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Content Marketing with E-Newsletters:
5 Ways to Find Subscribers Who Are Ready to Buy
Bob and I teach a Marketing with E-Newsletters class in Seattle and other Puget Sound cities. One of the most frequent questions we get is, "Can I use my e-letter to sell my products and services?"
First of all, whether you are running a short-term e-mail campaign or offering a longer-term, content-rich e-letter, keep in mind that the new email marketing focuses on relationships. With an e-letter in particular, you need to show your subscriber that you value her. That you respect her. She doesn't want to be a market. And she certainly doesn't like being "targeted."
So can you still sell to your subscribers? Absolutely. As long as you recognize that they are at different stages in the engagement process. Some have received only their first issue while others may have been opening and reading your weekly content for six months. If you include offers from time to time and let your subscribers opt in for more information, you'll be giving the people who are ready to buy an avenue to do so.
5 Ways to Find Subscribers Who Are Ready to Buy
1. Offer a special for newsletter subscribers only. Write a short promotion, targeted and relevant to a topic in that specific e-letter issue. You'll be surprised how often you hit a subscriber who has been pondering that very problem. The sidebar area of your letter is a good place for this. You can even include a link to a landing or website page.
2. Give something away free occasionally. Everyone likes a special, no-strings-attached gift every once in a while. Like a short tip sheet or a link to a resource on the web. Your readers remember things like that.
3. Offer choices and open up new opt-in streams. Maybe you have some specials going on over a one- or two-week period. Give your subscribers a chance to self-select and, depending on their interest, to opt in to receiving periodic emails-or not.
4.Consider trigger e-mails (with care). These are brief e-mails that recognize "trigger" events for your subscribers. A birthday, for example. But be careful with this because you do not want your readers to feel that you are tracking their every move. Don't make your email scary by telling someone you've been observing them. ("I noticed you clicked on the special offer link, but didn't buy.) Nobody likes Big Brother.
5. Offer something in exchange for permission to receive extra offers. Reward the subscriber who chooses to receive additional email messages from you. Offer something of additional value to that list of subscribers only.
If you are in the Seattle-King County area, consider joining Bob and me on April 16 for our Biznik workshop, "Marketing with E-Newsletters: Give Your Readers What They Want." The best part is it's free!
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