Email news letters are quickly becoming an important part of all magazines online plans for revenue success.  But, the standard e-newsletter promoting your magazine/online editorial is not enough to draw in big advertising dollars.  Here are 5 tips to e-newsletter success used by magazine publishers across the nation.

Tip #1:  Break Them Out
It has been proven that you can send one user three emails about a topic in any 30 day period and keep them happy.  This means you can create three e-newsletters around a central theme yet deliver three unique e-Newsletters.  Thus, you create more sellable options/inventory.  It is mission critical that all three e-newsletters be 100% relevant to the original list for which they subscribed.    

Tip #2:  New Is Critical
B2B or B2C, new is new.  So, building newsletters around new information is critical for e-newsletter success.  Users crave new information.  So, do not send what they have already read in the magazine or online.   New Product Guide, New Services Guide, Summer Camp Guide, New Real Estate Listings, New News, New Research, etc.  

Tip #3:  Press Release Into Cash   
Each month magazine publishers and editorials receive tons of press releases about new products and services.  Turn these into cash with e-newsletters.  Use each press release as a sales lead for your sales team.  If you have a new products e-newsletter you can fill it up fast just by using these press releases as a lead source.  The timing is perfect because the writer of the PR is looking for immediate press.  You have an e-newsletter that is priced in such a way that the cost is a no-brainer.

Tip #4:  Get Organized and Offer Options Early
Most publishers are not organized when it comes to e-newsletters.  You need to have several in waiting and offer them at the time the user signs up.  Just like your editorial calendar, you need an e-newsletter production calendar.  This is the cleanest and most ethical way to handle the user during the sign up process.  In addition, make your ANTI-SPAM policies very clear to the user.

Tip#5:  Use a Top Tier E-mail Service Provider (ESP)
Avoid using companies because the cost per month is cheap.  You want to find an ESP that allows you maximum flexibility without a high deliverability rate.  Your emails are only as good as the members on your list and how many emails actually get delivered.  

E-newsletters are a cash cow if you collect emails correctly, sell them correctly and deliver them correctly.

Ryan

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