Written by Jon Bergan on the 12/11/2007
Not too long ago, many of us turned to printed newsletters as the primary means of relaying important information to our clients. With the popularity of the Internet taking over though, it seems the amount of people sending out hardcopy newsletters are few and far between. Statistics do show that e-newsletters are the most effective way of relaying content and obtaining sales leads and feedback, but are they truly the best approach? In the grand scheme of things, introducing a printed newsletter may just be enough to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Going back roughly ten years, many of us used printed newsletters to promote sales, new products and cost effective services to a bunch of potential or existing clients. The mailing list used was more than likely a set of names and addresses thrown into an Excel spreadsheet. These newsletters usually had feedback forms or email addresses on them that users could use as a means of providing the business with feedback. Often this didn’t take place and sales leads were quite hard to follow.
Now days, we use CRM applications and e-marketing tools to send out what we now call e-newsletters. e-Newsletters solve all of our previous woes by combining the power of the Internet with the already proven force of content rich newsletters. The technology available to us now allows us to see what users read our newsletters, which links they click on the most, which topics they enjoy reading the most and ultimately which products/services they may be interested in.
Which is the best method to use though? At a glance, it seems e-newsletters are the preferred method as they provide a cost effective means of sending out information to hundreds or thousands of people and at the same time provide useful information in return. However, maybe printed newsletters aren’t such a bad thing.
If everybody is so busy sending out e-newsletters, maybe all it would take to differentiate yourself from your competitors would be to send out a simple printed newsletter. Of course, you could continue to send out your e-newsletter just to keep up with the times but don’t under estimate the power of the printed newsletter. When someone has something they can read in their hot little hands, chances are they’ll read it.
Ultimately, the choice is yours. If you’re in a fast-paced environment where receiving information and data is of the upmost importance, then chances are you’re not going to warm up to the idea of a printed newsletter. For the rest of us small business owners, printed newsletters are definitely something to consider and may have a surprising comeback in the years to come.
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