Email marketing works …
It works for any business that has customers
Why?
Because through email marketing you can build a relationship with your subscribers or customers really effectively.
You only need to send them a newsletter with valuable information with which they can connect.
Unfortunately, not all businesses can do email marketing right.
According to SalesForce 2015 State of Marketing repport, 43% of businesses have email teams of 2-3 people.
Small business can’t afford 2-3 people. Most cannot afford even one or a person doing this part time.
This is why the majority of small businesses cannot create a good newsletter. Many cannot even have a newsletter
If you are a small business owner, you know what I am talking about…
How many things are on your table right now?
How many things are you responsible for?
Besides all the things you’re doing right now, do you have time to create content for a newsletter?
If you cannot write a newsletter yourself, can you afford a writer?
Probably not…
Reality is that while most small businesses would profit much from having a newsletter, they can’t do it. They can’t afford someone consistently creating content for a newsletter that will be engaging enough.
Newsletter Curation lets small businesses deliver great value, with minimal economical investment.
Newsletter Curation is the technical term for selecting the best news written by others and putting them on a newsletter.
All companies can deliver a lot of value through a newsletter, but smaller companies are the ones that can benefit the most since they will be able to use the advantages of email marketing that they would not be able to afford it otherwise.
Let’s say you are the owner of a small business.
As the owner, probably your main objectives will be to give a great service to your customers, make them buy your products and services more often and bring in new customers.
Right?
Email marketing and a great newsletter, would be a great way to do this, remind your customers regularly that you exist and bring them back.
But you probably don’t have time for that.
Besides bringing in customers, you have to manage many other things. You need to take care of new hires, train them, take care of the finances and many other tasks related to running your business.
No-one from your team has the time or experience to take care of a newsletter with content that will be top quality. You cannot afford a writer to create the content for this newsletter.
If instead of creating a newsletter you curated it, all you would need to do is select, every week, 2/3 great news that your customers would be interested in (written by industry experts), put them in a newsletter and send them to your subscribers.
If you have chosen well this news, your users will appreciate much receiving them.
This newsletter will do the following for you:
- Through it, you’ll maintain a relationship with your customers and remind them you exist.
- The fact of reminding them, will help you sell more.
- You can use this newsletter to promote the business and bring in new customers. You can communicate specific promotions to your subscribers, so they can share special offers with their friends and families.
How to create a curated newsletter:
There are two ways of creating this newsletter.
You can create it manually and you can also do this with the help of software. Software will simplify the curation process a great deal.
To start email marketing and create a curated newsletter, you’ll need to:
- Get subscribers who’ll receive the newsletter
- Find great articles that your customers will be interested in.
- Put that content in a newsletter.
- Promote your business.
Let’s dive deep:
First, get subscribers:
There are many ways to bring in subscribers. The most common are putting a form in your website to collect email addresses.
This is something that makes a lot of sense for online businesses, who can have customers from anywhere in the world .. but for a localized business, like a gym or a hair salon .. this makes little sense.
It makes little sense for a person from Arizona to subscribe to a newsletter from a gym in Texas, since that person is never going to go to the gym.
Besides this, bringing in new subscribers through the website requires traffic to the website and specific knowledge and training to drive conversions.
Most small local businesses are not prepared for this. As a matter of fact, most businesses, large and small are not prepared either, so this makes very little sense for most small businesses.
The simplest way for a small local business to get subscribers is to get the emails of its customers and from anyone interested who for example comes in with an enquiry.
Before adding someone to your email list, tell him/her that one of the benefits of being a member is that you’ll send them a weekly newsletter with the best content about a specific topic.
If you put him on the list without his consent, you will not be welcomed in his inbox.
What should the newsletter be about?
Your customer’s interests come first
First you need to decide what your newsletter will be about.
To do this, think about what your customers are interested in.
What information can you give related to the products or services you sell?
If your business is a gym, you could create a curated newsletter around fitness, health.
If your business is a law firm and your customers are small businesses, you can send a newsletter about business tips for small business owners.
If your business is a hair salon, you can send a newsletter with beauty tips (hair care, make up).
If your business sells clothing for kids, you can send a newsletter about fun activities to do with kids, tips to educate your kids, etc.
These examples show something that’s really important.
- Your newsletter does not have to be exactly about what you do. It has to be about something your subscribers and potential customers will find value in. It should be such that your subscribers and customers will be looking forward receiving and make them value it and want to open it every time they receive it.
So when you’re deciding what your newsletter will be about, put yourself in your customers’ / subscribers shoes…
Some people mistakenly believe that a newsletter’s content should cover news and updates about their business.
If you were the customer of a hair salon or of a gym .. what type of news would you like to receive?
Would you like to receive a newsletter that only talked about the salon or the gym trying to sell you their services?
Boring…
Or would you prefer to receive a newsletter with some great beauty tips from your hair salon Or tips to get the best from your workouts?
Top tips written by top experts.
I bet you’d prefer to receive the second…
Although newsletters can inform users about the service or company behind the newsletter… their newsletters should be much more than this.
So when you think about what kind of content to add, think first about your customers and their interest. Think about what news/information they are interested in, not what you would like them to read.
If you focus your newsletter on your interests instead of theirs, they will stop reading the newsletter.
To know what they are interested in…
- Use your best judgment. You know your customers and their interest.
- Talk with them and ask them what they are interested in. When you send a newsletter, ask them for their feedback.
- Send small surveys, to understand how much they like it.
Add your own voice:
Add a small (1-3 sentence) intro to the newsletter .. a few words so it looks more personal. If you find this difficult, escape this part (most companies personalize very little).
This is an example of how you can personalize your newsletter
Good morning John,
This week I wanted to share some important fitness tips with you. ..
In the first article, you’ll see what to eat before and after a great workout, so those muscles you are toning up look their best.
Once you create a valuable newsletter for your subscribers, you can start promoting your business.
Promote your business.
Let’s say that you wanted your members to promote the gym among their friends … you could add either at the footer of the email or at the intro.. something like:
If you have a friend that is thinking about joining the gym, bring him in. He’ll get the first month free as a compliment from you. To thank you for bringing him in, we’ll give you this great outfit.
Tell your friend to mention your name when he signs up.
Hope to see you at the Gym this week. Best,
John
General Manager
This is just an example. Other ways you can promote your business in your newsletter among your members, are:
- Mention some of the new products or services you have.
- Promote some of the less known services/products you have.
You can take advantage of the news you share to promote your own services. So if you’re sharing an article that talks about the advantages of bicycling or spinning, you can talk about the spinning class at your gym… and you’ll be much more likely to get a positive reaction than if you just talked to them about joining the class.
Why this newsletter works:
Because:
- You’ve connected with your customers/people interested in your services when they were at their homes and delivered them value.
- Through the articles you shared, you’ve reminded them that you exist and will be in their top of mind next time they think about getting your services.
- Because this was a great vehicle to communicate with them
How to create a curated newsletter.
There are different ways of doing this.
Here’s more information on how to create a curated newsletter.
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