When was the last time you got a newsletter and you were genuinely interested or excited?
Every day, I get e-newsletters from brands and services that I have willingly subscribed to; and every day, I delete up to 90% of them, mostly because they don’t interest me at the moment, don’t meet a certain need, or aren’t relevant to me. I can imagine an email marketer reading this and feeling like someone has stabbed them in the chest. However, the reality is that most people don’t read newsletters or emails from brands unless they’re relevant or sporadically interesting.
So, what does this mean for your business?
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Out of the hundreds of newsletters I receive daily, there is a tiny amount that makes it through and I call them ‘The Peculiars’. For me, it’s not hard to understand why these emails don’t quickly end up in my bin. I realized these newsletters have visually-appealing and engaging content that makes me think: “Hmmm…tell me more!”. Even though the news may be unusual or can’t meet any of my current needs, the point is…I clicked on it and engaged with the newsletter.
So, what can spare a newsletter from the dreaded ‘Delete’ button, before it is even opened?
First of all, you should realize that if a person subscribes to you at all, that means they probably have a genuine interest in your brand, product, or service; and they want to hear from you (as less annoyingly often as possible). But there’s a catch: you have to make your news about your customers, not about what you’re offering.
As humans, most of us love being at the center of attention, and we should apply this thinking to creating newsletters too. A lot of brands send out emails about their latest releases, brand updates, new upgrades, improved services, etc., but fail to show the consumer what it means to them. This means when the customer receives your email, they may think: ‘Oh, that’s nice! But what’s in it for me?’. The point is: make your offering revolve around your consumer; for instance, if you have a new collection of clothes, how will this impact their next get-together? Or imagine you have a new restaurant location, what does that mean for the customers close to that neighborhood? Depending on what you’re offering your consumer, you can make every email an opportunity to connect with them on not just an emotional, but also a rational level.
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Email marketing doesn’t have to stop at just newsletters. It could also be welcome emails, loyalty-rewarding emails, case study emails, informational emails, and more. Remember, it’s a nice way to stay in touch with your consumers; but don’t forget to give your customer some space after every communication because too much contact can be seen as annoying or worse: an excuse to click the unsubscribe button. So, try to keep it cool, and don’t forget to make your next newsletter about your consumer.