Keeping a presence with prospective customers, without being overbearing, is both an art and a critical part of the marketing/sales effort. Yet many businesses do not contact prospective customers on a regular schedule, causing their sales to suffer needlessly.

This inconsistency in communications efforts can be attributed to a number of factors, such as the high price of sales calls and mailings; insufficient planning; or staff too overtaxed by servicing existing clientele. Whatever the cause, the result is the same—a potential customer ready to buy…from someone else.

The saying “out of sight is out of mind” has never been truer than it is in today’s economy. Balancing the need for presence with concern over available resources is sometimes tricky, but is not impossible. The most economical way to be remembered by your customer when he’s ready to buy: An electronic newsletter.

Electronic newsletters can quickly become an integral part of an organization’s marketing mix. Sent directly to the recipient’s email address (thus avoiding assistants and other hurdles to the decision-maker), they are a low-cost communications vehicle that can be easily structured for news, promotions, fundraising, or any other application.

There are several keys to making an e-newsletter work well, including:

• CONTINUITY. Most people hate change and want to know you’ll be in their mailbox on a certain schedule. This means making a commitment (weekly, monthly, etc.) and sticking to it. Also have your newsletter show up on the same day each week or the same date each month.
• USABILITY. The most successful newsletters have information about the organization sending them, as well as facts about the world at large and how they relate to the reader base. A furniture dealer might send monthly tips on new waxes that work with certain types of wood, while a realtor could do a weekly piece addressing the underlying reasons for shifts in the mortgage rate.
• USER-FRIENDLINESS. Not all computers have the same typefaces, but they all seem to have a few. Fonts like Arial and Times New Roman are usually safe choices, and ensure that your newsletter will show up in someone’s mailbox looking the same way you sent it out.
• EASY CONTACT. Make it easy for the reader to contact your company from your newsletter. This means writing it in HTML format and having both email links and links to your website throughout the text.
• EXIT STRATEGY. Privacy is a really big issue these days, so be sure to give readers the option of discontinuing your newsletter. Also invite them to pass it on to their friends, and offer those friends an easy way to subscribe.

Most e-newsletters can be developed in under five hours per month, and are the perfect complement to monthly promotional mailings. Work on the newsletter (research, writing, organization, list maintenance, distribution) can be done either by a staff member or handled by an organization like the MarketBuilding Team.

And unlike print newsletters, electronic media only requires one copy be produced; has no postage costs; and minimizes handling. The incremental cost from each 100 names reached is the time for gathering and inputting 100 email addresses into your computer one time.

Consider the following scenario:

John owns a small service company and has 1,000 people he tries to stay in contact with. The only time he reaches them all is at the holiday season when he sends out a greeting card with his name and his company name imprinted. It takes one week to stuff, address, stamp, and mail these cards. Most of these cards are lost in the flood of holiday cards sent out each year.

Costs per Contact:

Across town, Mary owns a competing service company and tries to stay in touch with the same 1,000 people. She sends out a monthly electronic newsletter that she writes using Word for Windows. On the first day of every month, Mary sends out her company’s newsletter, using it as a way of talking about her company, her industry, and little things her readers might not know about. She also invites readers to share the newsletter with their friends, and uses links to bring prospects to her website.

Costs per Contact:

By using the technology already on her desk, Mary lowers her costs and raises both her profile and credibility with customers and prospects alike. When people on her prospect list are ready to buy, they’re more likely to think of her than of John.

Whether doing the work in-house or hiring a marketing firm for a turnkey solution, any organization will find an electronic newsletter to be a terrific boon to their bottom line. If handled in an organized and professional manner, it will remind the world of who and what you are; keep you in front of your prospect; and take you one step closer to closing the sale.