Why email newsletters are so valuable

They’re the best tool for supplementing websites

You can’t beat an e-zine for complementing a website, writes usability expert Jakob Nielsen. After all, he says:

• E-zines push; websites pull.
• E-zines are best for communicating news; websites are best for communicating deep research.
• E-zines nurture relationships; websites facilitate fulfillment.

Better than social media

“Email newsletters are a better way to stay in touch with customers than updates posted on social networks like Facebook or Twitter,” Nielsen says. That’s because:

• E-zines sit in the inbox. But new social media postings constantly replace old ones in the news stream.
• People often use social media for keeping in touch with family and friends. Business updates may seem out of place in this environment.
• E-zines can deliver more useful information than status updates, especially at 144 characters.

Indeed, Nielsen reports, only 10% of participants in a recent study chose to receive updates from companies through Facebook; 90% opted to do so through an e-zine.

Nurture the relationship

Your e-zine subscribers are usually your most loyal customers and fans, Nielsen says. So reward them and nurture that relationship:

• Deliver great value in your e-zine. Give them news they can use and share with their own fans and followers.
• Announce news in the e-zine before updating via social media.

That’s important, Nielsen says. E-zines influenced business-to-business purchases for half of the participants in his study.

Email newsletters remain powerful

Plus, email newsletters are:

• Cheap. Emailing a company’s own list costs only $1 a sale, according to Forrester Research. That compares with $20 a sale using snail mail.
• Viral. If email newsletter readers like what they receive, they forward the message to 11 people, on average, according to the Direct Marketing Association.
• Well read. People who do open email newsletters read, on average, 64% of each issue’s content, according to a study by IMN Inc., an e-marketing firm.
• Personal. Readers have an emotional response to newsletters that they don’t have to Websites, according to usability guru Jakob Nielsen. That helps you develop a stronger relationship with your subscribers.

“Email newsletters are so powerful that the best of them do have a future, despite ever-more-adverse conditions,” Nielsen says.

Are you tapping the benefits of this powerful communication vehicle?

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Sources:

Jakob Nielsen, “Email Newsletters Pick Up Where Websites Leave Off,” Alertbox, Sept. 30, 2002

Forbes, June 10, 2002