How to create an effective newsletter that grows your business.
I’m sure you’ve probably heard of content marketing, which is the practice of using content to engage website visitors and acquire clients, but there is a key piece that is frequently underutilized:
The e-newsletter
While reaching people through email has certainly become more tedious with all the anti-spam protection that’s now included with email clients, like Gmail, it’s a tool that can greatly complement the efforts you may be making with your blog or social media strategy.
Consider this, experts suggest that it can take up to 5 or 10 touchpoints with a prospect to close a sale, so even in an ideal scenario where a warm lead fills out your contact form to hire you as their coach, it will likely require several emails and calls before that person gives you their credit card number.
This scenario is all too rare, and in all honesty the majority of site visitors will not be ready to hire you as a health coach during their first interaction with your site, either because they don’t know you or maybe it’s simply because they aren’t ready to make a change. Sorry 🙁
But there’s still hope!
This is why your email list can be an invaluable tool. Your email list provides you with a method to stay in touch with and nurture these relationships until they or someone they know is ready for your service. When I asked health coach and content marketer, Danielle Ziegler, to share some of her thoughts on the importance of your newsletter to your health coaching business, she provided some great insight on that topic.
“Your email list is a vital piece to your online business. It’s more important than your social media following because you actually own this list and these people are letting you into their sacred inbox..Find a balance between creating value while also giving a clear call-to-action.”
Needless to say, this can be a significant engine to help you generate more sustainable business over the long term, so below I’ve some of the steps and lessons to consider for your strategy.
1. Choosing your platform
I’ve used multiple tools for email campaigns, but I still think Mailchimp is the best. Mailchimp’s email beamer feature even allows you to send emails to your subscriber list from your email client that look like a personal email rather than a traditional newsletter format. In fact, we noticed a significant increase in open and click rates by opting for a more personal approach, rather than something that was overly designed.
2. Identify your goal and use the right call to action (CTA)
While everyone wants to grow their audience and acquire more clients, it’s nearly impossible to do both through the same email. You need to have a focused approach with every email you create, as well as include a clear action you want the reader to perform.
Steven Wright, one of the founders of the Practitioner Liberation Project and SCD Lifestyle, has had tremendous success with email marketing resulting in an audience of 100,000+ between the two ventures, and was more than happy to share some of his thoughts.
“Always get extremely clear about what goal of the email is, this directly impacts the style and Call to Action (CTA). Every single communication should include a CTA. Without it, how would the reader know what to do next or how to engage. This is one of the biggest problems most people make with their newsletters. They aren’t thinking about what their goals are and how to get a reader to help them achieve their goal.”
– Steven Wright Practitioner Liberation Project
3. Don’t neglect the subject line
There is no faster way to lose subscribers than using a subject line that looks like spam or trash. The approach for your subject line should be enticing and personal for the reader. For instance, fitness and entertainment personality, Jill Brown, recommends that you ”make your subject line read like a CTA. ‘Here’s what you need now for…’ Or ‘if you’re struggling with — fill in the blank — then read this.’”
Use something enticing that prompts an a subscriber to want to open the email.
Are you seeing a trend yet? All aspects of your newsletter should funnel towards a single action desired of the reader.
4. Equip subscribers with ways to help you grow.
Brand ambassadors are tremendous assets and if you are focused on brand exposure you should do what you can to make it as easy as possible for them to promote your content. Rather than simply including social media icons on our emails I will actually use ClickToTweet which allows me to create a full Twitter message that a reader simply has to click, in order to share.
Here is how I’ve been closing our newsletter emails…
“P.S. I’ve included a simple way to share the post below if you enjoyed it. We really appreciate your help and feedback. [Your Link Here]”
By clicking the link a person would be tweeting out a message crafted specifically for the blog post I am trying to promote. I’ve already seen some of our more passionate subscribers start interacting with this tool and it’s something I plan to include on all future posts.
Your email list is an invaluable asset and the effectiveness of your newsletter can greatly influence the growth of your audience and the success of your business. Treat it with care!
Simple adjustments to any of the above can mean the difference in open rates, and engagement by your audience, regardless of whether you want them to simply share content or make a purchase. Building a sustainable coaching business is far easier when you have an audience of passionate followers to market yourself to, so be patient and focus on collecting email addresses to nurture your contacts.
Learn more about building your business and finding more clients through our blog, Touchpoints.
