Six words you don’t want to hear from a client or anyone who knows you say – “I didn’t know you did that.” Those words represent missed opportunities for you to help people. Email newsletters are a powerful, low cost, non-salesy way to increase awareness.
We work with a client from a large national bank’s insurance services division. He is using a simple MailChimp email template to educate his customer niche and generate new opportunities – all for less than he was spending on traditional advertising with far less results.
His formula is simple.
- A personalized email template with an unchanging header and footer that includes pertinent information
- A six-month pipeline of great article topics based on key industry trends, common problems customers face, and solutions to those problems
- Each month the newsletter contains one feature article presented in an interview format. We interview an expert in his industry with him. Then we write up the results in a 600 to 1,000- word article
- Using MailChimp the newsletter reaches a database of existing contacts. Through built-in analytics we can evaluate open, bounce, and click-through rates as well as unsubscribes, and more
- Each article is syndicated through the newsletters of his partners boosting his reach within the industry
- The article is posted to LinkedIn and several “Tweets” can create more backlinks and general exposure
After the first month, he had already received an email from the CEO of a company that “didn’t know he did that” but now they do, and are ready to talk.
MailChimp is free for distribution lists under 2,000 and the cost for larger lists is nominal. Building a professional look within the MailChimp template usually takes some help from us. But beyond construction, once we write and insert the article, clients can choose to manage their own database, hit send, and assess the analytics.
We’re here to help with all or just a few of the steps.
Check it out at www.mailchimp.com. Play around with building your own email newsletter or give us a call to help get you started. The key is to keep the design and information simple, yet consistent. Plan to reach your audience at least once a month. And don’t forget to add an email sign-up plugin to your website.