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Warning: What Every Small Business Should Know Before They Start an E-Newsletter Campaign

“Should my company do an e-newsletter?”

I cannot count how many times small business clients & prospects have asked me this question! Mostly, clients ask me this after they receive a sales pitch from an email delivery company that promises to handle their list management and design for the low, low price of — oh, say $20 a month or so.

“Wow!” thinks my client. “For only $20 a month, I get to reach my clients! What an internet marketing bargain!”

Not so fast. Twenty bucks is just for starters…

Before you get into the e-newsletter production and sending business, there are at least 3 things you should know:

1. An e-newsletter is a commitment. If you are going to “do an e-newsletter”, be prepared to commit to writing extremely (and I mean extremely) interesting, newsworthy, and relevant content that your clients will be absolutely THRILLED to receive in their email in-boxes. My recommendation to clients: before you plunk down $20 for a technical solution, try WRITING at least 7 fascinating newsletters with top-notch offers. If you don’t have time to write seven, at least plunk down the money for a great writer to draft your seven ideas first. If you can commit to 7 compelling content ideas that actually make it to the screen — and aren’t merely “nice ideas that are in your head that will get written down somehow, someday…” — then you’re demonstrating the kind of commitment it takes to make an e-newsletter program successful.

2. Content is king. Yes, most of the $20-a-month email delivery companies do a fantastic job of list management and keeping you CAN-SPAM compliant. And many companies offer decent design templates that can make email newsletters look polished and professional. But never forget — the most important part of that e-newsletter is your content. The offer is everything. And a $20-a-month email delivery company cannot write your content for you! Before you lay down a dime for an e-news delivery service: write the content first. Trust me, this is an eye-opener. If you can’t write the content, hire a writer. Now! And here’s a helpful hint: if you have an abandoned blog that you started with enthusiasm — but couldn’t find anything to write about after a few weeks — what makes you think your e-newsletter writing campaign will be any different?

3. Inbox overload. We’re all on in-box overload right now. You’ve heard of spam — but company e-newsletters are more like bacn. Bacn is the email you’ve subscribed to — but you often don’t read it. Face it: unless you’ve got the time or inclination to read company emails — you let them pile up in your inbox. Sometimes you delete them before you get around to reading them. Inbox overload is why great written content is absolutely your first priority when starting a company e-newsletter program. If you don’t start your e-newsletter with really, truly riveting news — your email newsletter will never make a significant impact. And that’s why making the commitment to at least 7 is important — because if your enews doesn’t get read — at least you made a “from line” and “subject line” impression before you were dumped into the trash.

Twenty bucks a month is cheap. But be warned – the time and craft and attention it takes to run a successful enewsletter program can be substantial. I cannot count how many times a client has told me that they started a newsletter program…only to abandon it because writing the newsletter was a significant (and I mean huge) time-suck.

Now, all that said: I write and manage successful e-newsletter campaigns for a number of companies. These campaigns are successful only because the client has made a firm commitment to writing and delivering regular content that their subscribers have enthusiastically elected to receive with a double-opt-in methodology. We’ve put “email newsletter” into their communication calendar. We’ve made a budget for it. We have a writer and an editor working on a firm deadline. We have production and delivery schedules.

Bottom line: a successful  email newsletter program is not an ad-hoc, when-we-get-around-to-it kind of thing. It takes a significant commitment and great content. Consider yourself warned!

Face it: anybody can pay $20/a month for a technical solution. It’s the commitment and content that makes an email newsletter campaign a success.

Related Posts:

• Instead of e-newsletters, why not blog?
• Email Stamps: Can Small Business Play, Too?
• Content has always been important…

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