Dear Friends, 

  

One of my clients recently asked me, What's the point of having a newsletter if I'm already using social media? 

 

I'm sure she's not the only one who has wondered about that. You have a limited amount of time to reach out to customers, and you don't want to waste it with redundant activities. 

 

With that said, here is my case for newsletters:

 

Your email subscribers are your friends

 

When people subscribe to your newsletter, it means that they like you. They are even willing to admit it (by giving you their email address). 

 

Like a friend, they are willing to open your emails, listen to your rants, and give a darn when you share your accomplishments and news. 

But like a friend, they'll wonder what happened if you don't keep in touch regularly, and they'll get annoyed if you talk to them in a way that they don't like.  

 

Treat your email subscribers like friends, and things will go smoothly.

 

Your readers are more likely to see an email than a post

 

Have you ever had a friend post something on social media and act offended when you didn't notice or respond to the post? Crazy right? How can they expect you to notice every random post? 

 

It's just as crazy to expect your customers and followers to notice every post you put out there either. 

 

Social media sites are overwhelming. I personally check in once or twice a day and read a few posts and then get out before I get sucked in. But when I check my email account, I'm ready to take care of business. 

 

When you post on your business social sites, people might see it, but they might not. You can't control it.

 

When you send out an email using Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, or any other program, you know exactly who received it and you can even find out who read it. 

 

You OWN your website and your newsletter

 

Isn't it confusing when you finally get used to a social media site and BAM! Everything changes. The formatting is different, you can't make sense of why you see some of your friends' posts, but not others, and you might even be the subject of someone's weird psychological experiment when you're on there. You have no control. 

 

You can use your newsletter as a post

 

Since I can't predict how a friend or potential customer might find me, I like to cover all the bases. 

 

So when I have a message that I want to share about my company, I like to start out by writing a newsletter, like this one. I send it out to the wonderful people on my list (Hi!).

 

Then I might take that message and re-use it as a blog post, because when people visit my website, they like to see that there is some fresh content, and having lots of articles on my site increases the chances that people will find the site. 

 

Sometimes I'll send my newsletter articles to the media, and they might get published. 

 

But I always share the link to my newsletter on my social media profiles. It becomes a meaty post that stands out from all the other fluff out there. People read them, and I get a lot of comments. And that is how a lot of new people find my newsletter and subscribe. 

 

You should do the same. 

When someone subscribes to your email list, you've made a new friend 

 

When you have a growing circle of friends, you don't have to talk to strangers any more. 

Putting an ad in the paper out of the blue is an example of talking to strangers. Talking to strangers is difficult and sometimes awkward. 

 

But if you make the same offer to your friends, you'll get better results.   

 

If you don't have a newsletter set up, let's get you started

 

If you would like to try making your own email newsletter, just reply to this email and I can help you set it up and get you going. 

Mandy Marksteiner

Copywriter and Marketing Consultant

505-515-7001