Business Newsletters and Ezines
Marketing For Free with Newsletter Columns and Ezine Articles
Mar 23, 2008
Ezines (electronic magazines) and newsletters have long been used by businesses to educate current and prospective clients about products, services, and future plans. The content of ezine articles is controlled by the business, allowing a focused marketing campaign. The newsletter format is perceived as news, not advertising, allowing it to reach a wider audience.
Newsletter Colums and Content
Like a newspaper or magazine, an ezine can have articles, editorials, columns, and even letters from readers. In a hypothetical newsletter from a titanium spork manufacturer, one might find the following:
- Article about a new method of creating colored titanium sporks. Articles should answer the standard journalism questions of who, what, where, when, why and how (just like a well written press release) and be written in the third person. Ezine articles must not appear to be biased.
- Editorial about plastic sporks and how they are diluting the spork industry. Editorials are opinions that can be written by a business owner about industry trends. They often provide a human interest angle that makes a newsletter more personal.
- Column that discussing different uses for titanium sporks. Columns are regular features written by an expert; they give an opportunity for the ezine to provide in-depth information on one aspect of a business each issue.
- Letters from satisfied or unsatisfied customers. Using negative feedback can be a powerful marketing tool, because seeing how a business addresses mistakes can provide a powerful testimony.
Ezine Distribution to Your Target Market
Electronic newsletters and ezines are only effective if they are read. Marketing with ezines requires consistency and availability.
- Commit to a regular newsletter schedule. If your ezine comes out monthly (or weekly, or quarterly), it is more likely to develop a loyal readership. Regular readers are far more likely to become regular customers - a basic principle of marketing is that repitition is necessary to get people thinking about a company's products or services.
- Make a plan for your ezine content. Newsletter issues should have at least three different types of content in it, drawing from the above list. They can also include coupons or other advertisements, cartoons, and any other creative features that come to mind. There are a number of online resources that provide free or low-cost articles that can be included, and freelance writers can be hired to provide articles.
- Build a newsletter mailing list. Make ezines available on the company website, alongside a link to subscribe. Include an invitation in each newsletter issue to share with friends. Link to articles from blog posts. Include a subscription link in your email signature.
- Keep the ezine looking professional. Perhaps most important is to keep the business newsletter free of mistakes. Doublechecking everything before hitting the send button can preserve the company's credibility, and hiring a professional proofreader and editor can make all the difference in how the ezine is perceived by its readership.
Free Marketing with Newsletters
Ezines and newsletters market passively and for very low cost, if not free. Readers do not look at articles and columns as skeptically as they do the "hard sell" vehicle of straight advertisments. Ezines can position a business owner as an expert in his field, the first person to turn to for advice. If the writing is optimized for search engines, the newsletter's subscription list can grow with minimal effort for promotion, allowing that mantle of expertise to expand in an organic manner.
