Q: Are newsletters or email marketing a good idea for building a local service business with a strong focus on digital and social media marketing? Should I focus on a website, on my social media presence, or is a simple newsletter like a Substack a better idea?
We are a big believers in email marketing and leveraging the low cost and huge upside that building a newsletter offers local business owners in our South Jersey community (and anyone who is interested in promoting their business across the web, and around the world)
Why? Let's look at 10 super simple reasons that a newsletter ought to be a big part of your brand and business building ethos.
- Newsletters provide direct access to an engaged audience. They allow you to build a relationship with subscribers and promote products directly to them.
- You can monetize your newsletter in lots of unique and ethical ways, including:
- Paid subscriptions
- Advertising/sponsorships
- Promoting and selling your own digital products
- Affiliate marketing
- Promoting your brick and mortar services
- Recommending other people, places and spaces that are valuable to your target audience
- Building relationship and rapport with professional peers and niche neighbors, both in your industry, vertical, market or local area, and across the web as well
- Newsletters have high ROI potential. The costs to produce and distribute are relatively low compared to potential revenue.
- Build your brand on your own land! A newsletter allows you to connect to a loyal following that you own, rather than relying on social media platforms.
- Newsletters can drive traffic and sales to digital products on your website.
- They provide valuable data on subscriber interests and behaviors to inform product development.
- Newsletters are seen as a top-of-funnel tool to attract and nurture potential customers for digital products.
- Many successful digital businesses use newsletters as a core part of their monetization strategy.
- Newsletters allow you to segment your audience and provide targeted product offers.
- They create an ongoing touchpoint with customers to promote new and existing digital products.
This is but a small slice of the power of email marketing, newsletter creation and automating your brand and busijness with workflows, email sequences and broadcasts that keep your NAME in the "top of mind" of your ideal audience, or quintessential client or community.
It's easy to begin - and services like Substack are a low cost (in this case, FREE) way of testing the waters, and beginning the process of cultivating a connection with your community, directly in their inbox....where most of us, for better or worse, already spend a fair amount of our day! 😄
