Zap weak email content for higher ROI
Email newsletters don’t cost much to create, they give people something to look forward to, and they keep your name top of mind. That’s especially important if you have a long sales cycle.
Like every other aspect of B2B marketing, there are right ways and wrong ways to creating an email newsletter. Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll consistently produce a winner:
Flip It
Traditionally, corporate newsletters are like mini press releases squished together. As in, "here's what we did/ are doing/ will do."
But unless you do really interesting things or you're super cool like Steve Jobs, that's not a great hook for a conversation with clients.It's better to keep the focus on the client, not on your company. Give them valuable and relevant information that helps them work smarter, stay abreast of latest trends, or justify that they’ve made the right choice by working with you.
What Isn't Boring?
Examples of items that often play well:
- Comparisons of products or services in your space
- Customer stories ("they faced x... they did y... they achieved z")
- Previews or reviews ("X is a useful book/ workshop/ guide because...")
- Human interest stories (especially about executives at the companies you serve)
- Advance notice ("next month this new executive brief will go public; here is a sneak peek...")
- Online resources they can access (on your site and elsewhere)
- Reader responses to surveys or previous newsletter content ("some readers disagreed with our article on blah... they have a point there")
Don't Worry About Filling Up Your Newsletter
If it seems like a lot of
work to fill a newsletter, here’s the good news: You don’t have to fill it! Details coming in my next post about email marketing...
