The Pros and Cons of Newsletters for Small Businesses [+7 Tips to be Successful!]
Staying top-of-mind with your customers is important for any small business looking to build loyalty and drive growth.
But how do you achieve this? One effective marketing strategy is to send out newsletters. Think of them as a digital postcard from your business, sent straight to your customers' inboxes.
With a newsletter, you can share news, updates, promotions, and valuable insights that keep your prospective, new, and existing customers engaged. However, it's vital to know where the advantages and disadvantages of this email marketing strategy lay and how to set yourself up for success— and that's what we'll be exploring down below.
The Pros
From boosting brand awareness to nurturing loyal customers, a well-crafted newsletter can be a powerful tool in your digital marketing arsenal. In fact, 60% of newsletter subscribers say that marketing emails have influenced their recent purchases, showcasing how impactful they can be.
Below, we'll explore the benefits of newsletters and how they can help you achieve your marketing goals.
Cost-Effective Marketing Efforts
Email marketing is an important channel for small businesses, with an estimated 64% of them using it to reach customers. In fact, a staggering 87% of small businesses consider email marketing essential to marketing strategy.
One of the primary reasons for this is the cost-effectiveness of newsletters, which can be especially beneficial for small businesses with limited marketing budgets. Businesses can expect to see a return on investment (ROI) of $36.00 for every $1.00 spent, making it a highly efficient (and affordable!) way to reach and engage with customers.
With average email marketing costs ranging from $0.05 - $0.10 per email sent, even small businesses with limited budgets can typically afford to build and maintain an email list, send regular newsletters, and drive conversions without breaking the bank.
This is a fraction of the cost of direct mail campaigns, which cost between $0.25 - $1.50 per household you want to reach.
Direct Communication with Your Audience
Newsletters provide a direct line of communication between your business and your audience, which is pivotal in maintaining customer engagement.
Unlike social media posts that may get lost in a crowded feed, newsletters land directly in your subscribers' inboxes. This direct approach allows you to deliver targeted messages, promotions, and updates to people who have explicitly shown interest in your business.
Opportunity to Create Valuable Content
According to HubSpot, 84.3% of consumers say they check their emails at least once a day. Capitalize on this by ensuring you're providing something of value that your customers will want to read!
Newsletters offer an excellent way to showcase your expertise. By sharing high-quality content, such as industry insights, tips, and behind-the-scenes looks at your business, you can position yourself as a leader in your field. This helps build trust with your readers and keeps your brand top-of-mind when they're ready to make a purchase.
Building and Nurturing Loyal Customers
Regular communication through newsletters helps foster a sense of loyalty among your customers.
By providing exclusive content, special offers, or early access to new products, you can make your subscribers feel valued and appreciated. Regular scheduling, such as sending a quarterly or monthly newsletter, also helps build consistency---something that showcases reliability and effort to your audience.
While it may seem small, this personal touch can turn casual customers into loyal brand advocates who are likelier to repeat purchases and recommend your business to others.
Measurable Results
Unlike some traditional marketing methods, email newsletters offer easily measurable results.
Most email marketing platforms, such as Active Campaign, provide detailed analytics on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. This data allows you to refine your strategy, test different approaches, and optimize your content for better engagement and results.
The Cons
While newsletters can be a valuable addition to your marketing mix, they're not without their challenges. As with any marketing effort, there are potential drawbacks to consider before launching a newsletter campaign.
Time-Consuming to Produce
Creating high-quality newsletter content regularly can be time-consuming, especially for small business owners who are already juggling multiple responsibilities.
Consistently coming up with fresh, engaging content that resonates with your audience requires dedication and resources that some small businesses may struggle to allocate. If you don't have a dedicated marketing team, consider outsourcing the work or utilizing AI tools to help streamline the process.
Risk of Being Ignored or Marked as Spam
With the sheer volume of emails people receive daily, there's always a risk that your newsletter may be ignored or, worse, marked as spam. After all, approximately 14.3% of all emails go missing or have been caught by popular spam filters.
Along the same line, if your content isn't relevant or valuable to your subscribers, they may unsubscribe or simply stop engaging with your emails altogether.
Potential for Information Overload
In an attempt to provide value, some businesses may fall into the trap of overloading their newsletters with too much information. This can overwhelm readers and lead to decreased engagement.
Striking the right balance between informative and concise can be challenging, but it's important if you want to keep your reader engaged.
Technical Challenges
We love technology, but it still has its fair share of challenges. E-newsletters, like all digital media, run the risk of technical issues.
Ensuring your newsletter displays correctly across various inboxes and devices can be tricky. Additionally, managing your subscriber list, handling bounced emails, navigating software upgrades and bugs, and complying with anti-spam laws require ongoing attention and expertise.
