Nobody likes that friend who only gets in contact with you when they want a lift home. Just like in our personal relationships, it’s not good enough in this era of online communication for a business to limit their client contact to invoicing clients or paying suppliers.
An e-newsletter is a great way to maintain a valued relationship and share information with clients and attract new customers.
Here are the big differences between a newsletter and sales letter. It’s vital to know the difference in order to keep those on your mailing lists happy, healthy and engaged.
Let’s start with the different definitions according to the Oxford Dictionary:
News: Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events
Sales: The exchange of a commodity for money; the action of selling something
The main point of difference is in the title—the sales letter will approach potential customers with a direct opportunity to purchase. It will be packed full of advertisements and special offers but will not necessarily inform your audience with interesting and valuable information.
Quality and newsworthy content is the quintessential mark of a good newsletter.
News should inform the audience about new and interesting developments and trends in your industry and how this may affect your clients, from a professional and personal perspective. By providing engaging content that offers thought provoking material, a carefully constructed newsletter can build both a company’s reputation and sales figures.
Here are some of the big differences to keep in mind:
Sales letters have their place of course, but content marketing is on the rise for a reason. With the modern consumer having greater access to a number of different channels of communication, they have also become much more aware of traditional advertising techniques. In some cases this awareness has caused traditional methods to lose potential for a message to break through the noise.
The newsletter should demand consumer engagement by providing content that is well written, informative and entertaining. Some examples of the content we offer our audiences include guides like Be persuasive: the art of letter writing or fun videos like our Content Marketing Explainer. If value is offered in the content, then value is naturally placed on what the represented company can offer in way of their products or services.
There is nothing wrong with placing a call to action at the end of your news and information, but don’t make sales the main focus of your e-newsletter. Use a sales email instead. Newsletters can also contain personal information that you might like to share about you or your company. For example, you might have been part of a fundraising event, or have achieved a particular business milestone.
The specialists at Infodec Communications can custom build a unique and engaging newsletter to suit any industry. We have an above average open rate for all business categories.
Gone are the days where the loudest sales hype found its way to the top of the pile. The modern consumer is market savvy like never before and demands access to valuable content for a good relationship to be built and maintained.
