How many company sponsored newsletters are regularly read? Since most are promotional content packaged in newsletter form, not many. These, "all about us" newsletters contain news about the marketer’s new products and new sales as well as stories about company personnel, testimonials, and user stories.
While this kind of information is interesting to people inside the marketer’s company, customers often see it as just promotion. How many people are thrilled to get ongoing promotions in their e-mail in box? Not many.
Marketers who use newsletters as a promotional tool are missing the bigger opportunity of creating a newsletter that acts as a direct channel to customers. It is not hard to do. Instead of sending promotional newsletters, build ones with content which is 80% non-commercial information that customers want to read and 20% company promotion. When customers are sent information they want to read about, they often look forward to receiving it. When newsletters with customer centric content are sent out:
• Customers read them more regularly.
• Newsletter open rates go up.
• More customers subscribe.
• More customers stay subscribed.
• Newsletters can be sent out more frequently (2x per month or weekly).
• The newsletter builds a positive brand image.
• No one gets accused of being a spammer.
• When the newsletter carries a promotion, it goes to a wider audience that is more receptive to the sponsors messages.
A newsletter that first follows the informational needs of customers and not the promotional needs of the sponsoring company open an ongoing marketing channel of communication to customers. Creating a channel to customers it is a much bigger win than just sending promotions and hoping for the best.