4. Send with intelligence. After investing the time and resources to develop a stellar email newsletter, you don’t want to negate those efforts by sending too much or too little, to a non-opted in list or even too broad of one. Even if your newsletter list is comprised of your customers, make sure they are opted in and want to hear from you. You can improve your relevance and value by segmenting the lists and providing information of most value to the various groups. Listen to your customers. If they don’t want to receive your newsletter, make sure they are unsubscribed and can easily do so. And when it comes to frequency, set an expectation as to how frequently they can expect to hear from you and stick with it.
5. Measure and track your results. The beauty of email is that it is so easy to measure. You should regularly monitor your emails, and watch for any abrupt changes in standard metrics (complaints, open rates, bounces, etc.) that can indicate a deliverability problem and make appropriate adjustments. However, you can also learn from the content that your readers click on to apply to the development of future issues. Make sure you connect your results with the initial goals for your email newsletter to determine if it is paying off.
An email newsletter can be a valuable tool for achieving a variety of business goals. However, to work well, time and thought must go into the development of a clear strategy and the development of a compelling newsletter. And, as with any marketing campaign, the success and impact of an email newsletter is going to be improved when combined with other tactics and channels as well. When done well, an
email newsletter is a great investment.
*Forrester US Email Marketing Volume Forecast, 2008 – 2013
** Marketing Sherpa, 2007
