Monthly Newsletters & Why You Should Send Them.

One thing that we encourage our clients to do is send out a monthly newsletter. We think that it is a great way to keep in touch with prospects and current customers. It is also an effective way to let people know about special promotions or offers that are available to them. In the current day of social media, sending out a monthly newsletter also provides a way to link everything together and provide a more unified communications strategy. If you are thinking about starting a monthly newsletter or wondering if you could stand to improve your current one, here is a list of do’s and don’ts to follow. Enjoy!

• It doesn’t really matter what time of month that you send out your newsletter but try to stick to the same week each month. It gives you a routine and your customers will come to expect to hear from you at a certain time each month.
• There are certain days of the week that are better to send out a newsletter. We would recommend Tuesday or Wednesday. Thursdays are OK but just avoid Monday and Friday for sure.
• For the time of day, try some testing. A lot of companies will send newsletters out in the morning but you may find that more people open and respond to your newsletters in the afternoon. Make sure to take into account any time zone differences between you and your customers.
• Make sure to include a link to all of your social media and blogs so that people can follow you in other ways. (Of course this goes without saying but if you aren’t using social media posts (or don’t have an active blog) or aren’t using it in a way that helps your business, don’t bother including the links.)
• Think about separating out your contact lists. You really should be sending different messaging to your current customers versus your prospective ones. It won’t take too much time to create a more custom newsletter for each audience and a more relevant message will help get response.
• Subject lines can be tricky. You want to have something short and catchy but sometimes we have found that having the same subject line works even better. For example: Bob’s Shoes May Newsletter, Bob’s Shoes June Newsletter, etc. Do some testing.
• For content, make sure that you have a nice balance. Don’t overdo it with promotions. Make sure there is some informative content, some lighter stuff and then something that makes the recipient feel special for getting your newsletter. People want to feel like they are getting unique offers and information because they signed up to get your newsletter. Don’t forget that.
• It is important to look at the data after you send out your newsletter. We would recommend waiting about 72 hours after you send your newsletter. Look at things like opens, clicks, opt-out’s and bounces. Try to get a good sense of what is “normal” for your business and watch out for any sudden drops. Those can be cause for concern.
• Oh, and one more thing. Don’t make your newsletters too long.