How to Beat the “Delete” – 5 Tips to a Better Email Newsletter

How to Beat the “Delete”
5 Tips to a Better Email Newsletter

Email newsletters can be a good way to maintain and even build a relationship with your customers and supporters. However, you run the risk of alienating them unless you are careful to create a product that is in step with their preferences and habits.

It wasn’t long ago that Detroit ruled the American Road, mass producing heavy trucks and SUVs. When fuel prices skyrocketed, however, many drivers abandoned American brands in favor of foreign models offering better fuel economy.

It was a classic failure of vision – of not giving the customer what they desired or needed in a product. In a similar way, you have to be sensitive to your customers’ desires and expectations when communicating with them via email newsletters.

You may already have an email newsletter to which they have willingly subscribed. And, if so, it’s reasonable to assume they trust your brand, buy your products or believe in your cause.

But is your email newsletter effective, or are you testing their patience and tempting them to look elsewhere because of a failure to recognize what your customer wants in this kind of communication?

A study by useit.com confirmed that people typically have strong emotional reactions to email newsletters. Useit.com’s Jakob Nielsen writes: “The positive emotional aspect of newsletters is that they can create much more of a bond between user and company than a website can.

The following tips can help you shape your email newsletter so that it has the best chance to strengthen, rather than diminish, relationships with your customers.

1. Appreciate Your Audience – Think about who will be receiving your email newsletter.  How did you acquire their email addresses? Are they regular customers? What do they buy? What causes do they support? Answering questions like these will help you identify the kind of content you should provide to them.

2. Content Is King – For many companies, figuring out what to put in their newsletters is the hardest part of publishing one. A good piece of advice is to THINK LIKE A READER/CUSTOMER and make sure every item, as much as possible, is RELEVANT to an end user’s interests. “How-to” articles and those rich with active links to reliable information sources can be especially appealing. In short, what would YOU like to see in a newsletter if the roles were reversed?

3. Brevity Is Best – Nobody wants a rambling newsletter popping up in their inbox. And forget about wordy articles extolling products and lengthy success stories. Say what you’ve got to say in no more than 150 words per item. The truth is most people only scan newsletter articles to get the gist of the content. If you’re lucky, a telling headline will pull a reader in even further. According to the useit.com study, only 23% read a newsletter thoroughly. A strong SUBJECT LINE is vital to getting the email opened and it’s not a bad idea to borrow a line directly from the newsletter content provided it is striking.

4.Timing Is of the Essence – Nothing prompts end-user/customer scorn (and thus more clicks on the “delete” button) than bombing inboxes with overly frequent communications, even in the form of content rich newsletters. Plan a regular communication schedule that delivers current and USEFUL information so that readers will be looking forward to it rather than dreading its arrival.

5. Effective Formatting and Design – Your email newsletter format will have a big impact on readership. To make this decision, you must first identify your audience and determine what is most likely to appeal to them. The most common formats for email newsletters are HTML, Plain Text and PDF, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Generally speaking, HTML will allow you a more or less professional look with pictures and graphics while Plain Text is a “just the facts ma’am” format that frees you from HTML coding but has less style, graphics and perhaps less impact. A PDF format can use a lot of graphics and design elements not available to HTML or Plain Text but has the drawback of requiring users to either download it or have software (Adobe Reader) that can open the document. Some people won’t bother to look at your newsletter because of this inconvenience.

Critically, you should make it very quick and easy for people to either subscribe or unsubscribe to your newsletter. If the process is slow or frustrating, you will almost certainly annoy people and risk losing their business as well.

Remember, a well done email newsletter benefits your customers by providing relevant information while not imposing too much on their time.  It can be a tricky balance to strike, but if you are successful, customer loyalty should thrive.

Need a better way to get the word out? Looking for an easy, systemized and branded and way to send your email newsletters, surveys, and more  . . . without getting labeled as a spammer? Take a look at Xactcast.com. Sign up for your free demo today!

Written by Scott Wigton



Logo Design: Don’t Try This at Home, Folks!

Once you understand the importance of a logo to your business and the qualities that constitute effective logo design, it’s time to talk about working with a design firm to create a logo of enduring value.

For many potential customers, your logo could be the FIRST point of contact with your business. Think of your logo as your company’s introductory handshake. Now, imagine (or recall) a bad handshake: one that is cold and sweaty (yuck!),  too rough or too hot, too weak or too strong. Each leaves a lasting impression. The same goes for a logo. A poorly executed logo can leave your potential customers with a persistent and damaging impression.

And, as the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” If your logo looks like junk, customers will associate that feeling with your products and services.

Good logos epitomize several qualities: simplicity in shape and color; legibility with carefully selected typefaces; the right size and scalability (including use of white space) for a range of applications; and, a style sheet that dictates appropriate use. Your logo should also be unique enough to differentiate you from your competitors. Most importantly, however, your logo should be MEMORABLE (in a good way, of course)!

Why You Should Hire a Design Firm

So, how do you get a logo that meets these criteria? Easy. You hire a professional design firm to help you create one. This is one of those “Don’t try this at home, folks” moments. A quality logo is not something you cook up internally unless your company has its own creative department. Even then, caution is advised. That’s because an outside perspective of your business and brand can be invaluable, helping you get past weaknesses and blind spots that your customers perceive but you don’t.

The price you pay for a bad logo will be high if you rely on half-baked, in-house skills or hire the cheapest design firm available. First, there is the cost in time and money of having to revise a bad logo or, worse, having to scrap the final product and start over. Second, if you roll out a logo in spite of misgivings, you risk creating multitudes of bad impressions that could result in lost business.

