Some are of the opinion that the newsletter has long ceased to be a channel worth focusing on. However, the experience of specialists and companies that generate high turnover with its help says something completely different.
The truth is that regardless of the times, there were always a handful of specialists who spoke of a given medium that it was “over”. Often, despite the fact that there were still users in it who gladly received and consumed the materials published in it. In the following article, while maintaining a common sense approach, we will show you the benefits of using mailing campaigns and regular sending of corporate newsletters.
Newsletter - What is it?
Let's start with the basics. If you don't know what a newsletter is, imagine a promotional newsletter you send to your customer. A newsletter is such a digital version of a traditional newspaper, sent to Internet users to their e-mail address. As in the case of ordering monthly subscriptions to traditional newspapers, here you have to subscribe to it or express your desire to receive it. Later, to the email address you provided, the emails that the company or store has declared themselves to send come. They are often educational, informational or marketing in nature.
As part of the newsletter you can provide various types of information, an example can be content such as:
- News: Information about the latest events, products, services or developments in your area.
- Articles and content: Texts, articles, tutorials or analyses on topics of interest to the audience.
- Promotions and offers: Passing special offers, discounts or promotions on products or services.
- Tips and tricks: Providing users with practical advice, guidance or expert knowledge.
- Events: Informing about upcoming events, conferences, webinars or meetings.
- Personalized content: Creating content tailored to the preferences and needs of specific audiences.
- Success Stories: Sharing successes, customer opinions or stories related to the activities of the sender.
The newsletter can be used in various fields such as business, media, education, culture or non-profit organizations. Its goal is to keep in touch with the audience, build relationships and provide valuable and interesting content. By sending regular newsletters, you can build customer loyalty, increase brand awareness and encourage interaction.
You can use mailing yourself (aka newsletter) in your online store or when running a service business. All you have to do is enter subscriptions to the mailing list on your website, inform the user about their rights accordingly, and then, using the appropriate tools, you will start planning and sending your first newsletters. The following article will help you go through this process step by step.
The role of mailing in the marketing activities of the company
Contrary to appearances, the newsletter and the mailing list of people who consciously subscribed to it represent a huge value for the company. At a time when there is talk of gradually cutting organic reach on each of the social media sites, mailing is a “safe haven”. It always allowed the message to reach people who had declared their desire to receive it earlier.
This is confirmed by many examples, also from our domestic Polish market, where companies successfully show the results obtained with the help of mailing campaigns.
They list the main advantages of a newsletter and building such a mailing base. They point out that this is the added value of the company. Most often, these are, for example, customers of an online store who have indicated their consent when buying (they already know us and we have a chance to resell) or people who had any contact with previously published content (and convinced by leaving us an email).
However, remember that the mailing itself should be consistent with other actions performed as part of the marketing strategy. If you carry out campaigns on social media, advertise on company cars or billboards in your locality, it is worth adjusting the newsletter to the character of the brand that has been exposed so far.
Another situation is when you have not yet worked in the company on a single way of communication, coherence and key visual. Then we will be happy to help you design each of these materials, from logos to banners and mailing, according to the latest trends. Just contact us and talk about a specific project.
Examples of effective use of the mailing list in Poland
Examples of people who successfully implement mailing campaigns for their company (or companies) while writing about their effectiveness and showing the results. By subscribing to their newsletter you will quickly see how with the help of the newsletter you can:
- inform about the scope of its activities,
- convince to use the services, e.g. through sent case studies,
- educate on solutions covering their area of activity,
- sell products and services,
- encourage you to join communities, like Facebook groups, closed open events and more.
Bartek Popiel - He has been blogging for many years liczysie.pl, which he uses to effectively educate his audience. His newsletter is a tool for sales, education and relationship maintenance.
Michal Szafranski - In his articles on the site jakedzacadze.pl often talks about the statistics that individual marketing channels give him. It contains a newsletter, which it treats as one of the permanent elements of its activities.
Basia Piasek - Anyone who has been subscribed to the newsletter Barbara Sand knows how much free material you can get. Of course, they are interspersed with all kinds of community invitations and product proposals.
Mirek Burnejko - Author Academies, Cloud Storage and several other initiatives. He sends in his mailing links useful in running a business, various kinds of articles, curiosities and proposals to buy products. Like the aforementioned, despite the passing of the years, it still uses with great commitment the potential of the tool, which is the newsletter.
Your favorite online store - Look at your favorite online store and its brand promotion using the mailing list. It is very likely that he will record the results of realizing communication in this way. A newsletter is almost a must for every modern online marketer. Not taking advantage of the potential of the almost free opportunity to collect a base of potential customers with the potential for the next sale is a huge financial loss for the company in the long run. Be like your favorite store and learn from the best in the industry.
