A newsletter is one of those “standard” things that small business owners are taught they need. Like being on every social media platform, having a website, getting on the podcast circuit, etc, etc, it’s a familiar item in the toolbox–and another cost and obligation to maintain.
But not all businesses need a newsletter.
One of my business coaches swears up and down that you must have a newsletter, and must email your audience every day.
She shares the sales she makes from her newsletter, and reminds us that if any of our social accounts get shut down, we loose access to our entire following.
Yet I’ve seen plenty of other businesses thrive while barely emailing their list at all, and others who simply don’t have one.
So how do you decide if you should have one?
Best Uses for A Newsletter
There are a lot of situations where a newsletter is still a critical part of a business’ marketing and customer engagement plan. People typically pay more attention to emails, and they’re more likely to get in front of your leads.
Your posts on social media platforms are prone to complex and changing algorithms…and even if they show up in your followers’ feeds, a distraction or slight mis-scroll could whisk it away just as easily.
Although your emails could end up in junk folders, or ignored when people get busy, there are concrete things you can do to limit the chances of that happening.
Keeping that in mind, a newsletter is generally most useful if:
- You are selling physical goods;
- You are selling services that change seasonally, like accommodations or events;
- You primarily market on social media (without ads) and want to move leads through your funnel; or
- You want to stay top-of-mind for leads and past clients for the next time they need you.
When A Newsletter Isn’t Necessary
I’ve also recommended against a newsletter in some circumstances. These scenarios are usually very specific and take into account the goods/services being sold, the demographics of the clients, and what else the business owner has going on right now.
Here are some examples of where a newsletter isn’t going to make or break a business:
- A local home builder (few reoccurring customers, and new customers typically want to contact you directly);
- Your business operates primarily on referrals (a newsletter can be introduced if your marketing strategy changes); or
- You don’t have the time or resources to figure out another tool and “sell” people into your newsletter.
I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me on the “don’t have time or resources” point, because it seems like a lost opportunity. The pro-newsletter camp also insists you should start building a newsletter now for the future of your business.
But the main problem with starting a newsletter without a concrete need or plan is you may build an audience and train them to ignore you. Just think of the number of times you’ve gotten an email from a business you haven’t heard from in months (or years!), only to delete or unsubscribe because you don’t even remember who they are.
And if you’re simply collecting email addresses, like collecting followers, you may not be attracting potential customers. But unlike followers, most newsletter platforms charge you by active subscribers (“active” being “subscribed”…even if they haven’t opened an email from you in years). So getting a ton of subscribers might give you a little thrill when you see your subscriber count, but you may be paying for all these extra subscribers who will never buy anything from you.
What About Paid Newsletters?
Paid newsletters can be a part of a business’ revenue stream (vs their marketing strategy), but I usually find that the promise of making money from these “tip jar” or “micro-subscription” newsletters to be more work than anything else.
Similar to YouTubers, gamers and “influencers”, only the biggest names can turn a reasonable profit from selling content through a newsletter. For most small businesses that aren’t selling content, trying to monetize a newsletter becomes another product to be marketed (and usually a distraction from their core business).
So…Do I Need A Newsletter?
Unfortunately, like everything else, it really depends. What it really comes down to is asking yourself: what do I intend to do with the newsletter?
If you have a clear idea, then go for it! Providers like MailerLite and Kit.com offer reasonable free tiers that give you up to 1,000 or 10,000 subscribers (respectively) if you don’t need advanced features. Their paid plans are also relatively affordable, compared to bigger (and more complicated) providers like MailChimp and ConstantContact.
But if you’re not quite sure what you would do with the newsletter, I urge you to hold off on starting one. Instead, spend some time thinking about things like:
- Do I want to use the newsletter to build awareness of my business, to sell to leads (or current/past clients), or both?
- Do I need this as another part of my sales funnel?
- Where would this fit in my sales funnel?
- Would people join the newsletter if I don’t offer an incentive?
- What would I offer as an incentive for people to join (e.g. a discount, a freebie, etc)?
- How often do I want to email my list?
- What do I have to offer my list (e.g. tips, special pricing, etc)?
- How much time do I have to spend on this every month?
Can I Just Email My Contacts?
Maybe.
It really depends on how many people you’re emailing, how many emails you’re sending them and what you’re sending them.
All of this factors into:
- Your email provider’s algorithm that monitors for email accounts being used to spam people;
- Your recipients’ email providers’ algorithm that monitors for inbound email accounts spamming their customers.
There’s really no magic formula, but if you’re emailing 20-50 people once a month and your email isn’t spammy, you should be okay.
But, again, this comes down to who you’re emailing and why.
I Want A Newsletter. How Do I Start?
If you got this far and you decided you want to start a newsletter, here’s a few things you need to know.
Domain Name
You will need your own domain name. The newsletter platforms will not allow you to use a Gmail or other free email for your newsletter because of various anti-spam regulations.
As part of your setup process with a newsletter provider, you will need to add TXT and CNAME records to your DNS records to verify that you own the domain and configure it to send emails.
Most newsletter providers will give you some guidance on what needs to be added.
When purchasing a domain name, watch out for steep 1st year discounts.
If you use your home address as your business address, you’ll also want a domain registrar that offers domain name privacy–otherwise, people can easily look up your information as the registered owner. Be careful of privacy pricing as well. I’ve seen some of these services costing more than double the cost of the domain name itself!
Newsletter Platform
There are a ton of newsletter platforms out there, ranging from corporate-focused ones like MailChimp and Constant Contact, to more budget-friendly options like SendFox and Zoho Campaigns. The larger ones are usually terribly expensive and come with features you don’t need, and the cheaper ones have a huge learning curve and a lot of “gotchas” with features that aren’t available or don’t work as you would expect.
I usually recommend either MailerLite or Kit.com. If you don’t mind their branding, their free tier should be enough to get you started.
Kit.com is better if you want a simple app and out-of-the-box landing pages that you can customize, but their free tier forces you to promote other newsletters. Otherwise, MailerLite is simple and even 1,000 subscribers is plenty for just starting out your newsletter for free.
Summary
Like all business decisions, whether you need a newsletter really depends on your situation.
More importantly, not all business need or will benefit from having one.
I generally recommend having a plan for your newsletter before starting one, because the time investment is surprisingly high.
If you decide to start a newsletter, you should be well served by the free tier of MailerLite or Kit.com to start. This will give you the opportunity to gain some subscribers before incurring another business expense (especially if it doesn’t turn out to bring you any business!).
Still not sure, or want help getting setup? Get in touch with me for a second opinion or for assistance getting started.
