We’re stoked to have had the opportunity to be invited by the impressive Elena Verlee, to write a guest blog for PR in your Pajamas. If that doesn’t sound comfy enough (as long as you’re not going out in public, and in a college town like Chico, even that’s sometimes “acceptable”); we break down the four “Lessons Learned from 1,000 MailChimp Newsletters” when sending newsletters to your clients. Check out the full article in the link above and don’t forget to let Elena know we sent ya! -Nate
Lessons Learned from 1,000 MailChimp Newsletters
I’ve written a LOT of email campaigns. I sent my first email newsletter when I was in college promoting swing dances 15 years ago, played with list digests after that, then spent a few years fiddling with sales emails, and (finally) made the jump to MailChimp five years ago, and haven’t looked back since.
Now I’ve read all the guides, and best practices, and do’s and dont’s: “Craft a compelling subject line;” “Strengthen your call to action;” “Use better visuals.” But after sending a thousand email newsletters for hundreds of small business owners, I never found myself regurgitating that advice. Not once.
Here’s what I found instead:
Lesson #1: Care Then Sell
Most of our clients want one of two things with their newsletters: (1) to make some damn money, drive sales, trigger donations, etc. or (2) we’ve been collecting emails for three years on a greasy clipboard; we need to send them a newsletter, right?
But what do your subscribers want from your newsletter? Why did they sign up in the first place?
Our instinct usually revolves around something like: “Well, because they care that much about my product/service/cause/widget/idea/movement” or “To get that cool ebook” or perhaps “They want to buy stuff from me,” or even better, “Discount Codes.”
Now maybe your subscribers expect that from A newsletter, but I doubt that they want that from YOUR newsletter. Your subscribers want what most human beings want: a sense of belonging, to be inspired, to be happy, to be loved.
Gooey, kumbaya, glitter. Sure. But it’s what humans want. And last I checked, your subscribers are human (or at least I hope so, [email protected]).
Find a way to connect your newsletter into that soft spot and you’ve got something worth sending. We advise our client to not sell for the first three to six newsletters. You need to earn that right. Get your subscribers to care, and the selling part becomes that much easier.
You unearth what they want (a free tip), discover where it overlaps with what you want (a click), then serve it up via an email newsletter.
Be wary of the tempo and rhythm of your newsletter sales efforts. Alternate selling vs. not selling in your email blasts.
SELL, SELL, SELL, SELL, SELL, SELL = Monotone, and doesn’t focus attention anywhere
Share, Share, SELL, Share, Share, SELL = Less boring, and focuses attention on the sales.
Continue onto the full article here for more monkey business.
