Do Email Newsletters Impact Customer Retention?

July 8th, 2010 | By Adam Holden-Bache | View Comments

There’s nothing more valuable than your customers or clients. Keeping them interested and engaged with your brand is always a top priority.

Many businesses send email newsletters as a way to communicate with their client or customer base. It’s a key component of the customer retention strategy. But how effective are email newsletters? Do they really help with retention?

Perhaps the answer lies in the content. What works for some may not work for all, but there are some general best practices you should consider.

1- Deliver content that recipients will find interesting. Put yourself in the recipient’s shoes and see if you’d enjoy receiving your email.
2- Provide value. Adding in special email-only offers, free downloads or other valuable content will keep your readers engaged.
3- Personalize. Don’t just start the email with the first name- create different versions or dynamic data based on your business relationship.
4- Let them know they’re appreciated. Doing so will be unique to every audience, but find a way to let recipients know you appreciate their business.

And there are also some things you’ll want to avoid with your email newsletters.

1- Do not only talk about yourself. Remember the 80/20 rule. Make at least 80% of your newsletter informational and only 20% or less promotional.
2- Do not get repetitive. Try to mix up your design, content, imagery, etc. Don’t let your message get stale.
3- Do not publish too frequently. Test or ask to figure out your ideal delivery schedule, and don’t inundate inboxes or your newsletters will have an adverse effect on your business.

Remember your goals– you want to keep your brand in front of your customers or clients and provide value so the next time they’re ready to purchase you’ll be at the top of the list. By delivering engaging email newsletters on a regular basis you’ll establish your business as an industry leader, inform and educate your recipients on your products, services or areas of expertise and solidify yourself as a reputable, interesting company. And that should help with retention as customers will continue to want to do business with you.

Have you had success with customer retention due to email newsletters? Let us know by leaving a comment.