Why email marketing is a must for businesses and non-profits alike
It takes far less effort and money to retain clients than it does to attract new ones. The same can be said when it comes to donors and non-profit organizations—happy current donors are more likely to donate again, making fundraising goals easier to achieve.
The question is, how do you keep your business (or your non-profit) top of mind in their minds? The answer is: with an email newsletter strategy.
“No matter what industry you’re in, there’s a lot of competition,” says Mark Brodsky, owner of MB Digital Communications and Luminate’s trusted email marketing partner. “Sending a regular email is an effective way to reach everyone on your list to let them know what’s happening with you and your business.”
How often you mail to your database and what content to include depends on what you expect to achieve from your emails, says Mark. A retailer promoting a sale, for example, likely wants immediate results and should send short, frequent emails that contain a clear call to action. Service professionals on the other hand, such as realtors, medical professionals or mortgage brokers, should take a different approach. They are striving to stay top-of-mind over a longer period of time in order to generate repeat business or referrals. They would want to send informational emails that educate readers while catering to their interests.
“Generally, most businesses in the second group do well by having a monthly email campaign,” says Mark. “Too frequently and you risk annoying subscribers; too infrequently and you risk being forgotten.”
The strategy behind non-profit newsletters is similar to that of service professionals—it’s about strengthening your relationship with donors. In business, this is where repeat sales happen; in the non-profit sector, this is where repeat donations happen.
If you are wondering what content to include in your newsletter, here are a few great ideas for both service professionals and non-profit organizations.
1. Repurpose the most recent post (or two) from your blog. Your blog is where you position yourself as an industry expert. Repurpose that great content that took effort to create and share it far and wide.
2. Share a case study or success story. Did a really great job for a client? Have a success story of how your organization changed someone’s life? Tell everyone about it. If your client was impressed with your work, your readers will likely be as well.
3. Showcase curated content. Including curated content is a great way to strengthen your newsletter by showing your readers what you are reading. After all, if you found something interesting, then others will too.
4. Highlight a program or service. Pull the curtain back a little bit and show your readers what goes on behind the scenes and how you make the magic happen.
One thing to remember when it comes to content—less is more. The more content choices you give people, the less likely they are to choose any of them.
MB Digital Communications has been helping business owners increase their sales using email marketing and social media since 2008.