By Neil Dickie
Most businesses invest a huge amount of their resources going after new customers. But marketing pros, more and more, advise their clients to take care of their existing buyers--to go after repeat business. For example, a 2013 report from Adobe Corporation estimates that online retailers would need to sign up five new customers to equal the repeat purchase value of a single existing customer.
It really pays to keep your existing customers happy.
One great way to do that is to stay in touch with them by feeding them with useful and interesting information in your general area of business. More and more, internet marketers are using email newsletters as a powerful tool in reinforcing customer loyalty.
How to write successful newsletters? Here are four tips:
1. If they don’t open your email in the first place, it doesn’t matter how good your content is. It’s all-important to write a strong subject line. The key here is to indicate some BENEFIT in reading the newsletter. Say you’re a garden supply store:
3. Be sure to include a generous amount of graphical content--drawings, photos, etc. Here’s a favorite resource of mine: www.123rf.com (rf stands for royalty free). They have a huge library with 18 million photos and graphical elements on every conceivable topic, and its all professional quality. The database is easily searchable, and photos for use online are extremely affordable—I pay an average of $1 - $2 each.
4. Regarding tone: the text must be clear, concise--and personal. Forget the formal tone of a large corporation. Sound like a smart, personable, authority in the subject area.
Your customer email list is one of your business’s most important assets. Nourish it regularly with quality newsletters and you’ll get great results.
Most businesses invest a huge amount of their resources going after new customers. But marketing pros, more and more, advise their clients to take care of their existing buyers--to go after repeat business. For example, a 2013 report from Adobe Corporation estimates that online retailers would need to sign up five new customers to equal the repeat purchase value of a single existing customer.
It really pays to keep your existing customers happy.
One great way to do that is to stay in touch with them by feeding them with useful and interesting information in your general area of business. More and more, internet marketers are using email newsletters as a powerful tool in reinforcing customer loyalty.
How to write successful newsletters? Here are four tips:
1. If they don’t open your email in the first place, it doesn’t matter how good your content is. It’s all-important to write a strong subject line. The key here is to indicate some BENEFIT in reading the newsletter. Say you’re a garden supply store:
- Examples of WEAK headlines: “April newsletter” or “The flowers are back”
- Examples of STRONG headlines: “Special offer for our loyal customers“ or “Non-toxic pest management tips that work . . .”
- PERSONALIZE: but selectively. You don’t want to appear to be spam. Two things: a) be sure you’ve got cred with your list--that you’ve emailed them enough times that they know you fairly well; b) personalize in conjunction with a generous offer of some kind, otherwise, next time they won’t take you seriously
3. Be sure to include a generous amount of graphical content--drawings, photos, etc. Here’s a favorite resource of mine: www.123rf.com (rf stands for royalty free). They have a huge library with 18 million photos and graphical elements on every conceivable topic, and its all professional quality. The database is easily searchable, and photos for use online are extremely affordable—I pay an average of $1 - $2 each.
4. Regarding tone: the text must be clear, concise--and personal. Forget the formal tone of a large corporation. Sound like a smart, personable, authority in the subject area.
Your customer email list is one of your business’s most important assets. Nourish it regularly with quality newsletters and you’ll get great results.
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