Why Run It: To capture leads, convert clients, and create fans
Who It's For: Every business who can commit resources to developing consistent, valuable content at the frequency of their choice.
Implementation time: 15-25 min (depending on the number of offers and sequences you run)
Play Snapshot
The beauty of the email newsletter play is that it can be used throughout the entire prospect and customer lifecycle; You can use it to capture new leads, convert current leads, and definitely to create fans. In this play we are going to show you how to use a newsletter to create fans.
Your email newsletter is a regular cadenced email broadcast that you send to your contact list(s). The content you put in your newsletter should change depending on how frequently you send it, what updates you have, or any other key content you want to include. Making sure your content is valuable is the most important thing in this play, and making sure that the expectation is clear in terms of sending frequency and what topics you focus on. Newsletters are NOT just sales mechanisms, and their value lies in combining their consistency with their value. Think about the last movie you loved. Did you care how long it was? Probably not. However a terrible movie may have you anxious to leave the theater or change the channel just minutes in. This analogy directly relates to the importance of making your newsletter content relevant and valuable. Seth Godin once said, “If your emails disappeared from your recipients inbox, will they ask where you went?” Ask yourself, am I providing the type of value that would cause my subscribers to check on me if I didn’t send them content as scheduled. If the answer is “no” or “not yet” I’ve got good news, in this play we will give you some concepts on how to engage your audience with value through your newsletter.
1. Provide relevant valuable content - engage, entertain, and educate your list
2. Have a clear call to action when necessary (what do you want them to do next?)
Ask yourself, “Is this an email that I would want to receive if I were on my list?” before sending.
Creating fans is what helps your business grow through word of mouth and provides social proof in the market across review sites. Creating fans is also more than positive reviews and testimonials, it’s about making happy customers and improving their experience. When customers feel engaged with and like they matter they are more likely to be happy. Their happiness has tangible benefits for your business. Your customer retention rate, repeat business, online reputation, and overall performance depends on creating fans. Having a well thought out newsletter, is a great way to accomplish this.
Pro Tip: Your newsletter content should include free information that your customers find valuable. Build content that is written to ONE person on your list for a personalized feel. Using specific personalized language can help make sure your reader knows that their attention should be focused on.
Play Components:
1. Subscriber Management
Before you start sending, it’s important to have a solid subscriber management plan in place. How many different groups of subscribers do you plan to send to? How different will the content for one group of subscribers be from another group of subscribers? And finally, how will you keep track of the subscribers so you are organized and clear?
Best Practice:
Start simple. If this is the first time you’re sending an email newsletter, you can start with a single newsletter for all subscribers.
As you master the fundamentals, you may consider expanding the groups of subscribers you’re sending to. This allows you to send more targeted information. Here are a few examples of subscriber groups:
- Prospective customers who’ve engaged with you as a lead but not yet purchased
- Existing customers
- Longtime VIP customers
- Friends, family and influencers
2. Content Planning & Production
Since the Email Newsletter is intended to maintain relationships with your contacts over a long period of time, it’s important to plan your content very intentionally. Depending on the complexity of your newsletter, you may consider creating a content planning calendar that allows you to visually see the touchpoints you are having with your leads and customers over time. Whether you use a calendar or not, your newsletter content should:
1. Demonstrate to the subscribers that you understand their concerns, problems and desires
2. Deliver valuable information and resources your readers find valuable
3. Be engaging and personal
3. Broadcast or Automation
Once you’ve finished your content and you’re clear on your subscribers, it’s time to send some emails! You have two options for delivery. The first is to set up individual broadcasts for each email and the second is to create an automation that drips the content over time. Broadcasts are quick and simple. Automations allow you to have more advanced (and automated) actions related to the newsletter.
Best Practice:
Use an email broadcast for your email newsletter if you:
1. Prefer a simple “one and done” process
2. Generally produce your content “on demand”
3. Are comfortable sending email newsletters through other email marketing providers
Use Automations for your email newsletter if you:
1. Like to pre-plan and pre-produce your content
2. Want to initiate further automation based on email opens or link clicks
3. Want a simple way for sorting subscribers into the right campaigns (eg, using decision diamonds)
Your newsletter will be a key piece of content that you deliver regularly to your contacts. Best of all, you can optimize to help capture more reviews, testimonials, or customer experience information than any other play.
First, you must decide what goal you want to achieve in this create fans play. We recommend choosing to either gather more reviews, customer testimonials, or customer surveys. Each of these outcomes will improve your customer experience and are results you can measure.
You will need visual assets and copy to create your newsletter. For layout, you can utilize one of our many email templates or create your own. You will also need to set up the means by which you will gather referrals, testimonials, or customer surveys.
Key visual elements
Newsletter copy
Any links you will need to capture referrals, testimonials, or surveys
Checkpoints to Launch
Prepare your visual assets and copy for your newsletter
Design & layout your newsletter in your Keap App
Test the email to ensure it looks right and all links function
You will need to have your contacts list(s) created and saved for when it's time to send your broadcast.
Checkpoints to Launch:
Create your Contact search or searches
Save them with appropriate titles so they’re easy to find when it’s time to send your broadcast(s)
Once your automation is live and running you will monitor delivery of your newsletter. You will need to keep the key performance indicators of your newsletter broadcasts in mind:
- Number of newsletters delivered
- Number of opens (open rate)
- Number of clicks to any CTAs (click through rate = CTR)
Checkpoints to Launch:
Deliver your newsletter broadcast(s)
Monitor your email metrics
Optimize to improve your metrics over time
Success Metrics
Primary Metric: Engagement
Subscriber Open and Click Rates
Secondary Metrics:
Opt-out rates
Growth: Subscriber count
[ COMING SOON: Tutorial for best way to measure these metrics ]
Common Next Plays
- Special Offer Broadcast
- Automated Sales Offer
- Book a Free Consultation