Is Your Newsletter Boring?

Inbox are busy places these days (gosh – writing things like these days makes me sound soooooo old, anyhaps….). Once upon a time, not so very long ago we would actively seek giving people our email addresses if it meant that we avoided giving them our phone numbers – phew, side stepped the cold, sales calls!!! BUT, now, our inboxes are treasured places and we absolutely do think twice about giving away our email addresses and what’s more we only open the emails that totally float our boats. We busy – right?! We don’t have time to deal with all the different things zipping in there every 5 minutes.

If people have invested their email address in you then it’s important that you treat it with respect. It’s important that you aren’t using it to be spam spam spammy or to sell, sell, sell.

Equally, if we expect them to open our emails then they can’t be boring!! Yawn! Yawn!

Boring emails = decreased open rates.

Decreased open rates = decreased engagement.

Decreased engagement = less likelihood of your crowd giving a shit

And it all results in you completely and utterly wasting your time. You will waste your time with your list building, you will waste your time with your e-newsletters.

At best your open rate will decrease, at worst you will disengage your crowd totally.

So, what are you going to do about it?

I’ll tell you what!

You are going to make sure that you are giving those email addresses the respect that they are due and you are going to serve the pants off the subscribers to your list. These people have made an investment in you. They have invested their email addresses and whilst it won’t directly effect your profitability it will certain impact upon it in the long run. Those people who are engaged with you are more likely to become purchases and look after your purchasers and they are more likely to become repeat purchasers.

MAKING YOUR E-NEWSLETTER VALUABLE;

BE CONSISTENT

Make sure you make a commitment to your e-newsletter and you follow up with that commitment. How often are you going to send it. Personally, I send a main email to my list every Friday and those who have signed up to a little motivation bum kick get an extra one on a Monday morning. There’s not many times I’ve ever missed it. In the last 12 months I’ve missed it once. I was in hospital and whilst I had one there to send I decided not to send it.

Lead with value. Make is a valuable resource to your crowd. What do they want to see in there?

You might want to share your most recent blogs/articles/podcasts.

You might want to write something bespoke for them.

You might go higher on the visuals.

You might stripe it right back and let the words do the talking.

A newsletter which is heavy on the design side does impact on it’s deliverability and the likelihood that it will get captured in Marketing inboxes or spam filters. I like to keep my newsletter simple. I like the words to do the talking. I mostly write bespoke content for my subscribers.

IT’S OK TO SELL

Yup, it’s ok to offer opportunities for your crowd to purchase stuff from you in your newsletter BUT balance it out with the value you are providing. The more you serve the pants off your audience the more likely they are to become purchasers.

Give Them Little Challenges

I know that I always get returned dialogue and open conversations with my subscribes if I have included a little dare in my newsletter 😉

USE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE APPROACHABLE

Let people know that they can contact you, that you are going to reply to their emails. I know that lots of people TOTALLY ignore their emails from their crowd and in my book that simply isn’t acceptable. You are here to serve these people and your work is based on the foundation of helping and serving. Yes, have boundaries. Yes, don’t spend all your time on stuff that isn’t going to make money and YES don’t tire yourself out with stuff that doesn’t improve your bottom line but please do engage your crowd in a conversation. Please be humble enough to respond. Please don’t ignore correspondence from your audience. My door is open – shoot a message over to me on the Facebook Page or ping an email through – we will always respond at Team Rockstars!

TAKE THEM TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN THE RELATIONSHIP

Your newsletter is about continuing to enhance the relationship you have with your audience. Use it wisely, treat them well, give them a good experience and you will have them looking out for your emails and opening them when they land.