Limited Reach
While newsletters can be an effective way to communicate with your existing customer base, they have limited reach when it comes to attracting new customers.
Unlike social media or SEO efforts, newsletters primarily target people who are already familiar with your brand and have opted to receive your communications.
7 Tips to Create Successful Newsletters for Your Business
By implementing these seven tips, you'll be well on your way to creating successful newsletters that engage your audience, provide value, and contribute to your overall marketing goals.
1. Define Your Target Audience and Purpose
Before launching your newsletter, you'll need to figure out who your audience is and what purpose you want your content to serve. Ask yourself:
What are the main goals of your newsletter? (e.g., driving sales, sharing company news, educating customers)
Who is your ideal reader?
What type of content will resonate most with your audience?
By answering these questions, you can tailor your content to meet your readers' needs and expectations.
2. Make It Easy to Sign Up
One of the keys to growing your newsletter subscriber base is making the sign-up process as simple and seamless as possible. Consider these strategies:
Place sign-up forms prominently on your website, including on the homepage and within blog posts
Use pop-ups or slide-ins to capture visitors' attention (but be careful not to be too intrusive)
Offer an incentive for signing up, such as a discount code or exclusive content
Utilize social media to promote your newsletter and provide easy sign-up links
3. Work Within Your Marketing Budget
Newsletters can be a cost-effective marketing tool, but it's important to work within your budget constraints. To maximize your resources:
Start with a free or low-cost email marketing platform that suits your needs
Invest time in creating high-quality content in-house before considering outsourcing
In lieu of graphic designers, utilize free design tools like Canva for creating visually appealing newsletters
Leverage AI tools, user-generated content, and/or curated industry news to supplement your original content
Focus on growing your organic subscribers rather than buying email lists
Remember, consistency and quality are more important than flashy features or expensive tools.
4. Provide Relevant Content That Resonates with Your Audience
The key to a successful newsletter is providing content your readers find valuable and relevant. Consider industry insights and trends, how-to guides and tutorials, customer success stories, behind-the-scenes looks at your business, and exclusive offers or promotions.
Remember to maintain a balance between promotional content and informative, engaging material. A good rule of thumb is to follow the 80/20 rule: 80% valuable content and 20% promotional content.
5. Optimize Your Newsletter Design and Layout
A well-designed newsletter can significantly impact readability and engagement. Consider these design tips:
Use a clean, mobile-responsive layout. Launching a mobile-responsive email design has been shown to increase mobile clicks by 15%
Incorporate your brand colors and logo for consistency
Break up text with subheadings, bullet points, and images
Use a legible font and appropriate font sizes
Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout the newsletter
6. Establish a Consistent Schedule and Stick to It
You've likely heard it before, but that doesn't make it any less accurate. Consistency is key when it comes to newsletters.
Establish a regular publishing schedule that works for your business and stick to it. Whether you choose to send weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletters, make sure you can maintain that frequency without sacrificing quality.
7. Monitor and Analyze Your Results
It's essential to monitor and analyze your newsletter results regularly to ensure they meet your marketing goals.
The easiest way to accomplish this is by using a newsletter management system, such as ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, or Constant Contact, which automatically track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, unsubscribe rates, engagement, and subscriber growth.
Use this data to refine your strategy, test different approaches, and continuously improve your newsletter's performance.
Take Your Email Marketing to the Next Level: Schedule a Free Consultation Today
At Noetic Marketer, our digital marketing experts can help you design, implement, and optimize a successful newsletter campaign that resonates with your target audience and drives real results for your business. From creating promotional emails to design and analytics, we've got you covered.
Contact us today for a free consultation, and let's discuss how we can help your small business thrive with the power of email marketing!
Who We Are
Noetic Marketer is a full-service digital marketing agency with roots in Ottawa and the GTA. We specialize in creating and optimizing digital marketing campaigns for higher education, e-commerce, professional services, and contractors.
Over the past few years, our team has developed and implemented complete digital marketing solutions for professional service providers across North America.
Our services include digital strategy consultations, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media advertising, content marketing, website design, email marketing, CRM implementation, and conversion rate optimization.
About the Author
With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of people's motivations, Jess brings her unique perspective and expertise to every project she takes on at Noetic.
With over ten years of copywriting experience, Jess is passionate about distilling complex concepts into engaging, accessible, and SEO-friendly content that resonates. Her mission is to craft written words and content strategy that brings your vision to life.
When she's not working on a project, Jess loves to explore the great outdoors, volunteer with animals, spend time with family, and game to her heart's content.
