Does a newsletter make sense for my company? A valid question. After all, you definitely have enough to do and don’t want to put more work on yourself than necessary.
To answer this question, we take a step back. You have a website that will hopefully be found well in search engines. Let internet user googles for something comes to your website and is then gone again. Very few people take action the first time they visit a new website and get in touch. You also have no way to get in touch with your website visitors unless they subscribe to your newsletter. Tada…
So the newsletter is your only way to get in touch with visitors to your website. That alone reasons enough for everyone to have a newsletter. But there are also other advantages.
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Advantages of Newsletter on the Website
- No wastage: People who subscribe to your newsletter are definitely interested in your topic and are looking for a solution.
- Regular contact strengthens loyalty and trust. It takes about 7 contacts before someone is ready to contact you.
- Inexpensive compared to other marketing activities
- Little effort for creating newsletters, because you can, for example, share blog articles, point out actions, etc.
- You always get prospective customers to return to your website. This will, in turn, get traffic to your website and increase your chances of making purchases.
- Dialogue option: Readers can reply directly to your emails and contact you.
- Automation option: You can prescribe emails and they are sent, for example, as an email welcome sequence to every subscriber. This way he gets interesting information and strengthens trust in you. You only had one effort with it.
- You can write to people who have registered in your newsletter. You are not allowed to find email addresses yourself and write to people. Sending an email with your offer without being asked is not allowed and can be warned.
Disadvantages of Newsletters
There are hardly any disadvantages because the advantages clearly outweigh them. Disadvantages could be:
- Partly low opening rate: Not every newsletter is read. Especially if someone has subscribed to many newsletters.
- Time: a newsletter must also be written. Even if you can keep the effort low if you do it skillfully.
- Little success if the content is not interesting for readers and offers no added value.
- If you offer something that your readers urgently need, a newsletter is usually not worth it. Because they want it right now.
What Do I Write in My Newsletter?
The majority of newsletter emails should contain added value if you want to be successful. Of course, you can always send an offer from time to time. However, make sure you have a good relationship. Nobody will open your newsletter anymore if you only want to sell. Here are a few suggestions:
- You have written a new blog article – then let your newsletter subscribers know by briefly teasing it and linking it to the blog article.
- Tips that are intended exclusively for newsletter subscribers that create added value or, for example, checklists, instructions, etc.
- Personal insights – this is how readers get to know you better.
- Contests, Surveys.
- Deals, Coupons, Discounts.
- Interviews, Guest Posts.
- Case studies from practice, What have your customers achieved through you, etc.
Which Newsletter Provider To Start With?
In order to send a newsletter, you need a newsletter provider. (You cannot just send them out of your email program!) Newsletter providers also ensure the GDPR-compliant double opt-in procedure. This means that if someone signs up for a newsletter with their email address, the next step is to go to their email inbox to confirm their entry in the first email.
This ensures that it was you who signed up for the newsletter. Only then will the actual newsletter be sent.
Which provider is right for you always depends on what you’re up to. Here I introduce you to 2 providers with whom I work or have worked:
1. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is ideal for beginners. As long as you have under 2,000 subscribers, there are no costs. The operation is very user-friendly. Here you can set automated emails. As long as you only have 1 newsletter list, that would be my favorite.
Unfortunately, the disadvantage of Mailchimp is that the system does not recognize it if someone signs up for you in several lists. For example, I have a list for my normal newsletter and 1 list for various free offers, such as the starter course, the starter guide, etc. So if someone registers for all 3, they will receive my mail 3 times in the future.
2. Getresponse
Mailchimp’s list problem led me to Getresponse. The provider is no longer free of charge, but in comparison, it is still one of the inexpensive ones. Here the system recognizes when someone has often entered the same email address and only sends my email 1x to this address. Automated emails can also be set here. But I find it a little more complicated than Mailchimp. Which is also because there are more options here.
These are the providers with whom I have personal experience. My customers also use and recommend Newsletter2go for beginners who only need a simple newsletter dispatch. As well as Active Campaign and Convertkit for advanced users who want to do email marketing properly.
Conclusion
A newsletter is an indispensable tool for customer loyalty and communication. When used correctly, it helps you to increase your sales because you can keep in touch with prospects until they become customers.
What experience have you had with newsletters? Which provider do you use? Which provider can you recommend? I am happy if you share your experiences in the comment!