Here’s Another Reason Why Printers Need an E-Newsletter
I’ve been publishing a weekly e-newsletter (Print Tips) since 1999. It’s always been my #1 marketing tool. Because I see how effective it can be. I encourage most companies, including printers, to have one, too.
This post is about one lesser-known benefit of e-newsletters, presuming you use an email management system with great reporting functionality. I use Constant Contact and am very happy with them.
With an email management provider distributing your e-newsletters, you get access to valuable reports. Who’s opened your emails and who hasn’t? Who’s subscribed and who’s said good-bye? And you can see when your emails are opened — the date as well as the actual time.
My favorite part of these reports is the open rate, showing who opened your email, and more interestingly, Unique Opens versus All Opens. Unique Opens are the email recipients who opened your email at all. All Opens will show you how many times a recipient opened your email.
I use this information in a few ways:
- To gauge how successful (popular) a particular e-newsletter is. Really popular topics mean I should write more of the same.
- To track particular individuals or companies that are regularly engaged with my e-newsletters.
- To see if my e-newsletters are more popular with a particular market segment (printers vs. print customers).
This knowledge is really critical. Think about using this data to develop new business. Wouldn’t someone who’s been getting your e-newsletter for a while and opening issues often (think All Opens) be a good prospect?
As for me, I use this information if I want to interview someone for an article or a post that I’m writing. I also use it when I’m building a panel for an event. When I need to find someone, I export the All Opens file into Excel, save it to my Mac, and then sort by name (or email, or company and so on). Voila!
E-newsletter subscribers who are long-time fans of your publication are more likely to do business with you. You’ve established a relationship with them, and they’ve shown you that they value your information.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Long regarded as a print buyer expert and trade writer, Margie Dana launched a new business as a marketing communications strategist with a specialty in printing and print buying. She is as comfortable working in social media as she is in traditional media, and now she’s on a mission to help clients build customer communities through carefully crafted content. Dana was the producer of the annual Print & Media Conference.
Although she has exited the event business, Dana is still publishing her Print Tips newsletter each week. For more details and to sign up for her newsletter and marketing blog, visit www.margiedana.com
