How often do you connect with your current customers? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly, even?
Today, I want to talk about the importance of staying in contact with your customers—namely, through the power of newsletters. If your business isn’t staying top of mind, you’re missing out on an enormous opportunity to increase revenue and grow your business.
A few years ago, we had a pipe burst during a major holiday. Naturally, we found a plumber and brought him out to make the necessary repairs. And guess what? He did an excellent job! When he finished up, I paid him—most likely in cash because I couldn’t remember his name!
Had I remembered his name, he would have been the first person I called for any plumbing issues down the road. Not to mention, he would have been the first person I recommended to my family and friends. Imagine the kind of impact this would have had on his business, especially if his other customers were anywhere near as pleased with his services.
So, what’s the lesson here? Frankly, it’s not your customer’s responsibility to remember you. It’s yours.
And publishing your own newsletter is one of the most effective ways to make your business memorable!
Why Newsletters?
If you’re a relatively small business, you might be able to get away with calling your customers. But if you’re a medium or large business, or if you aspire to grow, newsletters will allow you to reach more of your customer base while spending a fraction of the time and effort.
Business coach Jim Palmer lists seven reasons why newsletters bring in more customers than just about every other form of marketing:
- 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 help you show that you’re an expert in your field.
- Newsletters help you build your brand.
- Newsletters have a longer shelf life than most other forms of marketing.
And I’m going to throw in a bonus reason here:
Newsletters allow you to upsell and cross-sell your products and services.
One of my customers, who owns a printing business, was talking to me recently about one of his customers who orders basic items from him—namely, business cards, letterheads, and the like. That same customer needed a 20-page multicolor catalog printed and had it printed elsewhere. As you might imagine, my customer was a little offended that this person didn’t ask him to print the catalog.
So, I asked him, “Did he know that you print catalogs?”
Probably not.
Now, if my customer had been delivering newsletters to his customer base, it would have been easy for him to advertise his catalog-printing capabilities as well!
Upselling and cross-selling to your current customers is one of the easiest ways to generate more revenue because, remember, these are the people who already know you, like you, and trust you. You’re leaving a whole lot of money on the table by ignoring them.
With that said, you can’t just throw any old newsletter together and hope to bring in more business. You have to do a great job!
How to Launch a Successful Newsletter Campaign
Here are three tips to ensure that your newsletter campaign is successful:
1. Be Consistent
Don’t bother starting a newsletter if you’re only going to send it out a couple of times before throwing in the towel. Make sure your newsletter is going out on time.
If you don’t know whether you’ll be able to keep up with your newsletter, consider outsourcing it to another business or freelancer who specializes in crafting high-quality newsletters.
2. Be Engaging
While you may be tempted to stuff every line of your newsletter with detailed information about your company, products, and services, remember that you need to hold your customer’s attention.
Injecting your newsletter with things like humor, puzzles, and fun facts will go a long toward keeping your customer engaged.
3. Be Informative
Finally, your newsletter needs to provide value. There’s no sense in loading it up with information that your customer is never going to use.
Rather, maintain a customer-centric approach to your content. Present common problems that your customer might have, and position your business’s products or services as the best possible solution on the market!