Staying Relevant with Content Marketing | Part Two: Email Marketing

Are you ready to keep your business relevant online with quick, snappy, all-too-engaging content marketing?

Last time, we discussed the benefits of blogging. This time, we’re going to discuss something a little easier to digest—both for you and your clients. Because let’s face it, blogs are hard, and that’s a LOT of words in one place. What if you just aren’t ready to throw down 500 words every other week on closet organization, crossbow mechanics, or real estate fluctuations?

Whether you don’t have the time, or you don’t think your clients would read that, or even if just thought of putting two paragraphs together is a little intimidating… content on the internet can be as multifaceted as you are.

So today, let’s look at another approach.

Part 2. Email Marketing.

What’s the most powerful tool at your fingertips in the digital marketing world? With the recent nuclear-level explosions of new technologies and social platforms, surely there’s some magical new tool on the horizon that will sweep you into your potential clients’ online world with a trumpet fanfare and a set of fireworks?

Well, there is.

It’s sleek. It’s easy to utilize. It’s cost-effective.

It’s newsletters! Despite a host of new kids on the block, marketers continue to come back to email marketing (via newsletter) as the channel that generates the highest ROI. Whether you’re growing your business, running a juicy promotion, or just trying to get the word out and acquire new customers (or any, for that matter), email marketing is the place to start. Email marketing delivers better than any other channel—yes, still—and reminds your audience that you and your services are still alive and kicking.

Today, we’ll discuss the components of an effective newsletter, and how a powerful newsletter can transform your business.

1. Awareness. A study in object permanence.

Ideally, your newsletter will be a brief overview of what your business has been up to this month or what services you’ll begin offering in the coming months. And guess what? Not much of that is going to be new information. Your clients should be able to see all of it somewhere else, whether that’s on your Facebook page or on your website. A newsletter is not the place for new content. A newsletter is the place where you put all the content that you have been painstakingly building into one place, put a bow on it, and deliver it straight to your clients’ inboxes.

2. Give, Don’t Take. This is not about sales.

Paradoxically, a newsletter is not the best place for sales. You might want to throw coupons around like candy when it’s time to send out your newsletter, but in reality, that’s a good way to get your update left unopened and chucked in the trash folder. Think about what you can provide to your clients instead that still relates to your business. If you’re a realtor, consider offering tips on home decorating in one issue, and perhaps moving advice the next. The goal of a newsletter is not to push your product: that will turn people off. Instead, think about what you can offer them. Then, they’ll be more likely to keep clicking every month. Save the sales for specifically targeted email campaigns and consider separate lists so people can stay subscribed to the newsletter even if they prefer not to get sales promotions.

3. Establish Credibility. Who’s the expert? You’re the expert.

Much like blogging in this respect, writing a regular newsletter establishes you as an expert in your field. After you hook people in by providing useful information that will make their lives better, it’s time to talk about why that’s true. Why are your tips better than other people’s tips? Prospects, publishers, reporters, current clients—anyone on the receiving end of your newsletters will see you as the expert authority in your field that you truly are. Thought leadership is an excellent marketing tool, use it!

4. Maintain Contact. Even through the rough patches.

Especially if your customer base is likely to make one purchase and then go dark—remind them that you exist. One of the most efficient functions of a newsletter is to maintain contact with your clients between purchase, and continue to build that relationship even when they’re not currently buying from you. That way, next time they need a specially-outfitted custom rubber duck with a laser gun—because the first one only lasts so long—yours will be the first ones that come to mind.

Email marketing can be a powerful tool that helps you stay connected, build relationships, and help keep your business at the forefront, for clients old and new. As a form of content marketing, it’s a fast and efficient tool that lets you communicate important information quickly in a consolidated fashion. With a successful email marketing campaign, you’ll be able to use compelling emails to drive better business results.

Ready to pull those emails into a list and start getting your message into inboxes? If this all sounds like a mind-boggling amount of effort, we’ve got you covered! Hot Dog Marketing will work with you to unleash your content on the world and optimize it for success. We manage effective email campaigns for businesses large and small. If email marketing sounds overwhelming, let Hot Dog Marketing handle this one.

Looking for more content marketing advice? Don’t miss parts 1 & 3 of this series:

Staying Relevant with Content Marketing | Part One: Blogs

Staying Relevant with Content Marketing | Part Three: Social Media