E-Mail vs. E-Newsletters: Is There a Difference?
Does it make sense to treat e-newsletters differently, and separately, from e-mail? Or do both converge into a complete brand experience?
Does it make sense to treat e-newsletters differently, and separately, from e-mail? Or do both converge into a complete brand experience?
Do we really need both e-newsletters and email? At some point, someone decided we do. An email is like a direct mail piece. An e-newsletter is like a newspaper. But online, does the recipient notice, crave, or even desire this distinction?
I showed my mom some of the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-newsletters I was working on. When I asked what she thought, she replied, “They look great, dear.” When I asked if she wanted to see email messages the same companies were sending, she looked at me as if I had two heads. “Honey, you just showed me the emails. Let’s go to dinner.”
That’s when it hit me: The typical consumer may not notice the difference between a promotional email and an e-newsletter.
For the purpose of this column, “e-newsletters” aren’t those sent from news publishing companies. They’re missives from commercial organizations such as Chase and Unilever. Many companies have separate groups working on email and e-newsletters. Often, the databases and messaging cycles are different. In most cases, responses to one never affect the other.
Why? And do readers consciously realize the difference?
I asked 25 people if they consciously chose to sign up for an e-newsletters rather than email (or vice versa) when they want to receive messages from a company. Responses were best summed up as: “An email is an email. If I want to hear from a company or am researching a topic, I’ll give my information. As long as the content is organized and relevant, I don’t care what it’s called.”
I asked 25 marketers the same question, and received responses like: “E-newsletters are tricky. They’re supposed to act like online newspapers: regularly scheduled communications focused on education and relevancy. Many times, though, ROI needs to sneak in, and the e-newsletter is turned into a sales driver. An email is a specific, relevant, focused offer with an intent to drive sales.”
One thought remained consistent across the responses: relevancy. Readers want to receive relevant content. Marketers want to deliver it. So does it make sense to treat e-newsletters differently and separately from email? Or do they ultimately converge into one complete brand experience?
Take a look at these key elements for building a successful e-newsletter:
What do you think? Let me know!
Want more email marketing information? ClickZ E-Mail Reference is an archive of all our email columns, organized by topic.