4 Reasons Marketers Need to Publish Newsletters

As a panelist at a recent event I attended this year, I was asked why MarketingProfessor.com visitors are prompted for their email when visiting the site.  After inquiring further, it was evident that for this individual, asking for an email address was taboo and almost offensive.  He is not alone, many share this viewpoint, and suffer for it. In this post I’ll share a few ideas why a publishing a newsletter is essential for your online marketing efforts.

4 Reasons Marketers Need to Publish Newsletters

There can be many streams of revenue for a business, email marketing is one of those potential streams, yet is often overlooked or dismissed without proper consideration.  Here are 4 reasons to have an email newsletter.

Sets Expectations – Subtle But Important

When someone signs up for a “newsletter”, it is understood that they will be communicated with regularly until they unsubscribe.

In contrast, if someone signs up for a special report, or to get access to particular information only, they often disengage if the marketer continues hammering them after they have taken the initial bribe.  In those scenarios there is actually a reverse effect, as some subscribers will get irritated and report it as spam, negatively impacting email delivery rates for the marketer (more on email tracking here).

Relationship Building

The great thing about email is it can be personal, if you make it that way.  If you represent a large company, being “personal” might not be a fit for your newsletter, but the newsletter can have personality.  As the saying goes, “people buy from those they know, like, and trust” sharing what you know is important, and doing so in the context of a story that readers can identify with make it a more compelling relationship building tool.

Newsletters as a Traffic Driver

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites can be a great way to drive traffic to your site.  However, if you have a list of email subscribers, with whom you have a relationship with, driving traffic just got easier.  When posting a compelling piece of content, you now have the option to notify subscribers via email of your post and why they will benefit.

Example: I did this a while back after posting a conversation I had with Mari Smith, generating more traffic to the video on YouTube.

Newsletters as a Revenue Driver

If you can drive traffic, you can drive revenue. Recently Darren Rowse of Problogger.net responded an event presenter who thought having a newsletter wouldn’t be worth it, as readers would not click on ads at his site, and therefore did not create one.  In his post Newsletter Readers Do Click Ads, Darren shares a graphic of AdSense earnings from different Traffic sources.  Below is a screenshot:

Beyond that, engaged subscribers can aid your marketing efforts with product ideas and features, as well as future marketing plans such as product launches, there’s offers, cross-sells, affiliate partner offers among other ways to monetize a newsletter.

What we use: MarketingProfessor.com is powered by both Infusionsoft, and Aweber.  Checkout other Recommendations here.

Bottom-line on Email Newsletters

This is not a get rich quick approach, and perhaps why it is scoffed by many…it takes long-term effort and consistency for an email newsletter to pay off. As you set proper expectations, build relationships, you’ll be in a position to drive traffic and revenue.  Done correctly it will level out revenue streams that may be cyclical without it.

Your Turn: You have an email newsletter? Why or why not?
Image Credit: Chris Campbell