According to Lillestrøm Cultural Centre, the email newsletter is the marketing tool which will bring the most customers to the shopping cart. Yet, many companies do not send newsletters frequently. Why is that? Here are the most common “excuses”.
1 – Time
Many use lack of time as an excuse for not sending out newsletters. It requires both time and effort when you decide to get started with a new marketing platform, and many can’t be bothered learning new systems simply because they’re scared of failing. You probably know you should take the time to do this, and along with the growing guilt, the effort of sitting down to do it grows too.
Most of the tools available today are both intuitive and user-friendly. A list of recipients and a template is all you need to send a newsletter. You probably have most of the content ready to go, from when you updated your website or wrote your last blog post. A newsletter can be constructed in minutes, hours or days, or it can be automatically generated if the content is sourced from an API or an RSS. Newsletters can be time-consuming, but they can also be maintenance-free. It is up to you how much time you want to use.
2 – Revenue
Is sending out newsletters profitable? Does it generate revenue? How about an overview showing who opens up and reads your newsletter? The report you receive after issuing a newsletter contains valuable information about your subscribers. Some click on the links; some buy your product while others are not interested and don’t open the email at all. You can use this information to segment your email campaigns, offer special deals to your most loyal subscribers, or maybe it’s time to clean up your mailing list. When your message hits the right target, you will see that your revenue will increase along with your distribution.
3 – No Target
Do you always send out the same email to everyone? More specific: do all your subscribers receive the same newsletter or do you change it depending on your subscriber’s interest? For example, if your business is ticket sales, do you know which shows your subscribers previously have bought tickets for? Was it a Christmas show, a children’s show, or maybe both? Do you have subscribers who always buy tickets for a specific artist or a certain type of show? It would be great for your subscriber if they could receive newsletters with information specific to them. Tickets (and products) sell fast with successful marketing.
4 – Consent
Are you unsure if you have proper consent from your subscribers, or if your mailing list is in accordance with GDPR? I often meet clients who are so worried they don’t have everything in order, so instead of verifying their solution, they avoid sending newsletters altogether. The email marketing softwares available in the EU today should already offer solutions which makes sure you operate within the new law. Learn the system, ask for help, get consent, and don’t be afraid of deleting subscribers who don’t respond. Better safe than sorry.
5 – Email Cancellations
Do you experience that many people unsubscribe or make a complaint after receiving your newsletter? Do you have both soft and hard-bounces every time? Then it might be time to clean up your list, check your consents, or assess the quality of your list.
When it comes to the number of subscribers in a mailing list, I can see, especially after GDPR was introduced, that many are afraid of deleting subscribers who have not yet given their consent. We have customers who have lost more than 100,000 subscribers, or as much as 90% of their subscribers after GDPR, but in return, the quality of the remaining subscribers have been very high. And these are the people you want to target. Quality over quantity!
6 – Distrust
Do you trust newsletters as a marketing tool? Do people even read newsletters anymore? How about when the wave of consent emails hit your inbox, did you yourself unsubscribe from all newsletters?
According to an article written by Priit Kallas, emails are 4 times more effective than for example ads on Facebook. Instead of guessing who your audience might be, you can send your marketing directly to a specific receiver. Powerful and efficient, especially if the content triggers the receiver’s interest. Personally, I believe emails are the most efficient way of marketing today.
So why would you down-prioritize or discredit the newsletter as a marketing tool?
Is the software too expensive? Hardly. Yes, you can find expensive solutions today, like HubSpot, but you also have companies like Mailchimp who offers different pricing plans depending on the number of your subscribers. There are also Swedish and Norwegian companies like Apsis and Make if you want to stay local.
Find the software that suits you the best and works well with your existing solutions. Learn to use it and develop a strategy for your email campaigns. Do this, and your marketing will be as easy a walk in the park.
