SMEs Embracing the Newsletter to Drive Up Sales

Businesses, big and small, are re-evaluating their use of social media, no longer prioritising social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and returning to the good old-fashioned e-newsletter as the primary method of communicating with customers.

Social media platforms are busy places and there is growing recognition that you have to fight to be seen, something backed up by research showing that consumers are less engaged with publishers on social media platforms than had been assumed.

Competition for ad space has grown, pushing up prices, and platform algorithms have led to business posts being naturally included in people's feeds as little as five percent of the time.

As a result more and more businesses are turning their focus back onto their mailing lists and electronic newsletters, and it is paying off, with some businesses reporting 60% plus opening rates.

The reappraisal of the newsletter has been driven by a few different factors, from audiences’ desire for a finite regular source of content amid the endless feeds of information, to improvements in newsletter technology helping you target your content.

Given the benefits of an email newsletter that caters to an engaged audience, and the relatively low costs associated with running one, it’s small wonder that so many businesses are attracted to the model.

Making Your Newsletter Work For You

Your newsletter is a direct link to someone who has already said they want to know more - you really are already more than halfway there!

Publish regularly, a news roundup at the start or end of the week or month has been shown to strengthen relationships between businesses and customers - an audience habituated to a branded email in their inbox is a more engaged – and therefore a more valuable audience.

Personalise content, tailor articles to suit the needs of the reader, when customers sign up to your newsletter get them to say what they are interested in (in applications such as MailChimp you can offer a tick box list of areas of interest) and only send them emails about those topics - you only need to receive one or two emails that says nothing to you personally to disengage with a brand.

A study last year from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that newsletters whose contents had been personalised by the reader enjoyed almost double the open rate of a more generic email, the contents of which had been dictated by an editor.

Some of the best email newsletters contain original editorial content, not simply repackaged copy from the article to which they link. Include explanations as to why the articles that are curated within the newsletter are of interest to the audience.

Popular newsletters offer an antidote to the constant churn of content and avoid simply pushing products.  They are about building a relationship with your customer, having the sort of conversations you might have had across the counter in your store in days gone by, that build trust and loyalty, which in turn lead to sales. 

It Works!

One of the most prominent – and most successful email newsletters at the time of writing is The New York Times’ Morning Briefing, which has been celebrated for its open rate of between 50 and 60%. Crucially, the newsletter also acts in support of the Times’ subscription model, with subscribers to Times’s free newsletter twice as likely to become paying subscribers as the general public.

Don't Stop There...

Don't be complacent, use every opportunity you can to build your mailing list, sign up sheets and tablets at events, invitations to sign up via other social media outlets and your own website - yes you want to get sales from your activities outside of your mailing list, but get a customer on that list and you will be able to carry the conversation on for even longer!