Facts & Tips - Dynamic Mail Communicator™

Newsletters

Building a successful email newsletter

Newsletters present companies with a great opportunity. When you offer your readers real value, they will reciprocate by offering you their attention and their trust. It is important to write newsletters with a view to a long-term relationship, so you should think about it as a way to serve your audience on the Internet and build a trusting relationship with them and not as a mere forum for pitching your products or services.

Developing a newsletter surely means a bit of work, but you can greatly benefit from it.

1. Be sure to offer value -- industry news items, how-to articles, analysis and commentary about your industry niche. Your e-zine will position your company as an expert in the field and will enhance its reputation.
2. Remind former visitors with brief information about new articles, products, and features on your Web site…
3. Nurture potential customers during the gestation period until they are ready to purchase or sign a contract.
4. Support existing customers with on-going information.
5. Earn revenue from paid sponsors of the newsletter.

Follow the following tips and you will be able to offer your subscribers a valuable means of communication:

1. Make a clear distinction between editorial content and advertising in the format of your newsletter.
2. Develop a thorough editorial process. Line-edit every article to eliminate typos, poor grammar, and vague and confusing passages.
3. Commit yourself to a regular publishing schedule

It is desirable that your newsletters give readers reasons to come back to your Web site, by including discounts and personalizing them. Each newsletter should include the subscriber's name, and say, "you've been a subscriber since __."

At the bottom of the newsletter, you can add some clickable links, including "Click here to send this Newsletter to a friend" and "If this Newsletter was forwarded by a friend, you can click here to subscribe."

Also, use HTML at the very least. Broadband penetration is growing exponentially. There's no reason to ignore rich media, especially when your newsletter sells higher-end products or services targeted to upper-income individuals.

Scheduling your newsletter

With the appropriate software, you have the option of delaying the start time for the sending of your messages and decide the exact time you want them delivered. To know the best time to send your promotional emails and newsletters, follow the following tips.

If your newsletter is of going to be read at work, send it on Wednesday or Thursday. If your newsletter is primarily read at home and focuses on spare-time activities, send it on Sunday.

During the holidays, people tend to be away from their computers and not check their email regularly. This means they may get your message when they return, together with a ton of other mail that has piled up during the holidays. Chances are all but the most important messages will be deleted in a rush without a second look.

This is why you should avoid sending your email marketing campaign during the months of December, January, July and August. Of course, exceptions to this rule are possible.