Do you need an email newsletter?

I'm excited to feature yet another one of my colleagues, ​Bev Feldman​ to talk about her zone of expertise - Email Marketing!

Read on for Bev's take on newsletters. Because we are very aligned that your marketing, even your email strategy, is highly dependent on your business model.

In the world where everyone says you need a newsletter, who does - and who DOESN'T - need one?

There's a lot of advice swirling around on the internet, telling you in order for your business to thrive you absolutely, unequivocally need a newsletter. And not only do you need an email list, it should be growing every day.

While most business owners should indeed have a newsletter, as an ​email marketing consultant​, I’m here to tell you that’s not necessarily true.

That advice is lacking the nuances of your business. It doesn’t take into account what you sell, who you sell to, and how people find you.

Why is having an email list essential to most business owners?

For most business owners, I firmly believe that having an email list is one of your greatest assets.

It's information you own outright, not subject to the whims of platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, or the latest social media craze.

(All of which shut down accounts for phantom violations, or may just completely shutter. Anyone else remember the glory days of Periscope? 🙋)

With email marketing, you’re not at the mercy of the ever-changing algorithm and the rules of someone else’s platform.

While you can’t guarantee that everyone will read your content, assuming you’re following best practices*, your emails will at least show up in your subscribers’ inboxes.

(*By best practices, I mean asking for consent (and not adding people to your email list without their permission), sending content that is relevant to what people signed up to receive, and giving subscribers the option to opt-out.)

You can share content that’s more nuanced without trying to squeeze your ideas into the tight confines of a platform's predetermined packaging.

Don’t love trying to lip sync to trending audio to share your message? You don’t have to. Prefer speaking your ideas over writing them out? You can absolutely share that with your subscribers.

Finally, with a newsletter, you have the ability to send more targeted emails to segments of your audience based on what you know about them, which helps to build trust and increase the opportunities to make sales.

But personally, I think the best part about email marketing is that element of human connection. Those are people who have consented to me showing up in their inbox, week after week, and are taking the time to read what I have to say.

(Well, at least many of them read it 😉)

Ok, so do you need an email list?

Without knowing the specifics of your business, my answer is…it depends.

And here’s where I can hear that collective groan.

“But, Bev, I just want to know! Should I be focusing my limited time and energy on starting an email list (or nurturing the one I currently have)?”

While I can’t give you a definitive answer, here are three questions to help you determine if you need an email list for your business.

How are your clients and customers finding you?

I have a friend and fellow local business owner named Stacey. She runs the kind of client-based business that many entrepreneurs dream of having.

Stacey's built a rock-solid network of supporters, including satisfied clients, local business owners, and folks who've heard her name buzzing around.

Her client list is so jam-packed that she's had to bring in extra help just to keep up.

Stacey is one of those business owners for whom investing time and money into a newsletter wouldn't make much sense.

If your business thrives on a powerful referral network and you can barely keep up with the leads coming in, or if you cater to an incredibly niche and exclusive audience, then I’m inclined to believe you don’t need a newsletter.

However, if people are finding your business through social media, guesting in other people’s audiences, or searching on Google, you’ll likely need a way to capture their information so that you can continue to engage and stay top of mind.

And the best way to do that?

You guessed it - through a newsletter.

What are you selling?

Selling very high-end services that require a client or two a year? Then you probably don’t need a newsletter. (In fact, your time would likely be better spent building your network and showing up where those people are.)

Otherwise, most businesses will benefit from having an email list. That includes:

Businesses of volume. If you sell digital or physical products, group programs, and/or rely heavily on revenue through affiliate marketing - you most definitely need a newsletter since the standard conversion rate is 1-2%. (And in this case, you’ll likely need a pretty sizable email list.)

Creative business. This includes podcasters, bloggers, and thought leaders where your content is your product.

Consulting & coaching businesses. If you sell strategy, done-for-you or done-with-you services, or some combination, then you likely would benefit from having a newsletter. (Granted, a much smaller one than businesses of volume.)

But…it depends on one last factor.

Who are you selling to?

There’s no hard and fast rule to this - it’s really about understanding your audience.

For example, let’s say you’re a coach. If you’re selling coaching services to C-suite executives, you might be less likely to need a newsletter than a coach working with solopreneurs.

But what if you cater to both? Well, that’s where segmentation and sending targeted emails comes in because those distinct audiences impact what content you send and the frequency that you email them.

How do you see a newsletter fitting into your overall strategy?

The decision to start - or maintain - a newsletter isn’t about following a universal rule, but understanding the nuances of your business.

Bev Feldman is a ConvertKit Consultant & Email Automation Strategist at ​Your Personal Tech Fairy​. In her weekly(ish) newsletter, she shares bite-sized, brain-friendly nuggets of wisdom around email marketing, treatinging your subscribers like people, and making sure that the right emails get to the right people. ​Sign up for her newsletter here​.