By Meryl K. Evans
With the arrival of syndication or RSS technology, many claimthe email newsletter is dead. Not true. Newsletters continue tooffer companies a marketing tool that allows them to build andretain relationships with their clients.
RSS complements, not replaces the email newsletter. Some readersrefuse to read email newsletters and only view content in RSSfeed readers. So cover your bases by offering both options.
The same thing applies to weblogs, also known as blogs. Theseonline journals are updated on a daily, weekly or wheneverbasis. When you release a new issue, keep your bases covered bylinking to your newsletter and its feed in the blog.
By the numbers: email marketing prevails
In October 2004, the Online Publishers Association (OPA)released the Internet Activity Index (IAI) stating users goonline for two primary reasons, content and communications -- 40percent for each. Pew Internet and American Life Project's datafrom November 2004 indicates 59 percent of adults have beenonline and 92 percent send email. This data supports the ideathat email marketing is still the most effective use of theInternet for marketing purposes today.
Web pages are static and require users to search for them. Oncefound, the page must be bookmarked, or it will be lost again.Email, however, lands directly in a user's inbox, avoiding spamfilters and must be actively deleted to be lost. If the emailalso satisfies the second most common use by supplying valuableinformation to the reader, then it has a greater impact.
Email marketing fuses email and research into a single channeland provides marketers with a powerful, yet affordable, tool.This type of marketing remains inexpensive, supple and easilytailored for any given demographic. You might think that emailmarketing reaches a small audience, and other more traditionalmarketing channels will provide better saturation, but that israpidly changing.
Internet World Stats indicated 182 million users used theInternet as of September 2004. About 25 percent sign on eachyear, and in 2005, we'll reach one billion users. According toBurst! Media, 60 percent of those connecting to the Internetfrom business use it for email. The second reason is to checkthe news, followed by looking up weather information.
It's the content, baby
When a newsletter full of valuable information arrives in theuser's inbox, it capitalizes on these two main uses: email andinformation.
When applied in a business-to-business application, emailnewsletter marketing has even more power. Almost 60 percent ofemployed people have Internet access at work. Eighty percent ofprofessionals and managers use the Internet, and 70 percent ofthose in sales, technical or administrative support positionsuse it. Therefore, email newsletters in a B2B application missonly a small percentage of your target market, the decisionmakers. And even this small gap is rapidly closing.
Internet use in the workplace is growing at a vigorous 54percent rate annually. Soon, email newsletters will saturate amarket as completely as direct mail, print, radio or televisionadvertising.
Not all email newsletters are effective, however, despite theimpressive demographic support. Here are tips on how to maximizeyour capitalization on Americans' Internet use patterns.
Ask permission
An effective email newsletter gains a readers' permission beforeputting them on the mailing list. Such marketing buildscommunication and goodwill without annoying the reader.
We know about spam all too well and we don't want to put suchemail in people's inboxes. Spam causes serious and expensiveoverloads to both ISPs and individual recipients. Since it ispoorly targeted, it is ineffective. Therefore, build yourmailing list by asking people to opt-in to receive yournewsletter.
As you know, opt-in email asks users to agree to become part ofan email list, and they are not subscribed to the newsletterunless they take action. Such lists are powerful because theyindicate every person on the list has given permission to havetheir email addresses included in the marketer's database.
Content is king (or queen)
The second most important hallmark of an effective emailnewsletter is its content. People will give permission to sendthem your newsletter if you give them something in return, likecontent that helps them in their lives. Newsletters distributedwith information that is relevant to the audience's lives areanticipated and eagerly read.
Many marketers, whether professionals or otherwise, reflexivelywant to tout their own company's achievements. They want toclimb onto the mountaintops and scream about how great they are,how many sales their company made, the partnerships they areforming, and how their product is the best thing to happen sincesliced bread.
The problem with this is these marketers are distributinginformation that is important to them, not to their readers.Select articles or other content that pass the following litmustest: Does the content provide value to my customers, or is itself-serving?
Once your newsletter is in tip-top shape, make the most of youronline marketing efforts by integrating all available optionsincluding email newsletters, RSS feeds, blogs and a Web site.It's a cheap and effective way to reach your prospects andclients.
Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com
