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• May 11, 2010

The benefits of having a Newsletter and how to get started

Learn about how you can generate revenue for your business by simply writing about your trade.

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Everyone who visits your website is highly likely to have some form of interest in what your website provides. As the website owner it is important to capitalise on this and turn their interest into revenue. One of the best ways to do this is by running a newsletter service.

Why?

• The subscribers already have an interest in your service
• It keeps them thinking of you
• They are likely to suggest you to others
• If you do it right, they stay on good terms with you and are more likely to buy your product or service

Running a newsletter is similar to running a TV advertisement but you're only targeting people who have already shown interest and it's much cheaper.

Setting up a newsletter

At Brightlabs, we use and recommend newsletter software called Newsletter Manager. It manages all aspects of the newsletter and provides detailed reports and newsletter statistics. Brightlabs can design a template to match your corporate branding. All you have to do is write your content and press Send.

The subscribe form

It's important that the subscribe form on your website is placed in a highly visible place such as your homepage. Your homepage is your most probable entry point and believe it or not, your most probable exit point too. Your subscribe form should also detail exactly what the user will be receiving, ideally with an example. Our Newsletter Manager software provides you with a link to view your newsletter online, so this link can be placed on your subscribe form to let people see your newsletter before subscribing.

Sending newsletters: content and frequency

A newsletter is essentially advertising to your subscribers. There are two common types of advertising:

• the type that advertises a product and tries to make the customer rush out and buy it (think of any ad that displays a product and price), and
• the type that are there to keep people thinking about you (think of Telstra's TV ads with the young boy and his clueless father).

In newsletters, the first type does not work because the subscibers will unsubscribe once they realise you're just advertising to them.

Your content should keep your subscribers' interest. It should be related to your trade with some occasional information about your business. Discuss some industry news then conclude with how it relates to your business. For example, you might talk about a new industry product and finish by declaring you intend to stock it soon.

You want to email them frequently enough that you stay in their thoughts, but not so frequently that it becomes annoying. We suggest a monthly or quarterly newsletter. Even if a subscriber never buys from you, if they continuously get reminded of you they will be more likely to suggest your services to others who need them.

Getting started

Our Newsletter Manager software is available for a free one-on-one demonstration. The Brightlabs staff can walk you through the ins and outs of the system, including managing subscribers, creating newsletters and viewing the detailed reports.

If you're already running a newsletter, review your content and subscribe form placement to ensure you're making the most of it. And if you're already using our previous software, iCampaign, consider transferring your newsletters to Newsletter Manager so you can view the extensive reports on your newsletters.

You might also be interested in the following pages and articles:

• Newsletter Manager product page
• 8 ways to increase conversions on your newsletter sign-up page
• eNewsletters - Refining your content
• Designing effective newsletters