Here at The Newsletter Pro, we love newsletters. We think they’re a seriously underutilized tool in the marketing world. We don’t want you to miss out on this valuable resource, so we’ve rounded up eight reasons you need a newsletter now!
Number 1 — Increase Customer Lifetime Value
Did you know that you lose approximately 10 percent or more of your relationship value with each customer every month he doesn’t hear from you? Within six months, you’re on the same playing field as any one of your competitors. Your customers can then be stolen easily with only a mildly intriguing offer! It’s far too expensive to take your customers for granted.
Research has shown that for every 1 percent increase in customer retention, profits increase by 5 percent. Publishing a monthly newsletter helps you build the relationships that are such an integral part of retention.
Number 2 — Stay Top of Mind
We live in a world that is so busy, most of us can’t even remember what we did at 2:15 p.m., let alone the name of our new dentist or the law firm that won us a bunch of money six months ago.
As business owners, we assume that once a person has done business with us, they know who we are and what we sell. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The fact that customers can’t remember your business details is a HUGE problem. If people can’t remember the name of your business, how in the world are they ever going to refer their friends? The truth is, they won’t.
Even worse, If they can’t remember your name, how are they going to do ANY business with you again? These two reasons are enough to send a monthly print newsletter.
Number 3 — It’s Far Easier to Sell More to Existing Customers Than It is to Find New Customers
Once you have conquered one of the single toughest aspects of business, which is to get people to open their wallets and spend real money with you, you have the start of a relationship with your new customers. You’ve been given a degree of trust which makes additional sales infinitely easier than the first.
Here is the rub, though — most business owners either overlook or abuse the trust that has been placed in them, thinking they don’t have to keep in touch. It is this indifference to, or abuse of, the relationship that causes most business owners to lose the goodwill they’ve established, which puts them right back at square one: Acquisition.
Newsletters can be the fuel that keeps that relationship alive.
Number 4 — Build Your Expert/Celebrity Status
As a culture, we like to do business with an expert. We are even happy to pay more to an expert than we are to the average Joe. Years ago, all doctors, dentists, and lawyers needed to do to be seen as experts was just be dentists or lawyers, but I can tell you for a fact, that is no longer true. According to the Kaiser Family foundation, there are 210,036 dentists in the United States alone.
One way to get that expert status is to be published and have your customers and prospects see the publication. The simplest way to do this is via a monthly newsletter. Of course, you can’t expect to be considered an expert from a single publication, but consistent, ongoing newsletters can make people view you as an expert in your field.
Number 5 — Build Relationships Using Newsletters
Clients come to us all the time with stories about how their newsletter has helped them bond and connect with their patients or clients. One of our clients, a dentist, explained that she saw an immediate increase in patients trusting her advice for recommended dental work when she began leaving copies of her newsletter in the waiting room. Her patients were reading her personal cover stories, learning about her dental practices, and having fun with the content she included before their appointments. So when they met her, they already felt comfortable with her and trusted her.
That’s the difference a relationship makes. The easiest way to build those relationships is with a few personal stories sprinkled throughout your newsletter to give people a peek behind the curtain into your life and allow you to connect with them.
Number 6 — Newsletters Help Build Your Brand
Publishing a monthly newsletter allows you build your brand and tap into the benefits of branding. When you present a consistent, valuable, quality newsletter every month, your clients subconsciously associate that value and quality with your business, which leads to positive brand image, exposure, and increased sales.
Number 7 — Newsletters Have Staying Power
A good newsletter is unlike any other form of advertising if you do it right. People don’t see the newsletter as an ad — they see it as a publication. And do you know what people do with publications? They keep them. The U.S. Post Office did a study on all categories of direct mail and found newsletters have an average shelf life of four months in a home or business.
I recently had a client tell me about a customer of his who loves his newsletter so much that she’s made a binder for his monthly newsletters. She saves every issue. When this customer needs more of his services, who do you think she’s going to call? My customer has his customer, possibly for life. A newsletter’s staying power is massive.
Number 8 — Newsletters Have Pass-Around Value
When you include valuable content in your newsletter, people want to give your newsletter to friends, family members, or associates, and when they hand off your newsletter, they’re giving you both an endorsement and a possible referral.
Ready to improve your customer relationships and increase your referrals? A newsletter might just be the missing piece to maximizing your marketing campaign. Newsletters effectively increase customer retention. They can help establish you as a celebrity in your client’s eyes, and most importantly, they build profitable relationships that last a lifetime and beyond.
To read about the dentist who made a huge profit just from his newsletter being shared between friends on the golf course (along with other examples of the benefits and uses of a monthly print newsletter) please request a free copy of our book!
