Email newsletters: Making One Work for You - Permission Based Email
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First, let’s get something out of the way: no email newsletter should be sent to anyone who didn’t request it. Ever. The proper method of adding names to your mailing list is by voluntary signup. On your site, a box requesting the email address (and possibly the name) should be clearly displayed to the potential recipient. In addition to that box, there should always be a clearly stated privacy policy. The ideal policy for collected email addresses is one where the names and addresses are never sold, rented, or given away to anyone. That trust must never be violated, or your reputation will be permanently stained.
When a person provides their name and email address to your business, use a double opt-in approach. Upon subscribing, an automated and personalized email should automatically be sent to the subscriber, telling the user that they must confirm the newsletter subscription, and instructions on how to do that. The request is therefore made twice, and prevents charges of spam.
What to Do for Newsletter Content
Good email newsletters require interesting and informative content. Simply sending out a sales flyer will not get good results, and destroys any goodwill created with your customer base. The content of a strong email newsletter is best split into 80% information and 20% sales material. Any heavier sales orientation and the value is lost to the reader.
Finding articles for an email newsletter is similar to adding useful and informative content to a website. The newsletter author can either write the content, or use articles written by other people. Many successful newsletters use both types of content.
Articles can include how-to information, product reviews, industry information, and general stories surrounding your industry. The important thing is to provide fresh material not readily available elsewhere. The articles should always link back to an article’s page located on your website, since getting the readers to your site is important for sales purposes.
Something that might help your conversion rate is to make a special subscribers-only offer (something not cheesy). Provide a link to a landing page on your site that repeats the generous offer. Make sure the landing page offers several links to click to make buying an easy process. Minimize the number of clicks required for purchase, preferably to less than three.
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