Your Blog: Connecting Your Marketing Content

Like most bloggers, I work to find ideas for content. Like most bloggers, I work to find ways to bring additional readers to my blog. And like most business owners, I work to find ways to connect all my marketing content.

So I had a V-8 moment last week when I came across an idea on how to combine all three.

Add your electronic newsletters to your blog.

Like I said - a V-8 moment.  You know, the way you slap yourself on the forehead when you realize the obvious is right in front of you.

Last fall I wrote a series of posts about how to develop your newsletter content, how to create your electronic newsletter, and how to market your newsletter and yourself. I truly don't know why it did not occur to me to add my newsletter to my blog.

I wish I could find the article I had read which gave me the idea. Prior to writing this post, I spent an hour looking in the usual places where I store similar gems I find. But alas, it's nowhere to be found. So, without that article as my resource, I'll give you a few reasons why I think adding your newsletter to your blog is such a great idea:

• Most newsletters are written with customer-friendly content. Most blogs (this one included) struggle with writing content that is customer-specific. Adding your newsletters to your blog enables your customers to search your "archives" in an easier format to learn more about your and your product. 
• As your customers spend more time "in" your blog, the more they learn about your.  Think about it - your newsletter represents how your product and your brand have evolved. The more your customers learn about you, the more making a purchase from you is a personal decision, rather than a business decision.
• Past newsletters give your customers a glimpse into your future. For example, I have featured Strawberry scents as the Fragrance of the Month for the past two years in June. What are the odds I'll over it again this year? This can help your customers plan their future purchases.
• Your newsletters and your blogs can support each other, driving content from one to the other. In addition to linking your products in your newsletter back to your shop, your newsletter can link to your blog for more information. Again, try to keep your customers' attention as long as possible.
• Adding newsletters together with the appropriate tags can help optimize your search engine results. Aren't we always looking for ways to do that?

So, in the spirit of transparency, click here to view my April newsletter! Seriously, you'll soon see my blog updated with a link to all my past electronic newsletters. I challenge you to do the same!

Happy sales!

Dorene

P.S. - I'll add the link to the article I read with more information....just as soon as I find it!

Writing a Newsletter, Part One

I first began D'Lites by Dorene over a year ago, and my first marketing piece was my newsletter.  Today, my newsletter remains my primary marketing initiative.

Why?  In this day of social media, why would I spend my precious few available hours writing a newsletter?

My answer is that in this day of social media, a newsletter is more important than ever.

Consider the following:

1.) Emails still grab the attention of the reader.  According to this post by Step-by-Step Marketing:

• Email has three time as many readers as Twitter and Facebook.
• You're able to reach an older audience (translation, audience with more disposable income) with email who aren't on social media channels.
• Your newsletter is in their email box, not "out there" in Never Neverland.
• Email is still the method by which most people prefer to receive information.
• More people are accustomed to buying through an email medium than through Facebook or other social media. (Isn't this what it's all about?!?)

2.) Emails provide a way for you to "talk" to your customer, to your buyers, to your constituents. Yes, obviously, I blog. And yes, I tweet. Your blogs should be a medium for customers, buyers, and others to get to know you personally.  Tweets are a way for the world to get to know you in 140 characters or less.  But a newsletter is a way for you to communicate professionally to your audience.  Your newsletter can be one page, two pages, or however many you choose to publish.  You are limited only by your creativity and your budget.  I like to use my newsletter to give in depth information about my fragrance of the month, about the growth of my business to those who have watched me grow, and to provide an updated listing of products and fragrances available.  

3.) Newsletters can easily become printed promotional materials.  I take my newsletters everywhere I go.  The printed copies go to my stores, craft shows/farmer's markets, are mailed to customers who aren't on my email distribution list, and are included in my orders.  What better marketing tool than to include information about my upcoming products with an order being distributed? Think about something you've received by mail order. What is included? Almost every order from mainstream companies include promotional materials.  Set yourself apart from the rest, or include yourself in their world, by including marketing materials of your own!  If the customer loves my product and my packaging (which I hope she/he does), she/he has the immediate opportunity to learn more about other products by perusing my newsletter! 

In essence, newsletters need to be a primary focal point of your marketing.  You only need to write a newsletter once a month, and the mileage you can gain from them is well worth the input.  In upcoming posts, I'll be addressing issues of how to write a newsletter, how to publish an online newsletter, and how to grow you newsletter list.  Please comment below on what you'd like to learn about writing a newsletter, about how to fit it into your already packed schedule, or how to use a newsletter for marketing outreach. 

Till then,

Happy sales!

Dorene