A Newsletter Can Serve You Well

I have recently seen several fantastic examples of "newsletters" as a marketing tool by business owners in my network.  The word is in quotes because in not all cases does the communication look like the traditional printed product so popular in the last century.  Online, "newsletters" can take various forms and they can be more easily produced and deployed.

I like the modern newsletter for several reasons.  Properly done, it is a communication that provides a wonderful value added.  The business can share information about their area of expertise as well as new products and services.  Sent at a predictable interval, the newsletter is a nice reminder that the business is "out there", boosting TOMA.  And it can be customized, often by sending variations to different lists.

My favorite local example is a short (3-4 paragraph) weekly email sent by a home services company.  It's friendly, slightly chatty, and both reminds customers about what they may want to know (e.g. steps to take in cold weather, checklists for being away from home, etc.) and tells them who to contact (by name!) that week if services are needed.

There is a caution.  I always encourage businesses to build their newsletter lists on an "opt-in" basis to ensure that anger at being spammed is minimized.  Also, a link for opting-out should always be included at the bottom of the newsletter.

Bottom Line: can your business use a short newsletter, once a week or perhaps monthly to provide value added and Top of Mind Awareness to your clients and customers?  Now is the time to get one started!

Direct Mail as a TOMA Tool

In my last post I pointed out how direct mail is increasingly a fine option for a small business getting noticed in special situations, such as the roll out of new products and services, or as a thank you to your best customers.

Small business owners should also look at direct mail as one of the techniques that can really help drive TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness).  Here's how.  Realistically direct mail will not be a fantastic sales tool.  Long experience shows us that direct mail has a LOW <1% return on a particular asking.  That's wonderful if you have a big list and a decent postage budget.  But if you look at direct mail in a slightly different way, you can beef up your longer-term ROI.  Direct mail's tangible nature (i.e. unlike email you can physically hold the document) gives it a fighting chance to be held, displayed or filed by a customer.  And that suggests adding some useful aspect to the direct mail piece that keeps it visible to your prospect or customer, or to someone they can refer.  Can you add a useful fact? a calendar? an announcement?  there are many possibilities. Always seek to add something that the person can use in their own lives.  And your logo will not be far away...

Regular direct mail can serve as that repeat reminder you are out there to help them.  One mailing roughly every quarter could greatly enhance your TOMA.