This feature is not just another article that talks about tactical issues such as which subject line is best or whether it is best to use a generic or personal ‘From’ address.

While these issues are all valid more important issues such as why are you sending e-newsletters in the first place and what you are actually going to offer your list that they cannot get on numerous other lists.

By taking a step back and understanding these issues before rushing into your newsletters, your newsletters will become more targeted and more valuable to the recipients.

Why are you sending e-newsletters?

Typically the answer to the above question will be one or a mixture of the following:

• Convert prospects to customers
• Retain existing customers
• Cross-sell and sell more to existing customers
• Position your company as the authorative voice in your industry
• “Our competitors all have one so we should as well”

Apart from the last answer they are all good reasons for sending newsletters as the medium is ideal for communicating with prospects and customers over a long period of time.

Many newsletters will try and cover a few of the above objectives with a single version. This can work in some cases. For example:

An online retailer of CD’s may want to convert prospects to customers along with retaining more customers.

They compete almost entirely on price and the newsletter reflects this with a selection of the bestsellers shown with their low price highlighted and the nearest competitor’s price also shown so the difference is clear.

It serves both purposes by offering lower prices than the prospect is currently getting while existing customers are reminded that there is no point going to another online shop because they would have to pay more.

But what about the vast majority of businesses that do not compete on price but on service levels, quality, relationships, expertise and more? The example below explains this:

A B2B supplier of project management software solutions would not be maximising the effectiveness of their newsletters if they sent the same messages to both prospects and existing customers.

Prospects should receive case studies and articles on how the software can save the organisation thousands of pounds in costs each year by making it easier to manage large-scale project rollouts in their particular industry.

However existing customers would benefit from tips and features on how to get the most out of the software to ensure they realise the full benefits and therefore renew their annual subscription to the software and buy further licences.

Having analysed what you want to achieve with your newsletter, and how many variants you require for each of your target markets, it is now possible to decide how you are going to achieve it.

Why are your newsletters indispensable?

If your newsletter is going to be effective it goes without saying that people will have to read it. With so many messages arriving in their email inboxes customers will delete anything they do not feel they will benefit from reading. Think about what your recipients would find your newsletter so useful they would look forward to receiving your email.

Here are some examples:

B2C Newsletters

• Offer money off vouchers in the email
• Newsletter specific competitions and prize draws
• Topical jokes

B2B Newsletters:

• Latest industry benchmarks
• Specialist market research
• Other useful information they cannot easily get elsewhere

It is important not to just do what your competitors are doing – that defeats the object. People will not stay subscribed to two companies newsletters if they both offer exactly the same.

The next challenge is getting the balance between fantastic content and the sales pitch that creates your return on investment. While good newsletters should provide great content – if this content does not lead to you increasing your sales (if that is your objective) then it is hard to justify your return on investment. However if you reduce the value of the newsletter to the recipient by attempting to be too aggressive in your sales pitch then your recipients will stop reading your newsletter and unsubscribe.

Generally this balance is a lot harder to achieve in B2B industries than B2C where the key features of the newsletter for recipients are the sales pitch of the new releases and special offers.

Summary

The reasons above are why email campaigns succeed or fail – either there is a ‘one size fits all’ approach, no killer feature that recipients have to read, or the balance of selling is not right.

Whether you are running e-newsletters or think of implementing one, by thinking of the newsletter from a more strategic point of view rather than rushing head first into running a campaign you can make it more effective.

With so many messages in each inbox daily, not thinking about your objectives and why your newsletter is important to your readers will result in your newsletter getting lost in the inbox clutter.