What are some tips to creating a fulfilling newsletter?

[HavenScents]

I'm looking to create a great newsletter to email to new customers and those pre-existing. I want to include short summaries, bold imagery, and a few items that really make it pop. In a nutshell, I want the customer to want to read our newsletter and look forward to receiving them.

[isabelle]

Hey @HavenScents!

Welcome to the Seller Community 🎉

Perhaps one of our Super Sellers can weigh in on their experience sending out newsletters for their business:

@alexandriak @AmyB1 @bagelboss @dasap1234 @DaveMellow @Dbw2048 @Donnie-M @GlassJudy @GoGoGuest @Goldneye @GourmetOnWheels @HC_Charlie @homeprogreen @HvBx_WA @JamesSandbar @jjgard @JupiterGames @LocavoreStore @londontea @MAXSDELI

[homeprogreen]

Unfortunately I got nothing for this one. Don’t ever really send out newsletters or even advertise. That’s the perk of living in a small town. Word of mouth works the best and it’s free

[Helen · Accepted solution]

Thank you everyone who contributed to this thread! I'm marking this reply as the Best Answer so that even more sellers can discover it. (Every tip is fantastic, I couldn't pick one!)

New readers - scroll down for tips!

[HC_Charlie]

If you want your customers to look forward to, and open and read your marketing materials you have to include something other than just selling your product. Lifestyle articles (that have a connection to your business or product) or how-to tips to use your products are good. If you're just advertising your product and sales you'll be missing out on the secret ingredient that makes people want to connect with you and your business.

And speaking of connecting...if you're a small business owner your customers are not only purchasing your products/services, they are also connecting with you on a personal level. So you become more relatable if you include personal info or stories...how you started your business, why you recommend certain products, how your own experiences have influenced your business. 

Hope these help! And remember you're not just selling stuff or services, you're selling yourself too!

[alexandriak]

Hi there!

My biggest tip would be to be consistent in sending. Pick a day and time to send them. 

Make sure you include what your customers want to see. I would recommend doing a poll on your social media pages. 

[GourmetOnWheels]

@HavenScents we use Square Marketing and MailChimp for our newsletters. Both have their advantages, but at the moment MailChimp has more bells and whistles. Square is still expanding the options, hopefully, soon they will be equal to MailChimp.

We also use Canva to make flyers, email templates, and more. 

[londontea]

I take a folksy approach to my newsletters. Keeping it simple and straight, writing to them in the same tone that I’d talk in if the customer was across the counter from me. Customers like knowing how the business is going, and I like talking to them about my business. Giving them insight into how we’re doing is a great way for getting them emotionally invested in the business, even if the news isn’t always good. I like making them feel like they’re part of the family. 

I pepper the newsletter with links, so even though I’m not directly advertising things the customers have the opportunity to click through and shop online. 

[HC_Charlie]

thanks for your response, I'd be curious to know how your customers react to your not-so-good news? Would you share some feedback you've gotten? I've had a few rough patches over the Covid time, but I always say things are GREAT, mainly because I've always heard you shouldn't share any bad news with customers. I've recently begun to think that really isn't always the best route to take.

[londontea]

It can be tricky to give bad news, especially as it can come across as being a plea for pity. In the two newsletters where I’ve included “bad news” I made it very prominent that this was something a lot of other businesses were going through. I didn’t ask for anything for my business, instead I asked my customers to support local small businesses in general. 

The last time I did this was in January, where I let customers know that due to the cold weather many restaurants, including us, were having a rough winter. I asked customers to order takeout and gift cards from their local restaurants; the newsletter brought us a lot of orders and gift card sales. All the feedback I received was very supportive, with customers saying that they looked forward to nicer weather so that they could visit us again. 

[Donnie-M]

@HavenScents Here are some tips I would give you:

1. If you are doing newsletters, be consistent.  If you are sending monthly, make sure you send something monthly.  Even if it isn't perfect get something out there.

2.  Include links to your website, or offer a discount for ordering with a coupon code through the newsletter.

3.  I recommend looking at something like adobe spark.  It is a free online way to make social media posts that pop.  There are several free online websites where you can throw a nice format together and send as a pdf or png.

4.  A personal company I use is musthavemenus.com.  I have used them for years.  They specialize in menus for restaurants, but have thousands of templates and aren't too expensive.  

Putting out something is better than nothing, so don't get paralyzed by perfection.

Donnie-M

[HC_Charlie]

I would also recommend Adobe Spark, or someone else mentioned Canva. These are great online design tools that take only a short time to learn how to quickly create some professional graphics for online and email use. Definitely check those out!

[GourmetOnWheels]

Another great tool to create nice templates is Stripo.

René