Staying in touch with your customers is essential to maintaining and increasing business. An email newsletter is an effective way to reach customers and bring them to your business whether you own a brick and mortar business or are based online. A well-written newsletter keeps customers informed about your business’s most recent news, sales or products. But a successful email newsletter campaign should do more than provide information to your customers. It should encourage them to make contact with you. Make this part of your marketing campaign a success with these five key steps to a successful email newsletter.

Make It Readable

Customers are more likely to read your entire newsletter if it’s written with short paragraphs and bullets or lists where applicable. Be succinct and to the point, providing links to more in-depth articles. Choose quality over quantity to provide your customers with valuable content that leads to increased business for you.

Provide Customers with a Reason to Stay Connected

Use your email newsletter to let your customers know about special offers on products or services. Remind them why your company’s offerings can help so your customers have a reason to contact you. Add promotional codes or coupons that can be used in your store or on your website. Be regular with your newsletter campaigns to maintain the connection you’ve worked so hard to establish.

Inform and Educate

Customers find value in a business that provides more than just a product or service. Useful information and tips that help the customer can build sales and loyalty. Include a short article, trivia or tips that expound on your products or services. A landscaping business, for instance, can provide tips on how to choose the patio material that’s right for you. You add value to your newsletter content by telling your customers something they don’t know or by informing them of the latest news and updates as related to your business.

Incorporate Social Media

If Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t a regular part of your marketing vocabulary, they probably should be. Use your email newsletter to remind customers to follow you through one of these social media venues. Post links to your website and informative articles on Facebook or tweet them on Twitter. Use social media to drive potential customers to your contact list for future newsletter campaigns.

Let Your Personality Shine Through

While your email newsletters should be professional, you don’t want them to be dry and void of life. Allow a little of your personality to shine through: incorporate humor, or share tidbits about you as the owner, or highlight a different staff member in each newsletter. This helps your customer feel like they’re getting to know the people behind the business, rather than dealing with just a website or faceless voice on the other end of the telephone line.

A successful email newsletter campaign does more than just increase business. It also helps build a business relationship based on trust. Keep customers engaged and informed so they have a reason to read your newsletter each time it’s sent out.