Newsletter No-No's

How can businesses use email newsletters to achieve their marketing goals? Knowing what not to do is a good place to start. Mark Brownlow claims there are six big mistakes marketers make when publishing newsletters. Here's a peek at three:

Confusing newsletters with promotions. Brownlow claims that newsletters' "real potential lies in building, over time, a lasting, long-term relationship with the reader." Instead of promoting your ergonomic office chair, for instance, provide an article on avoiding back strain at work. You aren't asking for immediate action—you're starting a conversation that might lead to eventual action.

Focusing on yourself, not your audience. Is your average reader really interested in the new employee gym at your office or the retirement party for your receptionist? Probably not. Save that info for internal publications and give your readers useful, timely and relevant content to build newsletter loyalty.

Making it difficult to unsubscribe. "Some marketers still believe a disgruntled subscriber is better than no subscriber at all," says Brownlow. "So they make people jump through hoops to get off an address list, or they wait a few more newsletter issues until the unsubscribe request is properly honored." Big mistake. Not only do you annoy and alienate potential customers, you create a statistical headache by throwing off response rates. A quick, painless process is in everyone's best interest.

The Po!nt: In your eagerness to get the most out of your newsletter, you might inadvertently defeat its purpose. Avoiding these common mistakes can help keep you on the right track.

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