It is said it takes 7 to 10 exposures to your product before a customer purchases. For an author, reviews help with the decision making process but being exposed to you or your book starts to develop a recognition and potentially a brand making an opt-in newsletter an effective marketing tool.
“For a thriving business, customers must know, like and trust you.” In your work, it may be more important to be appreciated and respected than liked. Or perhaps, professional and entertaining. To me, it is important to be a helpful and trusted source of information. No matter what moniker you wish to carry, communication is an important part of the equation.
8 reasons why you should start a newsletter campaign
- Personal Connection. Readers like to connect with authors they like. They want to “know” you, your thoughts, etc. With a newsletter you can connect with your readership without invading their personal space.
- Easier and Faster Communication. Surfing the web can be tedious, and requiring your ‘fans’ to revisit your site to get the latest news isn’t an effective use of their time. An email newsletter is sent directly to an opt-in email, allowing your ‘fans’ to read your most current site updates at their leisure.
- Nurturing the Customer. With Email Marketing you can address questions and issues they have on a more personal level.
- Flexibility. Some readers will want to read from twitter, others a weekly RSS update, while some will check your Facebook page. Many services allows your newsletter to be sent via email, post to twitter and facebook and then archived on your site allowing you to easily communicate with different people via different channels. This approach meets everyone’s needs.
- Social Media Sharing. People share content. People share information they like through tweets, links, and posts whether it’s your writing, pictures, audio or video. And your newsletter can be a mix of all four. As long as you are offering great content people will share.
- “80% of your sales come from 20% of your customer base.” This is true for almost every business. Newsletters help keep you on your ‘fans’ minds. Happy readers who have purchased your book or services are more likely to purchase again. Focus on developing a relationship with satisfied customers, while targeting new potentials.
- SEO is still King. Facebook is a dominating force in our age, however, search engines should still play a hefty role in marketing strategies. SE hellp you get found by readers who do not know you yet, and in many cases, SEO is how it happens. Every time you post content on your site or send out a newsletter, you give your SEO a boost. Newsletter marketing is easy to do, and easy to benefit from.
- Use and Recycle Content. A newsletter can be reused and repurposed content from your own blog, Facebook commentary, your discussion group comments, or whitepaper. Think Green: “write once, use repeatedly.”
Marketing yourself or your book is not the same as selling. And your email marketing campaign should not be exclusively about presenting offers. It is all about building relationships and establishing a two-way dialog where both parties see value.
Email Marketing Solutions
There are many services that provide Email Marketing tools. Unruly Guides uses Mail Chimp, however, everyone’s needs and personal tastes are different. Depending on what level of services you need, be sure to review the email service features thoroughly.
Here are the top results from an “email marketing” search in Google:
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