Newsletters have become a priority for most major companies and increasingly popular for small businesses as well. The best part of putting out a newsletter is reaching your audience—however large or small—with a marketing strategy that does not take a lot of time or effort whatsoever. Unfortunately, many companies will put out quarterly newsletters in fear that a monthly newsletter would either be A. Too much work, or B. Too many emails for the audience.

As an SEO company, we are always a big advocate of any digital marketing actions that can help to drive traffic to your website, but also be of value to your clients and followers, and a monthly newsletter does both. One of the best aspects of monthly newsletters in terms of workload is that they can be written whenever the author has time, and can be scheduled for a day and time of the month that considers the best time for your audience to receive them. With so many platforms for email marketing out there, many of which are totally free, you can design and create awesome emails that reach your audience without any design experience.

5 Quick and Important Reasons A Monthly Newsletter is Worthwhile 

A monthly newsletter not only shows off your expertise in your field; it can be a friendly reminder to those who haven’t engaged with your business in a while to check back on your website, click on your social links, or give you a call. It is an informative, design-friendly, and informal way to stay on your customers’ radar throughout the year. Who knows, maybe they were just going to head to the store to buy a product you sell online, or it could be that they loved your service when they were at your business location a few months ago, and your email reminds them that they are over-due for a trip back.

Here are five reasons a monthly newsletter is advantageous for your business:

  1. Extend Your Reach

A monthly newsletter can potentially reach thousands of people with a simple click of a button. Once you build up your subscriber list and begin to reach masses of people who want to follow your brand’s updates, you have access to reaching a solid amount of people each month to share your updates, products, and services. This can be especially helpful if you work on a national or international level with the services you offer, people might miss a social media post because of time zone, but emails are right at the top of their inbox the next time they are able to be back online.

  1. Give Your Audience Variety

You can send different offers each month to potential clients or existing customers which can entice them to use your services. Most people have a hard time passing up a “bargain” or “special offer,” but promotions are just one way to use a monthly mailer. You can also use mailers to share exciting news your business has, repurpose content you’ve written in an interesting and new way, or offer up some of your favorite industry curated content! The sky is the limit when it comes to newsletter variety that is possible. Amazon Echo did a good job of this in their monthly newsletter. Below shows two stories within one newsletter:

  1. Show Off Your Brand’s Creativity

Make your monthly newsletter fun and refreshing each month! Take the opportunity to increase brand awareness and show off your creativity. Share a touching short story from one of your clients or deliver a funny meme and anecdote that relates to your products and services. It is very important to make sure that your newsletter is easy for people to navigate and contains creativity that they don’t want to ignore. I know this sounds like a tall order—especially if you don’t think creative emails are your strong suit, but this makes people more likely to stay on your email list (rather than unsubscribing). The subject line is our favorite in the example below:

  1. Build and Reinforce Relationships

You’ll find that when you are providing valuable and creative content, people will look forward to your newsletter in their inboxes each month. By keeping in touch with your customers, you are more likely to earn their trust and subsequently, their business. Customers are not as likely to reach out to a competitor when they feel a sense of personal connection to your brand. Below is an example where the author really works to connect with that audience by creating a long and thoughtful newsletter post. Now this won’t be the best avenue for every business, but for an acupuncture and wellness company, it’s a great way to reinforce that relationship.

  1. Conveniences is Key

A monthly newsletter can be more effective than a monthly meeting or other more structured format for delivering information, because in today’s world, people want to access information at their leisure. Emails give you the opportunity to reach out to your audience in an effective way that they can manage in their leisure time.

Some Additional Email Tips for a Successful Newsletter

Here are a few tips to get you started with your first monthly email:

  • Always Include a CTA (Calls to Action). Including a CTA on an email is one way to improve your click through rate (CTR) and get users from your mailer to your website. So whether you are including a CTA that encourages users to make a purchase, or linking to other content on your site (think, “Read More” or “Watch Now”), your goal is really to get your audience taking the next steps that lead them to a conversion.
  • Design for Engagement. Your goal in designing an email is to increase engagement and really get people taking the actions you want them to take. You also want to as many people as possible to stay on your mailing list, so designing for your audience is critical. Keep email subject lines short, make sure the design is mobile friendly, use clean and aesthetically pleasing color and typography, and that you use large CTAs.
  • Personalize. Lastly, you want to personalize and segment your audience in any way you can or in any way that you see beneficial. People tend to respond to emails that feel customized in some way. Do you have a VIP list? A way to use first names in the design? Are you reaching out to a specific target group? Try to brainstorm all of the ways you can make an email more personalized.

So get busy working on that monthly newsletter! There are potential clients and customers on your mailing list who are just waiting to hear what you have to say. It’s always a smart idea to present new ideas in the form of a newsletter, as they capture the essence of what you want to communicate in a straight forward, yet entertaining manner.

How do you feel about starting a monthly newsletter? What are some of your top questions and concerns? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

All screenshots taken by the author, March 2017