Logo Design:
Ingredients for Successful Collaboration

Instead, select a design firm to help create your logo, keeping a few things in mind when you do so:

1. Prepare for the costs - A quality logo doesn’t come dirt cheap and it shouldn’t. This is one case where you should be comfortable with paying a little more, as your logo can be a powerful tool to create and sustain business. At the same time, be cautious about firms that want to charge what seem exorbitant rates. Sky-high design fees do not guarantee you’ll get a better logo. Instead, look at each prospective firm’s previous output and meet with their people. Is the quality high and can you work well with them?
   
   
2. Prepare to collaborate (but don’t dictate!) – You will need to communicate clearly with your design firm. You know your business. Help them understand — and feel — what drives your vision. They’ve got to “get it” for the logo to be any good. Then get out of the way. The last thing a creative design team needs is micromanagement or the sense that someone is constantly looking over their metaphorical shoulder, analyzing every detail of the creative process.


3. Prepare to be challenged (but don’t roll over) - Hire a firm that can challenge some of your assumptions about your logo and what it should be or could be. True, they need to understand your vision, but the external perspective brought to the table by an outside firm can be invaluable. Remember, you hired them for their skill set and experience. Now let them do what they do best. When the time comes for feedback, make sure your feedback is honest. Don’t acquiesce and settle for something that misses the mark.


4. Prepare to have fun - The process of working with your design firm to create a logo should be enjoyable. Be open to ideas and toss them around. Welcome fresh concepts and explore them for merit. You might find the best concept comes from a synthesis of multiple ideas. Above all, don’t be dismissive, negative or hostile or you could put a debilitating kink in the creative process. Remember, good logos, good brands and good business are built on positive rather than negative foundations.

A successful collaboration with a design firm to create either a new logo or “renovate” an old one can pay enormous dividends for your business. Remember, don’t entrust your company’s first impression — your logo — with just anyone. Find a firm with a proven record of quality work, establish a good rapport and then let them do what they do best.

Written by Scott Wigton

Does Your Logo Measure Up?

A Strong Logo Embodies Your Brand and Leads to Sales

You’ll never get a second chance to make a good first impression and for many businesses that all-important first impression comes from a deceptively unassuming source — your business logo.
That’s right. That little item that adorns your letterhead, business correspondence, signage and advertising is absolutely crucial to shaping initial responses to your business. And, for existing customers, your logo symbolizes value and trust and serves as a reaffirmation of a good, ongoing relationship.

But what if your logo isn’t all it could be? Or, worse, what if it’s just plain bad? If so, you run the risk of turning off potential customers and undermining your brand. A poorly designed logo slapped on letterhead, ads, billboards or on the sides of your company vehicles won’t entice anyone to become your customer. Rather, people are more likely to think: “Well, they’re too cheap or careless to come up with a good logo and that probably doesn’t bode well for the product/service they offer, either.”

Logo Power!
Let’s be clear. Your logo is NOT your brand. A logo is only a symbol or representation of your brand. Nevertheless, it has the power to reflect positively, or negatively, on your brand. In the minds of many clients and consumers, the mere sight of a well executed logo backed by a strong brand is enough to trigger a buying impulse.

That’s why it’s important your business have a strong logo. Think about all the great brands out there, the companies you buy from — almost without exception, they have strong logos designed to powerfully embody their brands. When you see them, a positive message is conveyed. And, even if you don’t care for that brand, you respect the authority represented by that logo.

Given the power of logos in the digital age when impressions — and business decisions — can be made in a matter of nanoseconds, it may behoove you to re-evaluate your own logo, and if you don’t have one (shame on you!) to get one. So, you might ask, what are some factors that make for a strong logo?

• Strong logos normally have simple shapes. Shape is one thing that people immediately connect with visually. The more complicated the shape, the less appealing the logo generally. The shape may be dictated by a symbol or defined by letters and words or a combination of both. Whatever the case, simpler is better.
• Strong logos make effective use of color, without overdoing it. Color can be powerful when used the right way in a logo. When excessive, color becomes cloying, possibly tasteless and proves distracting from the brand message you hope to convey. Colors must be carefully selected because each color, at a subliminal level, suggests feelings that will be associated with your brand. And, keep this in mind. If your logo is well designed, it will also work quite well in black and white.
• Strong logos use fonts or typefaces that are carefully selected to reflect the brand proposition. If you’re a company that deals in high-tech, you don’t want an “old timey” typeface used in your logo. It sends a conflicting message.
• Strong logos are the right size. Is your logo too big, or too small, for your letterhead and other applications? You don’t want people straining to see it because it was designed too awkwardly to fit appropriately in all your means of communication.
• Strong logos are accompanied by style sheets. Do you have a style guide for the use of your logo? Is your logo legally protected? Do you slap it haphazardly on everything without regard to positioning and size, thereby watering down its affect? These are important considerations to make sure you get the most out of your logo.

Finally, before you abandon your logo, be sure to consider its existing value. Over the years, you have probably built up a large cache of credibility in your community with your logo. People recognize it and know what it stands for. Some say changing your logo is tantamount to divorce with your clients and customers. That is probably too extreme, but carefully mull over the heritage of your logo. Unless it has been a disaster or reflects a bygone era or your company and brand are due a total makeover, it may be that your logo needs only a little bit of tweaking to update it. A professional designer can help you with just the right flourishes.

Next month, we’ll explore that process of working with a design firm to create a strong logo for your company.

Written by Scott Wigton