You may be wondering why you need to bother with a separate newsletter if you're already actively promoting yourself through blogging and social media. One of the main reasons is because it provides the best channel for direct access and target marketing.On social media platforms, your news posts and tweets roll on and off people's newsfeeds before they have a chance to see some of your news and announcements. Additionally, they have the option to turn off notifications of your posts even if they follow you--and many of them exercise this right. You can't send all of your followers a direct message or it will be considered spam, and doing this could get your account suspended. Additionally, social media platforms are forcing people to pay for accessing the very social media platforms they've built on those sites through ads. As social media sites grow and paid advertising is dominated by the people who have the most money, once again small businesses--such as authors--will be lost in the mire of chaos and confusion.
People use social media in varying ways. Some hop on and check it several times a day, while others once a day, and some may go several days between logging on. Just because you have a number of friends and likes doesn't mean they are interested in YOU and what you have to offer, instead many are hoping you are interested in THEM and what they have to offer. Others are looking for friends, but they may not have an interest in what you do or want you marketing books to them.
Providing a newsletter, whether monthly or quarterly, gives you tangible names and emails of people who have an interest in what you're providing--the types of books you write. If they weren't interested, they would not opt-in to receive your email newsletters, or if they are already readers, they wouldn't be buying your books. This is your target audience. Your newsletter is delivered directly into their inbox and they aren't likely to miss it as they would on a social media site. It feels more personal when they have something delivered to them and they don't have to go looking for it or stumble upon it.
A social media post is only limited to 140 characters on Twitter and a bit more on Facebook. You can post 1,000 - 2,000 words in an email newsletter, including photos and videos. There are few limitations. It will sit in a person's inbox until they have time to read it in detail, after the kids go to bed, early in the morning when getting their coffee and checking their email, or after they return from vacation. It isn't rolling off a timeline. The sense of urgency isn't as demanding as it is with social media. I hate it when I see something on someone's feed, and I don't have time to respond or read it. Later on, I'm forced to go digging for it on their timeline and by then I may not find it or I might forget about it and distracted by new posts on my timeline.
Blogging is a better advantage in being able to post as many words and images as you want, but people either have to remember to return to your site, bookmark it, or subscribe to it on a reader feed or have it delivered to their inbox. This is more like receiving an email newsletter. It's more personal and direct.
If you use an email newsletter service, you have a general idea of who is receiving it--at least their name and email address. Also, you can see how many people click to view it, which links they click on, how many subscribe and unsubscribe each month. You can view an overall report on what topics and posts appeal to people the most and target future topics accordingly.
Do you already send out an email newsletter? What is your experience? What would you advise others to consider?
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I have just joined your Google+ community and followed a link to this post. It's probably the best explanation I've read about why it's valuable to have an email newsletter. After a long time of indecision I have just started one myself on my blog. I must admit I'm a bit stumped as to what to put in my newsletters that is different from my blog posts. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteRobin, Welcome aboard! I would suggest using your blog to offer insights into your writing and specific themes that might relate to topics in your books. For instance, I write historical fiction, so many of my posts on my personal blog are about historical tidbits I discover during my research, I promote books of other historical authors between my releases, and I talk about publishing trends and give writing advice.
ReplyDeleteIn my newsletters, I make it more personal. I will give them updates on my life such as places I might have visited on road trips, I include photos of those places, of me and my family. I may also share some challenges in my life such as an update on my daughter who has Epilepsy and Aspergers. My readers get a chance to know me and I'm blessed to have many of them pray for us. Of course, I don't get too personal. Also, I reserve new book covers, videos, and special announcements for my dedicated newsletter readers before posting them online in other places. I run contests with freebies that are only through my newsletters that I do not offer online. I hope this gives you some ideas in how to tailor your newsletter to you and what you do.