Email newsletters have made a comeback to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Many thought-leaders have made the jump to use an email newsletter to connect with their audience, solicit engagement and rise above the noise in social media. Email newsletters are much different than they were five years ago. Today’s newsletters are based on subscriber’s respect and interest toward the sender.
Let’s talk about why entrepreneurs are packing email marketing to stay connected with their audience.
Many great ideas become a flash in the pan when they are presented solely within social media. The reality is publishers compete against the never-ending Facebook News Feed used by over 500 million users, the overwhelming amount of Twitter updates and popular A-list blogs. Going against the grain when it comes to communicating with your audience may be a sensible choice for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Email marketing itself yields many benefits for publishers and subscribers. I’ll share a few:
Publisher Benefits
- More Editorial Flexibility – Email is still perceived to be an intimate interaction between the sender and receiver. Because of that, it may be more appropriate to let loose and share one’s political and personal views with the reader than using a publicly-exposed blog.
- Ad-hoc Follow-up – Note that I didn’t say “random” follow-up. Ad-hoc broadcasts are a sensible way to inform your subscribers about events, speaking, partners and any other “breaking” news that occurs. (Oh, don’t forget that you don’t have to wait for Feedburner to crawl and push your blog post out the next day!)
- Increased Feedback & Engagement – Think about the type of engagement a blog (like this) provides. You have three options: read, comment and/or share on social media. Not bad, but email provides reader stats (opens/clicks) and personal replies to the sender. Clicks alone are a great indicator as to what resonates with your audience – and what doesn’t – so you can minimize list churn.
Subscriber Benefits
- Exclusive, Permissive Access – Email is a privilege, not a right and it’s up to you to allow the VIPs into your inbox for the few seconds to minutes you invest in reading and digesting what people send you. With that privilege comes responsibility from senders to respect your interests and if the violate, you can unsubscribe.
- Gain VIP, Insider Access – Big dogs that we follow offer exclusive offers on their ‘insider’ email lists. Because of that, publishers have an incentive to provide pre-release access to items and get feedback before going big with a new idea. Also, you have a higher chance of getting more intimate advice they don’t share elsewhere.
- Unique Experience – Some newsletters I receive from thought leaders share their ideas in a unique and creative way. For instance, some will make it lengthy one, some will make it short and simple and others will share their latest happenings in life and business.
Why would someone go back to using email instead of social media? I’m not suggesting businesses and entrepreneurs abandon social media. In fact, this keeps it tightly packaged and accessible for their audience and allows people to move closer to their inner-circle. It’s logical – email provides the element of surprise, exclusivity and value.
For example, I refer to once-blog-mogul entrepreneur and Mahalo.com owner, Jason Calacanis. Once very vocal and opinionated on his blog, he shifted his format to using his private newsletter for sharing his ideas. In those messages, it’s apparent that Jason opens up with more personal experiences, has more vigor in his rants and is more intimately speaking to the reader. He also uses Twitter extensively along with video to share his riffs in the space of technology and venture capital.
Using social media and email marketing together is a top demand among today’s marketers – and for a good reason. The more interactions a brand has with their audience, the more likely they will build trust and eventually convert when the time is right. Oh, and we can’t forget about that social media is a good way to build a quality audience.
With all the email marketing apps available on the market, why would someone choose Infusionsoft ($199/mo) over a Constant Contact ($15+/mo) for their email marketing needs? It depends on how personalized, relevant and segmented they want their messages to be. Doing this enables the entrepreneur to send different types of information to different people. It also depends on list size; emailing 100 people is a bit different from emailing 1000 people. It’s about value – not price – for the entrepreneur.
It’s safe to say that email marketing is here to stay. Good marketers have learned to listen more and utilize subscriber feedback effectively across broadcast mediums. Email marketing is a great way to connect and stay connected to your audience.
Posted In: Email Marketing
