Toolkit: e-newsletters help get the word out

One of the first things that I did at the Daily Bread Food Bank was to kill the semi-annual newsletter. I could not justify the time, effort and expense for creating and mailing a large multi-page document.

Here’s how I replaced it:

• I decided that it was much better to professionalize the annual report, give it more of a marketing emphasis and send it to the same target audience.
• Create an e-newsletter that would be sent out every 4-6 weeks

The result was a better use of resources including my time and budget. The result was that we were in touch with more people more frequently and in a way that they could easily share the information with family, friends and colleagues. Supporters without e-mail continued to receive at least one print mailing with plenty of substantive content.

Use an e-newsletter tool

Initially, I desktop published a 2 page newsletter and created a PDF that we sent out to an internally maintained list of contacts and subscribers. We also sent a hard copy version of the last edition of “The Crunch” to donors. While that worked well enough, I knew that it was not a long term solution. We eventually found a Toronto firm that had e-marketing tools that we decided to use.

When I started at the YMCA in 2006, finding a cost-effective way to send e-newsletters was a priority. A key criteria was a solution that could easily fit within my existing budget. After doing some research, I chose to use Constant Contact. I liked that they had flat-rate pricing based upon the size of your list AND that the prices were extremely reasonable. At the time, it was still common to have to pay a charge for each recipient to whom you sent an e-mail and so the pricing structure and its relatively predictable nature were major attractions. I also liked that they had templates available and an easy to use content management tool. I loved the statistics package that provided me with such important information such as open rates and which links were generating the most interest-information that helped me to plan and improve future newsletters. A particularly attractive feature was that the distribution list was online and people could subscribe directly and make changes. Bounced e-mails were also much easier to handle and adding/updating lists proved to be a breeze. This archive has many examples of the type of e-newsletters that our participants and other recipients found worth reading.

Overall, I was very happy with Constant Contact over the more than three years that I used it. I was proud when they named me an All Star in 2009 in recognition of demonstrating best-practices in the effective use of email marketing by meeting these criteria:

• Had used Constant Contact for a minimum of 1 year starting on or before 12/31/08
• Averaged a bounce rate less than or equal to 15%
• Averaged an open rate of 20% or higher
• Sent emails regularly (in all 4 quarters in 2009)
• Averaged a click through rate of 2% or higher
• Received no compliance related complaints or inquiries

You need an e-newsletter in your toolkit

I believe that an e-newsletter is a critical tool in any organization’s toolkit. With your website as your online home, the e-newsletter plays a critical role in highlighting new or strategically important information and driving people to your website for the complete details.

Since 2006 and thanks to the popularity of Constant Contact and similar services, your inbox may be full with e-newsletters. Do you really want to send people one more at the risk of adding more clutter? Yes! But you need to make sure that you have willing recipients and give them content worth reading. A beauty of e-newsletters is that you must be using a permission based list where people subscribe directly or you have an established relationship with them. Giving them an easily accessible option to unsubscribe is important to ensuring you have willing recipients. People will pay attention to a number of e-newsletters if they value their relationship with your organization and they are getting value out of opening it and clicking on the links.

Too many small organizations have e-newsletters but fail to use an email marketing service because there is a cost attached. That is a false economy in my opinion. By using an email marketing service, you can present yourself much more professionally, spend less time fussing with your online distribution list and get valuable data about how your readers interact with your material. Bite the bullet and use a cost-effective online service to get the most bang for your buck (and your time). I am recommending one service but there are many more that might be worth considering. I have no financial interest in my recommendation! Pick the one that you think best suits your needs. You can always switch later.

My choice remains Constant Contact

I continue to recommend Constant Contact as an e-newsletter service and have added it to the Communicate & Howe Toolkit. I am interested though in your thoughts on other e-mail marketing tools and whether any of them should be considered by readers of this blog.

For those interested in using Constant Contact, here is some information on its pricing and some recommendations for getting started:

• Cost: Based on the size of your contact list starting at: $10.50/month for up to 500 names / $105/month for 10,001 to 25,000. These are non-profit rates and if you pay upfront for a year. I would certainly recommend getting one or both of these discounts.
• Extras: Archive – a must for $5 per month / Large Photo Gallery: $5 per month (wait till needed)
• Other Services from CC: Online survey tool & Event manager