With the pervasive use of social media, the humble newsletter may seem a little dated. Which is why it might come as a surprise that newsletter has a significantly higher organic reach than social media.
Organic reach on Facebook has been on the decline since 2014, with some estimates putting it as low as 6%! Why? Quite simply, Facebook is rewarding those who pay. Compare that with the average email open rate of 32% and suddenly newsletter is bringing sexy back (by sexy we mean reach).
As many small business’ marketing budgets are next to nothing, newsletter provides a low-cost way of engaging with your audience. So, whether you’re just starting out or you’re sick of talking to the same 50 newsletter subscribers, discover how to grow your newsletter list now.
Get the most out of your raving fans
There are 101 ways to grow your newsletter list, but making the most of your raving fans is by far the easiest.
A raving fan is someone who’s happy with the experience they’ve had with your business. They take the least amount of convincing and have usually just had a good experience, for example, they might’ve just bought your product or service. It’s at this point you should ask them to sign up or join your newsletter list. You can do this by putting a tick box on a form to capture their details, or a link in an email receipt or delivery notification.
It’s a legal requirement to let them know what they’re opting in to, but that doesn’t mean your offer can’t be enticing. Which brings us to our next point…
Make your offer impossible to refuse
Just like the Vito Corleone said in the Godfather, “you gotta make them an offer they can’t refuse.” Ok, so maybe that’s not word-for-word, but you get the point. With so many businesses competing for their audience’s attention, you need to cut through and make the ‘what’s in it for me’ crystal clear.
You need to give something to get something, so you could offer exclusive access to:
- Deals – everyone loves a deal and rewarding your local customers is just good business. This could be in the form of cheap access to an event you run (or a partner event), or discounts on your products or services.
- Awesome content – whether it’s a blog article, white paper, podcast, video tutorial or webinar, sharing your knowledge showcases your business as a thought leader in your industry. It also helps solve whatever issue or query your audience might have.
By giving up something of value, you buy your audiences trust and eyeballs in return.
Encourage your existing subscribers to spread the good word
The value of word-of-mouth marketing still holds true. Similar to making the most of your raving fans, utilising your existing subscribers to do the hard work for you works a treat.
By including social sharing buttons and an ‘email to a friend’ button in your newsletter, you encourage your existing happy readers to share the amazing things they’ve read with their friends. Just make sure you add a subscribe call to action link or button at the bottom of your email, to capture the new subscriber too.
There are 101 other ways to grow your newsletter subscriber list, but these are three effective (and unobtrusive) ones. If you’d like to know more about growing your customer base and better engaging your audience, get in touch with the small business marketing team at Shuttle Rocket.
Or better yet, sign up to our newsletter today (below) and get all the enticing stuff spoken about above. Go on, it’s an offer you can’t refuse…