News You Can Use

All businesses and organizations can provide great content for subscribers

by Anissa Freeman Starnes,  Constant Contact Regional Development Director, The Carolinas

One of the biggest questions I get during my Power of Email Marketing seminars revolves around what to put in a newsletter. Coming up with 12 topics or more per year -- depending on how frequently you mail -- can be a real challenge.

The key is to keep the "sell, sell, sell" mentality to a minimum and give subscribers information they can use. Subscribers want to be educated and they want to be able to share items of interest with friends and family.  Your content should be of interest to the general public, making it easier for your constituents to share with a wider circle of their own contacts.

So what should you write about every week or month? Your everyday activities can help you generate useful content to keep your subscribers happy and clicking.

Share your secrets

As a business owner or organization leader, you have a wealth of secrets to success that have brought you to where you are. Why not share some of those insights with your subscribers? Everyone loves to be in the know. Here are a few examples of "secrets" that could serve as valuable content:

• Restaurants or other foodservice businesses could share a few favorite recipes with their fans. The chef could share recipes of items on the menu or provide exclusive dishes to readers. Even general cooking tips -- remedies for an over-salted recipe, perhaps -- can keep an audience coming back for more.
• Craft stores could provide do-it-yourself guides to some of the finished products they offer. Crafty customers will love the new challenges and will be coming into the store to purchase the materials they need.
• Consultants can use their newsletters to share advice with fellow business owners on best practices for growing a business or growing a mailing list (sound familiar?).
• Let your customers share their secrets: How do they use your products or services? What is their favorite thing you offer? Ask for their submissions and then you'll have great content you won't even have to write.

For the "sell" piece, you can add a coupon block that can offer a percentage off the products and service mentioned in the newsletter or, in the case of a restaurant, a meal.

Share knowledge

Those in the other consumer-oriented businesses might be thinking, what kind of tips can I offer? There are plenty of opportunities for you to provide knowledge-boosting content to your subscriber base.

• Accountants can share their knowledge with customers. With tax season upon us, they can share ways to get organized before preparing to file with the IRS and keep financially organized throughout the year.
• A boutique could offer up unique gift ideas for that hard-to-shop-for customer. Think outside the box (pun intended) for gift ideas, particularly around holidays.
• Spas can give readers home relaxation tips or ways they can keep that professional manicure looking good.
• Home furnishing stores can provide customers with great tips on how to better decorate their home or how to find great values to make their house look great.
• Consignment stores can offer tips for getting their used stuff cleaned up and ready to sell.
• A doggy supply store in my area does a great job in its newsletter of offering tips on pet health, hygiene for dogs, and dieting ideas for the overweight pup. They also list special events to get people -- and their pets -- into the store.

Think about your business and ask what benefits you provide to your customers and clients. Then use your newsletter to highlight those benefits to your customer in an informative manner.

Share your humanity

Nonprofits can add content that takes the reader beyond just a plea for donations, and that brings their "mission statement" to life. For example, my local Leukemia Society includes a feature on a different person or family dealing with the disease in every issue. It puts a real face on the cause.

Profile staff members as well and share their story of why they're involved in the organization.  And any time you include a story about people, make sure to include their picture. This puts a face to a name, and helps readers to identify with who they're learning about.

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