The Power of a Mini Blog in Your Newsletter

A newsletter is one of those make-it or tank-it marketing tools for small businesses. It’s great to have one if it has quality content and reminds your customer how amazing you are, but so often it can read like a grocery store circular, and no one reads those. Worse, business owners often don’t know what to write about, so the newsletter is more of a good intention than an actual tool, like that stair master in the basement. The problem is, customers want content. They want to know what’s going on with your business, so a poorly utilized newsletter becomes a wasted opportunity that could really turn business around.

Here’s a sure-fire, easy way to make your newsletter get opened, read, and shared: A mini blog highlighting a product, service, or story your customers will love.

Use Your Newsletter to Highlight a Product or Service

Here’s an example: I love the wine shop Provisions in Northampton, MA. They have these great wine classes, exquisite wines at all price ranges, and all sorts of wine-tasting opportunities all month long that are super fun. So, when I see their newsletter, I always open it because I want to know when the next fun thing is happening there.

But even though I am an engaged customer, I still walk into the store sometimes and don’t know what to buy. So, I approached Provisions with the idea of a Wine of the Week mini blog for their newsletter to direct customers, like me, to wines they’d like them to try.

 It’s a win/win. Customers learn more about their individual products, and Provisions will sell more wine because of the mini blog, and I get to write on a topic I love!

Then Use the Article to Get Customers to Your Site

We’ve also decided to extend the mini blog into a fully developed blog post for their site, so a customer reading the newsletter can click over to the site to read a more in-depth article. This strategy builds more SEO and inbound traffic for Provisions, so that people who are not customers of theirs yet, will find them via the blog.

 It’s a brilliant, low-cost way for a small, local business to get people interested in their specific products and services. Something like 67% of new small business customers this year have come from blog content, so don’t dismiss this excellent marketing vehicle either.

Sample of the Mini Blog in Action

Here’s the idea:

VIP La Sabbiona – The perfect Antidote for the Over-indulgence of the Holidays

 This week’s wine is the perfect antidote to the over-indulgence of the holidays. A dry, medium-bodied, soft Famoso with a lovely straw color, apple, banana, and vanilla on the nose, and hints of flowers and fruit on the palate.

Never heard of Famoso? You’re not alone. This grape, indigenous to the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy, was nearing extinction just a few years back, with only one or two farmers growing a row here and there for eating.

But in 2009, thanks to a few curious and determined winemakers, Famoso, known for its strong, sweet aroma on the vine and light aromatics in the glass, is enjoying artisanal attention.

 (Stop the article here and lead  the reader to the blog post ).

Good luck, and get in touch if you need me.