Email newsletters are a critical part of marketing.  If you have a growing email database, just how do you write a killer email newsletter?

It’s all about content and context.

Once upon a time, not that long ago, a good old email was a fabulous and fast alternative to a good old letter. It still remains today, the one of the only places where people are in control, not algorithms. Your subscribers have actively made the effort to sign up and receive an email from you. They can easily opt out too if disappointed.

This blog post isn’t about the killer headline and what proportion should be text or images, it’s about words.

• The most important part of the newsletter is the ‘letter’
• Write as if you are writing to one subscriber
• Develop your ‘tell’
• Make your story a good one

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You may hear these words a lot in social media. It conjures up real estate, I know. We are talking about different playgrounds in which your audience lives and your digital and social media marketing activity efforts inevitably fall into.

The reason why it’s important to understand their meanings is so you don’t fall into the trap of putting all your marketing efforts into areas that you have limited control over. In saying that, each owned, earned, rented, free, shared and paid space are not mutually exclusive nor independent. All will find a happy home within your marketing mix.

Real estate is probably a great metaphor.

A smart investor wouldn’t spend all their time and money into a rented property that the landlord could sell beneath their feet, or put the rent up, or paint bright magenta, or decide to change the rules with little or no warning. 

In more detail, let me try to explain them all, in no particular order.

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Two-thirds of your marketing is occurring without you – customer driven content, word of mouth, social media and reviews.

Let’s face the truth. The customers have become the Marketing Department.

It is the end of advertising control. Consumers (yes, humans just like you) are fed up with remarkable promises and twisted untruths. Customers are tired of the shouting and the nonsense. They are tired of being told to suck up the corporate line. They can see through it all.

We are entering a world where customer loyalty is in decline. 80% of customers shop around and why shouldn’t they!?

Customers demand respect, and rightly so: their lifestyle, their choices, their time, their privacy.

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Like most businesses, whether self employed or otherwise, you can spread yourself thin when it comes to being ‘everywhere’ and winning big on every social media channel. Take up the 90/10 rule.

Reshape your marketing efforts so that 90% is doing something remarkably well and 10% is experimenting or being present elsewhere.

Do one thing remarkably well, be dependable and consistent over time, based on data and reaction spikes.

What’s your 90%?

• Listen to your data.
• Be nimble.
• Find your Reaction Spikes.
• Stop doing what’s not working.
• Have fun.
• Be remarkable.

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The Facebook landscape has changed.

Here’s a reality check for you: organic reach is generally between 1-6% of your total page followers. Previously businesses could easily reach their audiences through Facebook’s News Feed. No longer.

As Facebook evolves, businesses relying on Facebook’s audiences need to quickly evolve too. Be nimble, adaptable and educated to reach and engage with your audience.

Mark Zuckerberg’s goal is to create a ‘privacy focused’ platform.

What exactly does that mean? Why did they change the goal-posts? What can businesses do differently to not only survive but thrive on Facebook?

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