keep coming back to your site.Also as long as the content is always both relevant and informative then your newsletter will help you build up a relationship with your customers.This way you will not be seen as someone who wants to nothing more than sell at every opportunity. However when you do come to sell something to your list, then they should be even more receptive to your offer.
You can also use your newsletter to give sneak previews of a new product you are about to launch so that when it actually goes live your customers are already curious about it.
Using a newsletter as a marketing tool need not be complicated and it also need not require a lot of time or expense to create. You are the expert in your niche so you should be bursting with ideas for topics to write about.
One popular tactic can be to explore, in detail, one particular area connected with your niche each issue. That way you can share some of your own insights with your customers and help establish yourself as a true expert in your field.
If customers have sent in questions or queries to your main website you can reprint them in your newsletter; don't select answers which are specific to a particular customer but ones which would be of general interest to your customers as a whole.
Once you take the time to sit down and draw up a list of features you would like to include in the newsletter you may be surprised at just how many ideas you actually have. Don't be surprised if you are in the position of thinking what topics to leave out rather than having to scramble around for enough content to fill a newsletter.
Don't feel tempted to stray outside of your niche for content; your customers want you to focus on your area of expertise because that is why they joined your list in the first place. If your niche is classic cars' then a newsletter talking about modern new motors won't be of any interest at all.
Decide whether you are going to write the newsletter yourself or outsource it to a freelance writer. If you do it yourself them make sure you have both the time and the necessary writing skills for the job.If you are going to outsource then make sure the person doing the writing is sufficiently well briefed to produce a newsletter which your customers will enjoy.
Consider having a regular guest writer to contribute on a particular topic each month and they may be willing to do this in exchange for nothing more than a link to their own website in return.
People also love reading about other people so maybe you could turn to your own customers and tell their stories in your newsletter. You may find that many of your customers may be only too happy to have their photograph and their own story featured in your newsletter. If their story is helpful, informative or inspirational to your other customers then so much the better.
Never be tempted just to make things up or guess at any facts or statistics because doing so is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility with your audience.
Always check your facts and if you are not sure about anything then leave it out. The last thing you want is to write something and for your readers to say: "That is not true, this guy doesn't know what he is talking about!"
You will be forgiven for the odd mistake but you are less likely to be forgiven for facts you just make up or can't be bothered to check properly.
Similarly don't rehash old information you have obtained elsewhere or seen published in other magazines or online. Instead concentrate on fresh, new, informative content all the time and your customers will thank you for your efforts.
