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The strategic use of email newsletters, measuring open rates, and the best time to send your newsletter
Just Add Content (JAC) is an email newsletter distribution service provided by Appletree, which creates customised newsletter templates with a range of additional writing services. Businesses can have JAC’s dedicated newsletter writers produce monthly newsletter content for them, following an interview and planning sessions.
In part three of the interview with founder Chantal Cornelius, we discussed the strategic use of newsletters, the impact of blogging, and measuring the success of your newsletter.
Jonathan Fink (Momentum): Has blogging had an impact on how people use newsletters?
Chantal Cornelius (Appletree): Yes. Some people have decided that they don’t need a newsletter as they have a blog, but I believe that you need both. Newsletters can be pushed out to people, but a blog has to be visited to be read. Another advantage of having both is that you can talk to different audiences if you have a newsletter and a blog. Twitter gives another set of contact opportunities again.
Jonathan Fink (Momentum): How do you think newsletters will evolve in the future?
Chantal Cornelius (Appletree): Lots of people think they will die out but I don’t. The newsletters that will survive are the ones that are part of a strategic marketing plan. It’s such a cost effective way of keeping in touch. A business can put more planned information in newsletter.
I think we will see a great deal of evolution in the tracking and monitoring aspects and also in the realm of data interpretation. Some people don’t care about it, but for those who watch ROI very closely, the tracking aspect is very important. That’s why we’ve been developing the reporting systems for JAC, in particular the monitoring of open rates, as this is such a useful piece of data.
Jonathan Fink (Momentum): What kind of data does newsletter software typically generate and what should business owners do with this data?
Chantal Cornelius (Appletree): The open rate is the main statistic really. A newsletter can be sent to all subscribers and get a 65% open rate for one topic, and it might get a 99% open rate for another topic.
It’s a useful statistic to monitor as when the open rates start dropping, that’s the time to start asking questions. Are they writing right material, are they sending it to the right people? Are they sending it at the right time?
Jonathan Fink (Momentum): Is there an ideal time to send out a newsletter?
Chantal Cornelius (Appletree): That’s a good point to mention actually; Monday morning and Friday afternoon aren’t good times to send a newsletter! Monday afternoon is better than Monday morning so the newsletter doesn’t get lost in a pile of spam. Tuesday morning is a good time. It depends on the content and lots of factors that the sender has no control over.
JAC can be programmed to send a newsletter at a specific time, so it can be written and loaded in advance of the sending out time. I also advise people to never send a newsletter out on a Sunday afternoon; I think it looks unprofessional, as does tweeting outside of business hours.
Jonathan Fink (Momentum): What is the most effective way to tie in newsletter campaigns with Google analytics?
Chantal Cornelius (Appletree): Well, when a JAC newsletter is published it’s also made into a webpage, so that’s where the Google analytics data can be involved.
One of our clients is a great example of why putting newsletters online like JAC does is a good idea. She published a newsletter about accountability and mindset. Someone found it in a Google search and went on to become her biggest client. The customer found her newsletter before her website.
Jonathan Fink (Momentum): What factors tend to improve a newsletter’s performance?
Chantal Cornelius (Appletree): Calls to action are definitely important. They need to be specific and ‘don’t make me think”. For example, if there is a workshop, link to the online booking page. Make it easy to act upon the newsletter contents.
Most of our client’s newsletters are educational and focused on keeping in touch. One client writes a bi-monthly newsletter, in the intervening months they focus on a specific workshop with discounts for newsletter recipients, so they are getting best of both worlds. Just having a newsletter promoting workshops wouldn’t work as well; they need to build the relationship first.
I also think that people have to be careful about the ways they use newsletters to encourage people to go to their website. Don’t just have a link to website material – it’s making the reader work if that link is the only reason for the newsletter. The reader has got to have a compelling reason to go - tip sheets to build on the newsletter topic, for example - so they know they will get something useful for their efforts.
Another factor that helps with performance is interaction with networking in the real world. I’ve been to networking events where someone I have never met before has come over and started talking to me about the contents of my latest newsletter! That personal connection has already been made, and it oils the wheels of making good contacts at those events. When you add people to your list that you met for the first time at these events, then you are maintaining contact afterwards.
Businesses are more likely to work with suppliers that have kept in touch. Even if they do nothing in a year of receiving your newsletter, it has been no extra effort on your part, and the next year you’ll be top of their list when they need someone like you. That’s the essence of newsletter contact: staying ‘top of mind’ with the minimum of effort.