Increase Your Readership

Dear Big Client,

I reviewed the statistics you sent me for your newsletter and put together some ideas that might help to increase readership.

Your e-Newsletter is a way to show what you can truly offer as a professional in your field, not just sell a service or product. Your e-Newsletter shows that you are a source of information on new trends and an expert in your field.

A newsletter is not just about measuring the ROI of every issue. Nor should a newsletter even be expected to pay for itself with every issue. The role of the newsletter is to engage your readers and hold their attention for years to come. When you interact with your readers, you have a huge impact on their loyalty and the amount of attention they give your publication. There are also a number of ways you can introduce interactive elements to your newsletter.

The return on this investment comes when a newsletter recipient needs to make a purchase. He or she will have options to choose from. And if he or she has been reading your newsletter for months or even years, then you have an advantage.

Satisfied newsletter subscribers are more likely to choose your company, simply because you have held their attention and built confidence and trust in your products or services. You become the obvious or even the only choice.

Once you have built a list of thousands or tens of thousands of subscribers, you will have created a remarkable asset. That is to say, you will have tens of thousands of highly qualified prospects who trust you, listen to you and are willing to follow your advice and recommendations.

• Make your list 100% opt-in with a sign up form on your Web site. When you have a newsletter, it’s tempting to choose tactics that will grow your list as fast as possible. However, the long-term results of such a tactic are almost always negative.

• Include surveys in each issue. Not everyone will participate, but many will. And be sure to share the results in your next issue. People will look forward to reading about the results. Over time you will find the survey results will teach you a great deal about your readers and their core interests. It is a good way to get feedback and to steer your publication forward in a direction that is of interest to your most engaged readers.

• Invite readers to ask questions. The “ask the expert” feature is one used successfully in many newsletters. Invite people to send in their questions, but also make it clear you can answer only one or two questions per issue. People will understand that. One thing you can be sure about: Everyone who sends in a question will open and read the next issue. Also, every one of your subscribers will appreciate that you have taken the time to answer the question and that you are really there — a living, breathing human being.

E-newsletters build relationships over time. While promotional e-mails are designed to solicit immediate responses, the unique strength of a newsletter is its ability to address a growing list of interested customers and prospects over a period of years. While newsletters can certainly include links, which might lead to immediate sales, the editorial content of a good newsletter is created with a view to retaining your subscribers’ attention and loyalty over the long term.

The primary responsibility and purpose of a newsletter is to retain the attention of this growing group of subscribers and to position your company as the expert they can trust most when it comes to making a purchase.

Much like a branding campaign, this long-term focus can make it tricky to measure the precise return on investment. But many organizations have found it’s more than worth the time and energy it takes to produce it.

Call if you want to discuss any of the topics in more detail.

Cassie Maher

Vice President, The Newsletter Factory

770-955-1600 ext. 101