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E-Marketing Smackdown: Blog vs. E-Letter
 There's a question we get a lot from the solopreneurs and small biz owners we work with: If I only have time to do one, which is better-a blog or an e-letter?
At first glance they seem so similar, blogs and e-letters. Both can help you get the word out about your products or services-at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing tools. Both educate, inform, and establish your credibility with your readers, who will hopefully become your customers.
Yet there are important differences.
Two valuable tools
Simply put, a blog is a regularly updated website with a bonus benefit: the ability to start a conversation with your customers. Blogs help you show your stuff and stay in touch with the needs and problems of your audience. But your readers-except for those who are in love with your posts and subscribe- must go to your site to get the content you produce.
An e-letter is a newsletter sent out regularly by e-mail to a list of people. It can contain "evergreen" articles with advice that never goes out of style, or news of upcoming events, or both. Because your subscribers have chosen to receive your e-letter, they are great leads for follow-up marketing and sales messages.
Which is better: a blog or an e-letter?
Actually, there is no better one. It's all about the goals you've set. Consider:
· What's your end goal?: What do you want to accomplish? If it's to brand your business, build credibility, and drive traffic to your website, a blog works well. (Some bloggers actually do direct selling through their blog, but most don't.) But if you want to develop a list of qualified buyers, in order to eventually sell to them, an e-letter will move your readers nicely along the path to purchase.
· How easy (or hard) is the technical set-up?: A blog is relatively easy to set up. E-letters can be trickier if you want a template with some flair. Once set up, though, both are easy to maintain. Except for the graphic or photo, new text can just be popped in once the template is created. And most blogging platforms make it very easy to post your content.
· How much time can you spend on maintenance?: The answer to this question will depend on how often you publish. Depending on length and frequency, an e-letter could take more time than a blog. On the other hand, if it's just a one-pager every other week or once a month, it's probably easier. But remember with an e-letter, you need to take time to think through your content and be sure it's concise and well-written because you are writing to your best prospects.
A blog might seem easier to write. But to attract readers and build an audience, you will need to spend some time commenting on other blogs in your field and using other strategies to drive traffic back to your own blog.
At Cat's Eye Marketing, we publish two blogs and an e-letter. Each serves its own purpose. We promote each in the other, so blog readers become e-letter subscribers and vice versa. A blog post takes me about a half-hour-that's after I think of the idea, write the headline and outline the major points. An e-letter takes me a little longer, 45 minutes to an hour.
It's up to you. Use one. Use the other. Or combine them for a powerful e-marketing strategy. |
