How to Use a Newsletter to Communicate Effectively with Your Customer Base

Unfortunately, a lot of small businesses think that once they hang their shingle, get a few business cards made, unlock the door and wait, that the customers are going to literally beat their doors down to get their product or service. Sadly, this is not the case. In order to really get loyal, repeat customers, it's important to communicate with them often and give them something of value. One of the ways to do this is through newsletter marketing. Newsletters, whether in print or via email, are a timeless way to keep customers informed and build a solid customer base.

Whether you have a product or you offer a service, as long as you have the best interest of your customers in mind, you can create customer loyalty for your business. Here's how.

1. Offer valuable, rich content to your subscribers. Don't just give them a couple of "bones", but give them meaty, solid information that they can use and information that wants them to read next month's issue.

2. Develop a theme for your newsletter and stick to it. For instance, if you r theme this month is Mardi Gras, make your paper or banners lively and colorful. You can also create a "sale" theme that coincides with a certain time. For instance, if it's Friday the 13th, have everything go on sale for 13% off on that day only.

3. Keep your newsletter brief but offer powerful, value-packed content. You always want to give your customer take-away value. If you have too much information or too many pages in the newsletter, it's unlikely that your customer will read it all, let alone finish it. Although newsletters typically range from two to twenty pages, a comfortable, readable length would be 4 pages, including an order or response page. Which leads to...

4. Always place in the newsletter a call to action from your customer. Whether it's to request more information or to place an order, if you request something from the customer, they are more likely to respond. This works in most any industry as long as you offer a product or service that your customers would want.

5. Create easy access for your newsletter. If you make it easy to subscribe and/or unsubscribe for your customer, they will begin to trust you. When you build a trust relationship with your customers, they will be back for more - - guaranteed.

While distributing a newsletter for your business is just one way to increase customer loyalty, always focus on what the take-away value is. Once this is realized, you will begin to notice repeat customers that ask for more and more.