Dedicated online stores and websites of service companies designed and created by us almost always include the possibility of subscribing to mailing. We advise clients to enter into this option as soon as, based on experience, we see the value that a business can gain by following the advice.
Can the newsletter and its creation process be free or do we always pay for it?
The mere sending of the newsletter, the collection of e-mails, the collection and other activities related to it are free. To conclude, however, we would not tell the whole truth. What is needed for this marketing channel to work is time and competence. That's what we pay the most for.
If we want to include a graphic in our email message, someone has to do it.
If our content is to cause a given reaction on the recipient, it should be written by a professional (or by you, if you learn effective copywriting beforehand).
If everything is to be done in accordance with the law, we need to make sure that the steps, consents and regulations we take are consistent with what we are actually doing.
Each of the listed things costs money, and we have not yet switched to mailing programs.
Mailing database - Build a list of recipients who want to read and watch you
Now that we've gone through the basics, it's time to show you the process of acquiring contacts and building a mailing base. After all, sending a newsletter will not make sense when there is no one on the other side. Follow the tips and you will significantly increase your chances of building a valuable audience.
- Decide whether to give your customers something in return if they subscribe to your newsletter.
Often, users sign up for a mailing list because they receive something in return. The most important thing is that in what you offer them for leaving an address, a real value that will take them to the place (professionally or privately) where they want to be.
Examples:
- an ebook about your business,
- a dedicated, short online course on an issue of interest to your potential client,
- a promise of a specific thing or knowledge that the user will receive in the future.
It is worth mentioning that you should put the real needs of your audience first. Preferably by interviewing similar people beforehand. You will then avoid dividing the situation of the many companies that have released ebooks to collect emails that no one has read. Among other things, because they were made according to what “the company thought the customer needed” instead of what they actually needed.
- Advertise information about the possibility of joining the mailing base in other channels.
It is advisable to advertise the possibility of joining the newsletter and mailing list also in other media and plan other content for its subscribers. If you have a facebook, instagram or YouTube channel, these are good places to start the fight to the first registered person.
- Include the possibility of registration for orders in the online store and for blog entries on the company website.
If you have an online store where sales started, be sure to take care of the relevant consents, terms and conditions and the possibility of subscribing to the newsletter when placing an order. This is standard when selling online.
Or maybe you have a service company website and run a blog? Work on your website to allow you to add the possibility of subscribing to the mailing list, for example in the middle of a valuable blog post. The user who reads it then may consider that he wants to read more of your material (if the one he is reading now is of value to him). In this situation, you get a better chance of getting a new newsletter subscriber.
Is it worth using ready-made, commercial databases of email addresses?
It depends, of course. If the database is constantly updated, if it is built by a professional company for many years, then of course it is worth it.
It is important to pay attention to whether the company maintains such a database in an orderly manner, whether it offers selections and catalogs by industry or takes into account demographic data, pkd codes and many other filters by which we can precisely determine the target group of the mailing campaign. An example of professionally maintained databases of companies in which we can find not only e-mail addresses, but also the phones of decision-makers in Poland and abroad is the database offered by InfoBrokering.com.pl
Planning a mailing campaign in line with other marketing activities
We have already mentioned that mailing should be part of other marketing activities that together form a coherent marketing funnel. This then brings in the company customers. This is the most effective way to generate and increase profits.
By creating a comprehensive marketing strategy of the company along with a plan for a year or more ahead, you will increase your chances of success. Then you can be sure that each of the marketing channels and messages sent will work together to form a coherent whole.
Programs for sending mailing
There are free and paid programs for sending and supervising mailing campaigns. Free ones are the ones we most often encounter in ready-made online stores on SaaS platforms. There, often even from the admin panel, the store owner can send mailings to people who have previously agreed to it.
If, on the other hand, you want to create personalized, advanced, visually attractive and representative emails, you will need one of the paid mailing programs. The market is currently oversaturated with similar solutions. The only thing an entrepreneur should do is choose the one that best suits the company and plan.
First you need to create a plan, and then choose the mailing tool that will allow you to implement it in the best possible way. Some of the tools available on the market are, among others:
- Freshmail,
- MailChimp,
- GetResponse,
- MailerLite,
- Redlink.
Summary
Probably after reading the article, you, like us, found that sending mailings makes sense. Of course, assuming that it goes hand in hand with other marketing activities of the company and is valuable for the type of user we want to reach. It remains for us to wish good luck. If, on the other hand, you need support in creating graphic elements of mailing, contact us. We will help you design your campaign materials.
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