Once the customer gives us
their physical mailing address, what do we do with it? We are going to mail them our monthly customer
newsletter. Why newsletters? In his book Stick Like Glue, Jim Palmer lists seven secrets about how
newsletters will bring in new customers better than almost any other marketing
method.
- Newsletters help you
keep customers. - Newsletters help you get
new customers. - Newsletters help your
business build credibility. - Newsletters help you
stand out from your competition. - Newsletters are the
perfect way to show that you are an expert in your field. - Newsletters help you
build your brand. - Newsletters have a
longer shelf life than other forms of marketing.
I would add one more: Newsletters
are great for promoting upselling and cross-selling. Upselling is the old “Do you want fries with
that?” routine. Cross-selling is selling
a completely different product or service then the one your customer has
already purchased from you. A newsletter
promotes both by announcing other products you offer and what their benefits are.
If you are not upselling and
cross-selling, you are leaving the easiest money you will ever make on the
table. Why walk away from it? Upsell, upsell, upsell!
Some other key points to ensure
that your newsletter campaign is successful:
- It must be consistently
mailed out at the same time each month to be effective. - It should be about your
customer’s needs and wants. What
problems do they have, and how does your service or products solve them? - It can’t be boring! It should be about a 50/50 ratio between
articles about your product and then some fun stuff. A little secret: The fun stuff is the real secret to a
newsletter’s success! By fun stuff I
am talking about short, interesting, and informative articles, factoids, tips,
cartoons, humor, and even puzzles. This
is what the customers enjoy reading and look forward to every month. - It should tell your customers
more about what you do. - It can
be used to tell them what is new with your business. - It should
be easy for you to produce, or it will not be done consistently. There are new tools on the market that make
this easier than ever. I recommend a
service by Jim Palmer that you can read about at www.nohasslenewsletters.com. His service provides the fun stuff and the
template. You can write two or three
articles yourself, or you can hire a freelance writer to do them for you.