The 'message' is what you want your readers to retain and, in some cases, act on. It makes sense to distribute content that's relevant to your audience, making your message anticipated and read eagerly. But how many of the newsletters that you subscribe to pass this basic test? What about the e-mail newsletters that you send?
Many marketers, professional or otherwise, reflexively tout their own company's achievements. They want to climb onto the mountaintops and scream about how great they are, how many sales their company made, the partnerships they're forming, and how their product is the greatest thing since the can opener. Although it's fine for marketers to have high opinions of their products, there's a major flaw in this approach: readers ignore it.
When you walk into a neighborhood business and ask the owner how things are going, you expect them to answer in a few words. You don't want a lengthy dissertation on the ups and downs and strategic decisions they're facing. You came into the establishment for a reason --probably to buy something -- and asked a polite question. Overwhelming you with business details is just plain rude.
Can you imagine inviting this business owner into your home for a weekly meeting? Probably not. Nobody likes people who only talk about themselves. However, some e-newsletter senders engage in exactly this type of behavior. They send out vanity statements about their businesses that give readers information they couldn't care less about, rather than content that they might find compelling.
The average business owner or manager receives more than 50 e-mail messages daily. When they open their in-box they have three questions in mind: 'which do I read, which do I save to read later, and which do I delete without opening?' If you're bombarding prospects with information that doesn't interest them, your newsletters will quickly go into the deleted column and your subscriber list will keep shrinking.
To keep your e-newsletter in the read and saved columns send information that's:
- Relevant: Focus on the customer's interests, not your own.
- Anticipated: Distribute the newsletter on a regular basis so that people expect it to arrive on a certain day.
- Read eagerly: Monitor readers opinions of your newsletter so you can alter it to conform to their interests.
Remember, the name of the game is readership. To increase the number of readers, focus on your customer and watch your lists of subscribers and qualified leads grow.