Remember the great Facebook crash of 2021? If you cringe when I mention that you may be one of those business owners who have built your business on the “rented” ground that is Facebook — or any other social media platform. If a social platform goes down, how will you keep in touch with current and potential clients? What will you do if you only interact with them on social media and social media goes away? We put together this list of 5 newsletter best practices to help you get started.
I was watching the panic from individuals once Facebook came back online with a measure of humor. When I work with clients, I always tell them to capture email addresses and have a website toward which you drive traffic. Don’t rely on a free social media platform because when it goes away so too might your business. If the outage at Facebook told you nothing, it should have spurred you to look toward ways to stay in touch that don’t involve only social media platforms.
What is a business owner to do? Start a newsletter as a way to get delivered right into your client’s inboxes and not have them wondering how to get in touch with you because they only interacted through Facebook.
5 Newsletter Best Practices
- Give them something they want. Don’t send a newsletter just to say you’ve sent a newsletter. If you don’t send content your clients want, they will stop opening them. They are inviting you into their private inbox, keep them welcoming you in.
- Reward them for having subscribed. Offer first peeks, free printables, monthly giveaways, an ebook, discounts. Ask them what they’d find valuable and give ’em what they want.
- Be consistent. If your list comes to recognize your pattern of sending an email every Monday with motivational tips and insight, they will look forward to it. Don’t skip a week or change days without letting them know a change is coming. Conversely, if you told them you’d only email once a month, don’t start sending weekly, unless you let them know about the change.
- Stay in your lane. If your subscribers came to you for XYZ then don’t all of a sudden start giving ABC. Don’t offer a lead magnet on one topic, only to have your newsletter be a different topic entirely — your subscriber won’t appreciate a bait and switch.
- Never hit send without having a call to action. Always add a call to action: Email us today; grab your free report here; let me know how I can help; sign up for your complementary XYZ today.
Are you sending a newsletter? What are your open rates and click-throughs? Do you need help starting or maintaining a newsletter? Reach out to Rex Richard and he can help you strategize your newsletter from idea to launch.