I’m staring out the window at the gas station across the street – half daydreaming about what it would be like to start riding my bike to work because I can’t afford to put gas into my less than eco-friendly pick-up truck – and half thinking about what the next E-newsletter from acadia creative is going to be about.
And then it hits me. How many of you actually KNOW how to create an E-newsletter? I mean – you probably get them all the time, but haven’t you ever wondered how they are created and how you email them to everyone you know on the earth without crashing your Outlook Express? Would you believe me if I told you it didn’t cost a fortune and you didn’t have to be a computer genius to do it? It doesn’t, and you don’t.
First, you need to compile your email list. You can easily export your contact list from your Outlook program into an excel spreadsheet. Quite often, this same file can be imported into an email management program with little or no tweaking. You can also buy lists, however I recommend thoroughly checking out the source of those lists before purchasing them.
Next, you need to identify a good online list management program. Sounds expensive. Well it can be. I’ve done the research and I’m very happy with the system that acadia creative uses to build and maintain the list for this newsletter. For a nominal monthly fee, Constant Contact allows me to place a sign-up box on my website for the newsletter. The information entered gets added to my list of email contacts in the list management program. The management software also works as a cleaning company. If a message gets sent to a bad address, the system automatically removes it from the master list. Now that’s genius.
Well, you ask, how do I send my message? Good question. Along with the list management, programs like Topica also offers pre-designed templates that send a very nice, structured HTML e-newsletter. You don’t have to worry about HTML code. Simply write your content and plug it into the template. It’s that easy. The downside is that while you may be able to upload your logo and a photo or two, the template choices are limited and it may be hard to reflect your company brand. Hiring a designer who’s familiar with HTML and marketing will get you the best results if you’re trying to stay true to your brand. It will also give you an edge over the rest of the template users out there by creating something that is uniquely yours.
Once you’ve created your template with your content, select the email list you would like to send it to, and hit SEND! You can also schedule your mailing for a certain date and time. This works great if you’re lounging on the beach and you’d like everyone to think you’re hard at work. Eh hem.
So – what about results? Everything we do when marketing our business should be trackable, and with a list management system it is. Right down to who opened the email and how many people clicked on the links within it. This is valuable information and should be used as a tool for fine-tuning the content of your next newsletter.
I’m watching you!
acadia creative - designwise 