This morning I sat in on a webinar about making email newsletters work. It was a joint effort between ConstantContact and Ladies Who Launch. Now, I'm very happy with MailChimp as my email vendor, but I did pick up some interesting tidbits that I'll share below.
- Building your list. Many of the participants have traditional brick and mortar stories, so it makes sense for them to include a guestbook for email signups in their store. Those of us who don't have a physical space can include a signup box or link on our websites, email signature lines, and in social networking profiles like Facebook or LinkedIn (hint: I've also used my status on LinkedIn to announce "I'm getting ready to send out The Urban Museletter. Sign up here...") There's also the strategy of asking people at networking events "Could I add you to my newsletter list?" (Then marking a y or yes on their business card.) They highly, HIGHLY discouraged marketers from buying lists to bump up your numbers, and I'd have to agree.
- The advantages of using an email service. I signed up with MailChimp, because I wanted to send out professional-looking HTML emails and didn't want to have manage my email list. Now, of course, the people leading the webinar want us to buy into the idea of paying for an email service, but they had other good reasons, too. For example, having a large number of emails in the BCC field is a red flag for spam in a lot of email programs. Using an email service can help ensure that your message reaches its intended recipient, because they've opted in. It also makes it easier to track open rates, clicks, and so on.
- Best practices. As the trainer, Heidi, pointed out, many businesspeople now read emails on a BlackBerry or iPhone, which means they may not see all the pretty graphics you've so nicely laid out for them. It also means that you only have a few words or characters to grab their attention. She suggested putting the most relevant information at the top (which many of us would do anyway), not relying too heavily on graphics, and using white space to make the email more readable.
13 comments:
Good ideas. While we have really enjoyed blogging, we have not sent out any pretty HTML newsletters except an occasional one that my twin sends out in Europe. They look great, but they are a lot of work. I might look into MailChimp or ContantContact (about which I have heard a lot of good things) to make my life easier. I wonder what the protocol is if people just add you to their newsletter distribution list without getting your consent. I mysteriously get many newsletters I have not signed up for, and many are quite interesting, so I never know if I should point out to the sender that I never signed up. Not sure on the netiquette here...
My newsletter was a lot of work at the beginning, but it's gotten easier once I got the hang of the software.
Here's what the trainer had to say about your quandary. She explained the difference between explicit and implicit permission. Explicit permission is when someone opts in. Implicit is when you add someone to your list because you have a relationship with them. She suggested that the first time you mail to someone who has given you implicit permission, you include a note saying "you are receiving this email, because you express an interest in X company. If you would prefer to opt out, you can do so here..."
So great meeting you last night!! Now I'm seriously thinking about doing some sort of We are not Martha newsletter with recipes, holiday ideas, event notices, etc.
Actually, last night gave me tons of good ideas. Can't wait for the next event :)
Sues
Thanks, Sues! I have a great example of the kind of newsletter you're talking about (she focuses on cocktails). I'll forward it to when I get a chance.
Hi there Susan,
If you don't mind sharing, what's been your experience of using mailchimp? Would love to hear your feedback here in the comments or a new post when you get a chance.
Best,
Janet
@Janet: I'm happy with MailChimp. Of course there was a bit of a learning curve at first, but now I find it pretty quick and easy to put together a newsletter. I've also used Constant Contact and PatronMail in previous jobs, so I'd say MailChimp compares favorably. They all have pretty similar functionality, but MC has these really funny comments when you log in. Always makes me smile. :)
Hi Susan,
It was so nice to meet you the other night, and I love your blog. Very inspiring for someone who has never really considered herself a writer. You have a new fan!
Robin
@Robin: Thank you! I'll keep an eye out for you and the little man around the neighborhood. :)
Thanks Susan!
Janet
Nice ideas. I'm slowly trying to build a blog and am taking my time figuring out how I want to brand it and my writing. I'm finally at the point I want to start offering some kind of newsletters or free reports as a means to opt-in to my services.
I'd enjoy seeing a post from you about how you built up your blog traffic.
@Dont Forget to Write: I think that offering a report as an incentive for opting in to your newsletter is a great idea! It's tough to strike that balance between promoting your business and also giving newsletter subscribers useful information that doesn't feel like a sales pitch.
When I first set up my email newsletter, I posted about a book giveaway on my blog as an incentive for people to sign up. That seemed to work pretty well, too. I'm planning to do a blog roundup of email services in the near future so blog readers will have a few options to choose from if they decide to set up their own newsletter.
And also, you might find my post about Five Ways to Promote Your Blog useful in terms of building blog traffic. I might revisit the topic later on, too.
Great post, thanks Susan. It's worth pointing out too that there are very, VERY strict rules against adding email addresses to mailing lists, etc. in Europe. You cannot add anyone to a mailing list without their very explicit consent, and even then you have to make it super-easy for people to unsubscribe. This is often a big point of confusion and concern for start-up translators as they want to approach companies to offer their services, but don't want to be seen as pests, or worse, spammers... granted it's nigh-on impossible to enforce this outside the EU (or even arguably inside), but it's still worth pointing out because it reflects a big cultural difference between the US and Europe towards unsolicited mail. The last thing you want to do is commit a cultural faux pas and annoy potential clients when pitching for work, so a bit of sensitivity may be required in this area!!
@Sarah: That's interesting. I didn't realize that the guidelines were different in Europe, but that makes sense. Here in the US, you are also required to have an opt-out option visible on an commercial emails. Using any of those email programs (as opposed to your own Gmail or Hotmail account) helps ensure that your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant. I'm sure there are similar services in Europe, too.
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