The Benefits of Creating a Newsletter for Your Calhoun County Small Business

As a small business owner, you are always looking for ways to grow your customer base and increase sales. One method that can be extremely effective is creating an email newsletter. In this blog post courtesy of the Calhoun County Area Chamber, we'll discuss some of the reasons why newsletters can be so beneficial for small businesses, as well as how to write an effective newsletter and which tools can help you share it with your audience.

Why Newsletters Can Be Effective

There are several reasons why newsletters can be such powerful marketing tools. First, they provide an easy way for you to stay in touch with your customers on a regular basis. This helps nurture relationships and keep your business in mind when customers are ready to make a purchase. Second, newsletters give you a chance to show off your brand's personality and build trust with your audience. When done right, newsletters can make customers feel like they know and support your small business—which is invaluable when it comes time to buy. Finally, newsletters provide an easy way for customers to share your content with their friends and family members. This word-of-mouth marketing can be invaluable in helping you reach new customers.

How to Write an Effective Newsletter

You know that a newsletter can be a great marketing strategy, but what does it need to be great? The first step is to decide what type of content you want to include in your newsletter. Will it be primarily informational? Or will it focus on promoting special offers or deals? Once you've decided on the focus of your newsletter, it's time to start writing great content that will engage and inspire your readers. Here are a few tips:

• Keep it short and sweet: no one wants to read a long, drawn-out email from a business. Instead, focus on writing concise paragraphs that get straight to the point.

• Use strong headlines: headlines are crucial in getting people to actually read your newsletter. Make sure yours are clear, interesting, and make use of keywords that will help them rank highly in search engines.

• Incorporate data visualization: adding charts, graphs, and other types of data visualization can help make complex information more digestible for your readers (and more likely to actually get read).

• Use images judiciously: A few high-quality images can add visual interest to your newsletter and break up large blocks of text — just don't go overboard or else you run the risk of making your email seem cluttered.

Which Tools Can Help You Create and Share Your Newsletter?

There are now more tools available than ever before to help small businesses create beautiful newsletters that reach their target audiences. Some of our favorites include MailChimp, Constant Contact, and SendinBlue — all of which offer free plans for those just getting started with email marketing. Zapier reminds business owners that whichever tool you choose, make sure it integrates easily with your website so that people can sign up for your newsletter with just a few clicks.

If you want to have unlimited control of your newsletter’s design, you can always create one from scratch. This option is best left to those with graphic design experience. But if you go this route, make sure to send your final product as a PDF. You can use this free PDF converter to do that by converting your design file in two steps: drop and convert. Then, you have a stable file type that will look great on any device. 

How Data Visualization Can Enhance Your Content            

If you're not already using data visualization in your newsletters (or elsewhere in your marketing), now is the time to start! Sprout Social explains that including charts, graphs, maps, and infographics in your content helps make complex information more digestible and visually appealing — both of which will encourage people to actually read what you're sending them. Not sure where to start? Check out this list of 50 data visualization tools that will help you turn boring data into stunning visuals. 

Prioritize Newsletter Marketing

All too often, small businesses treat email newsletters as an afterthought —something they'll get around to eventually but never really prioritize. However, that attitude couldn't be further from the truth! Newsletters can provide huge benefits for small businesses if they're done right — including increased sales, stronger relationships with customers, and improved brand awareness. Whether you use a template tool or a PDF convertor to create your newsletter, it's time to start brainstorming topics for your first newsletter! 

Join the Calhoun County Area Chamber to connect with local entrepreneurs and resources that can help your business grow.