Why Have A Newsletter?

With the success of “social media” sites like Twitter and Facebook, a newsletter may seem like an old fashioned “been there, done that” sort of effort. Granted, those interactive websites are the new technology, and used by just about anyone with a computer. Compared to that, the traditional newsletter may appear out of date, but newsletters still have value and a newsletter has some significant benefits that can make a difference.

Your limited to about 140 characters in Twitter, and with Facebook you typically can use only a few brief sentences, and you’re often sharing time and space with other unrelated messages and distractions. A newsletter can provide far more detailed content, with some “hidden” advantages that may not be apparent at first glance.

First, your customers subscribed to your newsletter. That means they have an active interest in your company or organization and the services or products you provide. You already have a “captive audience” without needing to spend time and space with a advertisement or sales pitch. Instead, you can directly communicate the message, tailored to your subscriber’s profile.

Unlike advertisements, you’re not “fishing” for customers. With a newsletter, you’ve already caught them. All that’s left is the care and feeding. Providing insider, “privileged” information, and with the demographic information you received when they subscribed, you can get a better profile of your customer’s interests and needs, and then provide content that is useful and value to your subscribers.  And as an incentive to continue as a subscriber and customer, you can offer special discounts as well as receive input and feedback.

A well written and well designed newsletter is not only an advertisement for your company, but a personalized public relations tool to measure the success of your company and its products.