Sending out regular emails to your subscribers is a great way to keep your name in their minds. It’s particularly useful if you also offer non-wedding products and services e.g. family portraits, birthday cakes, flowers.

Say something interesting

Make your emails informative by writing something which will interest your readers. They should not just be about your products and services. Comment on the latest trends and give useful tips. For example, a florist could discuss choosing seasonal flowers, a venue could give advice on creating the seating plan.

If you have a blog on your website then you can use an intro in your newsletter and link to the full article – encouraging people to go to your site. If you haven’t got a blog, this would be a good time to start one!

A good newsletter will have 3-4 different items – For example:

• a feature article
• showcase a new product
• introduce a new staff member
• give information about an event you are holding or attending

Call to action

Make sure you are clear about what you want people to do when they read your newsletter. Do you want them to

• Visit your website?
• Telephone to book an appointment?
• Visit your shop?

then let them know. Use phrases like “Click here to read the full article”, “Call us on xxxx yyyyyyyy to book an appointment”.

How often?

The frequency of your marketing emails needs to strike a balance between keeping in regular touch with your customers/prospects and the effort involved in producing each one.

Anything less than quarterly and it’s not worth doing, but don’t make it hard for yourself by committing to a weekly email that takes up too much of your time and doesn’t have fresh, interesting content.

Give them a reason to keep subscribing

Offering exclusive deals to your newsletter subscribers will give them a reason not to hit the unsubscribe button.

In the 4th part of the series we’ll look at the practicalities of sending a newsletter including choosing an email provider and building your contact list.