The newsletter is dead

Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is alive and well.

In fact, I’d even say its flourishing

Just recently, one of our clients did a $40,000 launch without a cent of paid advertising

Leveraging only their Instagram account and a series of 5 emails to a database we had been warming just once a week with value added content.

You see, business owners are quick to blame the technology, instead of accepting responsibility that they haven’t nailed the human element on the other side of the screen.

They have failed to understand what motivates their prospects to buy, and how to re-engage their existing clients to buy more (and more often).

Worst of all, they don’t have measures in place to determine how to optimise this moving forward - every campaign should be a building block for the next.

Now, I’m not blaming them - there is SO much conflicting information out there that it can be overwhelming.

So they stick to what they’ve always done.

Send newsletters.

They send a monthly round up, talking about the wins in the company and highlight their products or services.

It’s all about them.

I liken this to some door-to-door salesman strolling up to your front door with a lanyard and putting a big ol’ brochure in your face through the front door screen.

Judging by their ill-fitted suit from Lowes, you know they’re about to regurgitate a sales pitch that you didn’t ask for…

…and for your time, you’ll be rewarded with pamphlet that you’ll never read - it’s going straight in the bin.

Not only does this fail to convert, it can actually negatively affect the reputation of the business, you can easily go BACKWARDS from poorly thought out campaigns.

This is how 99% of businesses use their email marketing - and that’s exactly why it doesn’t work for them!

Before you send your next email campaign, here’s four key questions you need to ask - (use IDOC to easily remember it).

1 - How is the email ‘Intended’? 

Are you educating, starting a conversation (creating dialogue), directing (to another location), or using a sales mechanism.

When emails or content pieces try and do all things at the same time, they are largely ignored, and no action is taken.
People like simple pathways, don’t overcomplicate it.

For example, this email is a pure education piece, nothing else.

2 - How is it being ‘Delivered’? 

How are you sending your emails?

What platform are you using? Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Infusionsoft, ConvertKit all work with varying effect based on your needs.

There are rules to be followed to ensure it doesn’t end in the promotions, or spam folder of the inbox?

3 - How am I getting it ‘Opened’? 

If a tree falls in a forest, does anybody hear it?

If a great email is hidden under a generic headline, does anybody read it?

No, no they don’t.

Don’t put in all this effort to actually LAND in their inbox only to be left unopened, or manually dragged to the bin.

You don’t need to summarise the whole email in a few words, you need to entice them to open it.

4 - How do I get the Click (the CTA)?

This is the key - you need to entertain them throughout the email, and show the simple pathway to the destination, whether it’s an article, another resource, booking a call, or a visit to an online store.

Make it clear, and tell them how to proceed.

That’s it, just four steps and I promise you will notice a difference right away.

Peter Drucker puts it better than I ever could,

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

These steps might seem like additional work, but I promise there is nothing more time consuming than rinsing and repeating dated email tactics with no return on investment.

Do it right, and you add another powerful weapon to your arsenal.

Zac

ps. I’m not hating on ALL monthly round ups, these can be extremely effective in industries where there are lots of regulatory changes or updates - but this all loops back to INTENT - don’t just use them as a mixed bag of self-serving, promotional pieces.

pps. having a warm and engaged database plays in your favour in more than just domain. Stay tuned for my articles on Lookalike Audiences and The Prodigal Client - both of which show you how to maximise the contacts you already have.