Effective E-Newsletters

Source: Public Practice

In this article, Hugh Duffy says that e-newsletters can be a very effective way to market your firm and offers ideas for how to maximize their impact.

Content

• Find out what kind of content interests your clients.
• If you're buying your e-newsletter from another source, work with your provider to ensure that your content is still as relevant as possible to your audience.
• As much as possible, give your readers content that relates directly to a service your firm provides.
• If you have content that applies to a certain portion of your audience only, send that content to that portion only.
• Use easy-to-understand language that will speak to your clients' interests and needs. Avoid insider lingo.
• Keep it short.

Additional recommendations

• Draw readers in with brief, interesting teasers so they will want to follow the link to your website to read the entire article.
• Send your e-newsletter consistently. Once or twice a month is likely sufficient to accomplish your marketing objectives.
• Be intentionally interactive, using social media, videos, surveys, etc.
• Follow up using tracking programs to discover how many recipients are opening your e-newsletter, following links to your website, etc. (Typically, as few as 30 percent of recipients open e-newsletters, but even those who don't open them still see your firm's name in their inbox.)

Why use e-newsletters?

According to Duffy, e-newsletters increase loyalty with your clients, remind clients and potential clients of your firm, offer information about services your firm provides, and help you develop recognition as a knowledgeable resource.

For the complete article, read “Freshen Up Your Email Newsletters.”

From Public Practice, Texas Society of CPAs, August 2012, http://www.tscpa.org.