The Importance of Email Newsletters

Web design and online marketing can seem like a complicated world that is difficult to navigate on your own, and if you are a small business owner it is likely you already have a ton of different tasks already on your plate. Should you blog? How important is social media engagement and how often should you post? Is it worth it to engage in pay-per-click advertising? While most digital marketing companies can help you to navigate all of the options available to you in terms of professional online marketing services, one fairly easy and beneficial avenue to explore is to send out an email newsletter for your business.
 
Digital newsletters can be sent out weekly, monthly, every quarter or on whatever schedule you prefer and makes sense for your business. Regardless of how often you send your newsletter, consistently generating email newsletters allows you to stay in front of your subscribers and build your brand. Here are reasons you should be sending email newsletters:
 

1. Stay in Front of Your Audience
   Attention spans run short these days, and if you don’t stay in front of your target audience regularly you will get lost in the shuffle. Often people will visit a website and make a note to purchase something or review a product or service later when they have more time - then life gets in the way and they never make their way back to your website. Sending out an email newsletter reminds people that have shown interest in your business that you’re still out there.
2. Promote Sales & Specials
   Many companies feature deals or sales at least a few times a year. Perhaps your company is offering a temporary deal on one particular product or service for a limited time. The newsletter is the perfect way to make people aware of this so they can take advantage of the great deal you are offering.
3. Build Brand Trust & Differentiate Yourself
   What does your business care about and what makes you different from all of the other companies in your industry? Millennials in particular consider a company’s values when making a purchase and as such your email newsletter content should reflect your values. Some companies communicate their long-term goals through a mission statement. Your mission statement can be a slogan or a tag-line, it can be a call to action or a full paragraph, but no matter how you word it, your mission statement can hook people who otherwise may be shopping around. Make sure to include your mission statement in your email newsletters to communicate your company’s values and objectives – it just might inspire a customer to choose your company over another. Not sure how to put together a mission statement? Check out these Fortune 500 companies’ mission statements for inspiration.
4. Establish Yourself as an Industry Expert
   Not everything you put in your newsletter needs to be a sales or marketing pitch. Whether it’s in your blog or in your newsletter, it’s always a good idea to share industry news, and tie it into your own brand. By doing this you communicate with your audience that you are on top of the latest trends in your industry and establish confidence in your brand – and a good news story can hook people quickly! You can also offer advice or helpful information in your email newsletters. Offering people a solution to their problems or answering a question they may have fosters good-will and lends a nice break from the constant self-promotion that many businesses focus on.
5. Drive Traffic to Your Website. Always, always, always include a link (or more!) from your email newsletter back to your website. If people are interested in the content of the newsletter and they click through to your website, you automatically boost site traffic and hopefully sales as well! You should also include links to your business social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and others that might be relevant to the newsletter topic.

 
Now that you have some tips and tricks up your sleeve, just go with it! Use your email newsletter as an opportunity to show some personality and get people talking about your business. Make 2017 your best year yet!