Newsletter nurturing

Your newsletter is a powerful tool.  It’s a direct route to more business, if you use it well.

Let’s be honest, nobody wants another newsletter, so people won’t just ask to be on your list (with a few very rare exceptions).  You need to offer an ethical bribe to encourage people to join your list – then to deliver great value to keep them on your list.

Build your list

Your lead magnet (the ethical bribe) offers something free that your target audience will see to be of value.  The better targeted this is to the kind of people you want to attract, the more power your list will have.  My advice to clients is to create a lead magnet that is very specific to their ideal client, rather than of broad interest.  The problem with generic lead magnets is that a lot of the people who sign up for it will not be potential clients and then your list will take a lot more work to monetise.

Obviously, the online platforms that specialise in email marketing  - like AWeber, Mailerlite, ConstantContact, MailChimp, etc. include an automated unsubscribe option, but a good newsletter will keep your readers engaged.  TIP:  Don’t try and use your own email platform – that’s the quickest way to get your account shut down!

Lead with value

Nobody wants to know what your business is doing – unless there’s a significant benefit to them.  But people are thirsty for information, that’s what you lead with – the how to, step-by-step guides, checklists, tips, etc. that will give them useful information.

That doesn’t mean you can’t include offers too.  Whether your offer is a seasonal special or something exclusive to your newsletter readers, make sure that the headline taps into ‘what’s in it for me’ and is concise and focused.

Create your own style

The newsletters that I engage best with have a very personal style that makes me feel like the writer is speaking directly to me.  It needs to be appropriate for your business, but showing your human side is the best way to get people to continue to engage with your email and open your newsletter every time it lands.

Marketing to your list

Many people are worried that sending pure marketing emails to their newsletter list will result in lots of unsubscribes.  However, remember that people have signed up because they want what you offer in expertise.  Offering services or products that are related is not going to upset them – they may not choose to buy, but some will.

The secret of good email marketing is to deliver value in every communication – as well as making your offer.

Look after your list and it will develop into a powerful marketing tool.

Social strategies

Social media is powerful – even people who ‘hate’ social media, can’t avoid the fact that it has an impact on their business and on them personally.

The secret of successful social media is to know:

• Who your audience are
• Where they’re active
• What they engage with best
• How you can help them

These are the questions I get asked most often about social media?

How often should I post?

This is a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ question!  There are no hard and fast rules.  Some people will tell you to post daily, others say you don’t need to.  Personally, I think the frequency is less important than the quality of content.  

There is not a ‘one size fits all’ answer.  Look at what other people in your area of expertise are doing – and how many followers and comments they get.  That doesn’t mean you should post at the same rate, but it will give you an idea of what is working – and what isn’t.

Do I need to post on all the social platforms?

No.  There’s nothing wrong with maintaining a presence on the major platforms, but a weekly post may be enough for these.  Focus your effort on the platform(s) where your target audience are most active and engage with them on that platform.

What should I post?

This is a huge question and the answer is specific to each business.  There is a long list of potential content for posts – but lots of bland posts won’t work.  Think about your audience, what do they want?  What can you post that will attract their attention and deliver value to them?

Endless branded posts don’t work.  Consider the person who is seeing the post, will it capture their attention or will they skip past it?  Are they interested in the content or not?  I see companies trying to ‘be human’, by presenting profiles of different members of their team – but how does that add value for potential clients?  If there’s something that person does that will make a significant difference to a client, then by all means highlight that – but be selective about how much information you offer.

People like video, but only if the video has either entertainment value or is of use to them.  Think about that when you’re putting content together.

A testimonial is great third party validation – but only if there are clear positive outcomes attached to it.

A quotation may be interesting – but only with your spin on it.  Quotes are all over the internet, why have you chosen this particular quotation.

Don’t be afraid to share other people’s posts if they’re relevant to your audience, that will enhance your reputation as a curator and source of good information.

So the answer to what to post is – deliver value, share your take on things and be unique.

How much time should I spend on social media?

Being a left-brained systems geek, I believe there’s nothing like a good system!  Our own social media is planned in batches, rather than on a day-to-day basis.  The same applies to our clients schedules.  We put together a spreadsheet showing the day, date, platform(s), image/video, text, hashtags and links.  This lends itself to having weekly themes or promotions and a regular feature post on a specific weekday – e.g. Marketing Monday, Wednesday Wisdom, Friday Fun, etc.

However, remember that there are two sides to social media.  Your posts – and engaging with other people’s posts.

If you are broadcast only, people will engage with you less, so follow your industry leaders and gurus, comment and engage with posts that interest you, support and appreciate other people’s content and they’ll repay the favour.

Connect with your current and past clients and engage with some of their posts – but be genuine and only comment if you have something useful to say.

I’d recommend scheduling a 10-15 minute session once or twice a day to do this.  It’s the sort of thing you can do while travelling (not if you’re driving, of course) or tack onto the end of your email inbox clearing.

*****

Social media marketing works – which is why the big companies invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in it.  Make it work for you!

Uncharted territory …

With a lovely new shiny year to explore, most people see the months ahead as uncharted territory.  Most of us measure the year by the calendar – you hear phrases like “I hope this year is going to be better than the last one,” or “Last year was amazing – now we just have to make this one even better!”

When people ask you ‘How is business?’, you’ll often respond in relation to the progress you’ve made this year – as in ‘since January’.

So now is the time to ensure you have plans in place that will ensure that your answer to questions like these are positive as the months progress.

What will make the difference for YOU?

I spent 2024 trying to do business development the ‘traditional’ way – but that has never been the way that my business has worked.  I spent a lot of time, effort and money on trying to do something that was not a good fit for me.  The minute I decided this was never going to work and that I would let go of trying to be a square peg in a round hole, things started to flow better.

What has worked best for you in the past?

Why did it work?

What do you have to do to leverage that?

How do you incorporate that into your business development plans?

How will you stand out from your competition?

Almost every business has competition, but even companies that offer the same products and services as you, have something that makes them different – and so do you.  It’s YOU!

People buy from people they like – and they buy into your take on your area of expertise.

Everyone won’t like you – but you don’t want to work with them, you want to find the clients who love you to bits and appreciate everything you do for them.  How will you ensure they know what they’re getting when they come to you for help?

That’s where establishing your reputation is essential.  What do they see you saying on social media?  What value do you deliver in your newsletter?  What do your blog articles explore – and how do they help the reader?  These are all ways to give potential clients a taste of what they’ll get if they work with you.

The other end of this is that you need to be very careful about everything you post into the public domain.  If you’re having a bad day, don’t have a rant on your social media platforms, if someone has upset you, naming and shaming may make you feel better, but it won’t help your reputation long-term.  Like it or not whatever you say publicly, personally or professionally, adds to how people see you.

What’s the plan, Stan!?

Reputation and success don’t happen by accident, they’re the result of what you actually do.  A great marketing plan sets out what you do, so you are building a strong foundation for everything your business is.

What will your reputation marketing plan include in the year ahead?