6 Tips For Publishing a Successful Email Newsletter
By Anna Johnson on May 17th, 2010I’m a big believer in learning from other people’s successes and failures, so my interest was piqued when I came across Bob Bly’s recent article on the reasons for why newsletters and direct mail pieces fail. Could the lessons apply to email newsletter publishers, bloggers and Internet marketers in general? You bet!
Bob Bly, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Direct Marketing (Alpha Books) and The Copywriter’s Handbook (Henry Holt & Co.) points to six reasons for why direct mail campaigns and newsletter typically fail. Let’s turn those reasons around and see if we can’t generate a list of six tips for producing a SUCCESSFUL email newsletter, blog or Internet marketing campaign.
1. Have a ‘big idea’
Ensure your email newsletter or offer has a unique selling proposition (USP), or, as I prefer, customer value proposition (CVP). Unless your publication offers something unique and beneficial to your target audience, it’s unlikely to attract readers.
2. Ensure a good ‘fit’ with your audience
Make sure you’re publishing news and information your readers care about. It can’t just be unique; it has to be meaningful and valuable to them.
3. Be indispensable
Provide newsletter or blog content that your readers can’t live without – either because it’s highly entertaining or contains must-know information. In terms or providing must-know information, this may involve publishing, for example, actionable information (information readers can immediately put into action and benefit from), helpful tools, and lists of resources.
4. Opt for hard news over soft how-to information
According to Bob Bly, providing timely news will make your publication more compelling than general how-to information. If you’re going to provide how-to information, he says, be as specific as possible, with case studies and success stories.
5. Give your readers a sufficient return on investment (ROI)
Whether you charge a hard cost (money) or a soft cost (time) you need to prove to your audience that reading your email newsletter or blog will give them a sufficient ROI.
6. Get familiar
Audiences respond more positively to newsletters or blogs from people they trust and can relate to. Says Bob Bly:
“The best newsletters often have a ‘clubby’ feel. They are written in the voice of one insider or industry member talking to another.”
On that basis, you want to become familiar to, not just with, your audience.
Source: Bob Bly, “Six Common Reasons Why Newsletters Fail,” Makepeace Total Package, April 27, 2010
