As Bill Bonner of Agora Publishing is fond of pointing out, nobody wakes up in the morning, taps his or her significant other on the shoulder, and says, “Honey, let’s go out and buy some newsletters today.”
People
may read books or magazines for entertainment, but they rely on newsletters to
deliver tangible value far in excess of the subscription price.
How
then do you make your newsletter indispensable (or at least less dispensable)
to your subscribers -- the one publication they must have, even if they let all
their other subscriptions lapse?
I
put the question to a group of successful newsletter publishers and marketers.
Here are a few of their answers
1. Generate a tremendous ROI (return on
investment). The more benefits subscribers get from the newsletter, the
less like they are to grumble about your high subscription fee come renewal time.
“Find ways to make your product worth many times the subscription price in
money generated, cost savings, time savings, freedom, peace of mind, fun,
energy, and inspiration,” advises one publisher.
2. Make your credibility beyond question. Subscribers
who have faith in the editor, writers, and publisher stick with the newsletter.
“The information source must be someone I respect as an expert in their field,”
says one subscriber.
“Never
let the customer down,” advises John Forde, a copywriter with Agora Publishing.
“We stick with people because, net-net, they honor the trust we have placed in
them.”
Business-to-business
newsletters can establish credibility by closely aligning themselves with major
associations in their industry. “Partner with a high-profile industry association,”
advises Tom McCave of Melcrum Publishing. “As long as editorial integrity and
independence aren’t compromised, you can be seen as the industry mouthpiece and
significantly increase your standing in the market.”
3. Avoid the “information trap.” Too many
promotion packages boast about the “information” the newsletter delivers.
But
that’s the last thing people want. We’re already drowning in information. And
we can get all the information we want on the Web for free.
What
newsletter subscribers want is actionable ideas. Savvy strategies. Techniques
that work. “News you can use.” Analysis and interpretation.
Tip:
Consider publishing case histories. “I meet with many Fortune 1000 CEOs and
senior executives, and almost without exception their first question is, ‘So
what’s my competition doing?’” says management consultant David Frey. “People
want to know how other people have solved the same problems they are facing and
what the post-implementation results were.”
4. Appeal to the reader’s self-interest. As has been observed many
times, everyone is tuned to the same radio station in their heads: WIIFM -- “What’s
In It For Me?”
When marketing a business-to-business newsletter, don’t just show how
the publication benefits the subscriber’s company by increasing profits,
boosting productivity, or controlling costs. Also show how doing these things
helps the subscriber advance in her career, earn more money, and make her job
more secure.
Give
subscribers what they want, not just what they need. According to copywriter
Parris Lampropolous, “The newsletters that get read first and the ones that have
the highest renewal rates are the ones that deal with interests and hobbies.”
5. Differentiate yourself from all other competitors. Being different or unique is
a powerful strategy for acquiring and retaining subscribers.
“The secret is to provide something that no one else can provide,” says
publisher Buddy Hayden, “or short of that, to provide a rare something which
you do demonstrably better than anyone else.”
“You’ve got to make the information you present each month seem like they’ve never heard it before,” says Sandy Frank, an investment newsletter publisher. “You’ve got to find a way to present copy that seems different than everything else they see in their mailbox.”
6. Give the subscriber an incredible value. Infomercial producers know they get more
orders when it looks like the viewer is getting a lot of stuff for his or her
money. The same technique can work in selling newsletters.
“If
you are not in a specialized vertical market, I have a feeling that adding
ancillary products and services is the best way to make yourself indispensable
to the subscriber,” comments Brian Kurtz of Boardroom.
“Offer
extra bonuses or benefits that would cost as much as the subscription price but
are offered for free as part of the subscription,” advises another consumer
newsletter publisher.
The
most common premium in newsletter publishing is a free special report. But
paper is cheap. Why not offer several reports, each on a different topic of
vital interest to your subscribers?
Free
information premiums can be packaged in many different media, including
directories, software, CD-ROM, audiocassettes, video tapes, and resource
guides.
Thanks
to the Internet, you don’t even have to print your ancillary products.
Increasingly popular in newsletter publishing is to include access to a
subscribers-only Web site as part of the subscription. Another common technique
is to send supplemental e-mails alerting subscribers to important news that
takes place between regular issues.
7. Prove that the value far outweighs the cost.
Copywriter Mike Pavlish says that a
critical step in closing sales is making the customer perceive that the price
you are asking for your product is a “drop in the bucket” compared to the value
it delivers.
One way newsletter publishers do this is by comparing their newsletter to more costly information resources. American Speaker, a loose-leaf service for executives on how to be a more effective speaker, compares its $297 annual subscription fee to the $5,000 a professional speechwriter would charge for just one speech.
Another
technique is to restate the price in terms that make the cost seem more
reasonable. By dividing its $297 subscription fee by 365 days in a year, American Speaker tells readers that they
get continuous advice on how to be more effective speakers all year long for a
very reasonable fee of only 81 cents a day.
To
sum it all up:
·
Make
the information in your newsletter different, unique, useful, and difficult to
get elsewhere.
·
Include
content that delivers tangible benefits, such as cost savings or increased
profits.
·
Show
that the value of what you deliver to your readers is a drop in the bucket
compared to the price you are asking.
Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter
and the author of The Complete Idiot’s
Guide to Direct Marketing (Alpha Books). He can be reached at 201-385-1220
or at rwbly@bly.com.
###