Business owners know that using newsletters is a simple way to: retain existing customers, nurture your relationship with your customer, build your brand and credibility, and differentiate your business from the competition. Nevertheless, I have discovered four key mistakes small business owners make in attempting to grow their business with a customer newsletter.
MISTAKE #1 –Sending it out to a select few
Don’t waste time trying to decide which of your customers deserves one because of how much money they spent in your business or the last time they used your product or service. Send one to everyone in your database including prospects.
MISTAKE #2 – Sending it out sporadically
Send it out monthly. Anything less weakens your fence around your customers (retention), which then allows your competitors to move in. Our customers tell us that they look forward to the monthly newsletter for the useful tips and information. Sending a monthly newsletter helps you to maintain top of the mind awareness. It keeps the connection with the customer alive. It reminds them how beneficial your products and/or services are to them.
MISTAKE #3 – Using Email Only
Although e-mail has its place in your marketing toolkit- there’s no substitute for a printed newsletter coming in the mail. It doesn’t compete with the hundreds of other e-mails in your customer’s inbox. Or be accidentally deleted because your client considers it as spam. It is also less expensive than other printed advertising (Yellow Pages, billboards, newspapers, magazines). How much is your customer worth? Investing $6.00 -$7.00 per year per customer by staying in frequent contact with them (through a newsletter) will help keep your fence around them. More importantly, it helps you to get repeat business from a customer or convince a prospect to spend money with you.
MISTAKE #4 – Too salesy
A properly written newsletter provides entertaining and interesting info – not just technical information, offers, and sales pitch. Customers generally read your newsletter with their guard down – because they don’t see it as advertising. It’s one of the best salesmen you’d have for your business. For your offers and sales pitch consider promoting them as a newsletter inserts.
Dan Kennedy, the marketing guru recommends that you have content like trivia, quizzes, games, and general tips about home, money, business, and health.
Our client newsletter in our sprinkler repair business has outperformed any previous advertising we’ve ever done in the Yellow Pages. We have a return on our investment of at least 500% (5:1) attributed to either repeat business and/or the referrals from someone on our newsletter mailing list. Paul Navey, owner of a construction company, who rehabs homes for seniors and persons with handicaps reported a 900% (9:1) return on investment to past clients with his monthly newsletters. (Source: No B.S. Marketing Letter, April 2012). So if you’re not already using a newsletter in your business or sending it out consistently, start doing it now.
About The Author: Sherry Daniels
Sherry Daniels manages a 20+ year Orlando based sprinkler system company. She’s developed a Done-for-you monthly newsletter that just about any service business owner (who’s too busy, or doesn’t believe he has the writing skill to create a newsletter from scratch) can use. She is the author of “Working Moms: How to Quit Your Other Job – Secret to getting Paid for Working in Your Husband’s Business ”- available at Amazon.com. Sherry can be reached at [email protected]
