Stay in Touch: Writing Email Newsletters

Email newsletters are a quick and effective marketing tool that helps you stay in touch with your customers and keep them informed of new products and services. Your customers will be pleased at being remembered and this could translate into more business for your organization.

Email newsletters are handy because they provide the customer with the flexibility of either reading the newsletter immediately it arrives (if he or she is not busy or needs a break) or saving it for later. The customer may even choose to delete it. Your newsletter should come with an easy to use option for unsubscribing which should automatically update your mailing list.

Email newsletters are much more cost effective than printed matter. With email, you don't have to worry about printing or paper costs, envelopes or stamps. You just have to make a one time investment when you buy the mailing software. Thereafter your newsletters will be sent automatically every period at the cost of a phone call.

Writing a newsletter is simpler than you think. Keep it short, not more than a page and a half to two. Remember you are catering to busy customers with limited time on their hands. If you don't fancy yourself as a writer, you can hire a professional to do the writing for you. Most writers charge a reasonable fee and the benefits you derive from hiring a professional usually out weigh the cost of hiring them. Plus think of all the time you will save.

There is no need to send newsletters all the time. Once a month is usually more than plenty. Most companies that send email newsletters to their customers do so quarterly, with one or two "special" newsletters at different times to highlight exceptional deals or new programs.

Information included in email newsletters should be interesting and useful. It does not always have to be about your business either. You can include useful information about financial planning or seasonal yard care that you think your customers might find helpful. You should also include summaries of news stories that are relevant to your business or to the lives of your customers.

When it comes to the format for your writing, try HTML first, the format you see in your word processing software. It's not a pre-requisite, but it will make your life easier because it accommodates graphics and fonts. But watch out for some of its inherent problems, big size, virus vulnerability, some problems with email functioning among others. Your newsletter program usually lets you include format options for your customers, so they can choose whether to receive newsletters in HTML or not.

Email newsletters make good marketing sense. Not only are your customers kept up to date about new products and services, but are also made to feel 'special' and a part of your organization.

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About the author: Vlad Ehrsam is the chief writer at Full Info on Business, it's one of the webs most up to date Business sites, while you're there sign up for the free newsletter.
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