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In The News
What’s New with Newsletters?
by Carly Lombardo
While some may see newsletters as old school marketing, many resellers
and CPAs are finding both print and electronic newsletters are the
EXTRA tool they need for their marketing programs.
They fit right into people’s busy lifestyles-they’re
a quick read, with short articles and easy-to-find content that
is appropriate to the readers’ needs. Many resellers and accountants
view newsletters as essential tools in communicating with a wide
variety of audiences including prospects, customers, and partners.
“You need to be informative and offer options and assistance
to implement these solutions. Newsletters help you maintain a relationship
with your clients long after a sale,” says Manny Buigas, CPA
and vice president of sales for NextLevel Information Solutions.
“Additionally, the newsletter has been a nice tool to assist
in closing deals with prospects, especially where the sales cycle
takes several months. It has allowed us to maintain communications
in a less obtrusive manner.”
Miami, Fla.-based NextLevel is an Accpac reseller with offices
in New York, Florida, Louisiana, South America, and the Caribbean.
Besides selling accounting software, the company offers custom programming,
workflow analysis, systems support, tailored reporting, and training.
A basic part of the strategy is the fact that the newsletter, emailed
to 1,600 subscribers each month, has no name.
“Our newsletters include a large company logo across the top
of the page. Our objective is to brand the corporate name so that
customers refer to it as ‘NextLevel’s newsletter,’”
says Buigas.
Use of email insures both speed of delivery and staying in touch
with recipients in a highly mobile profession.
“In our market, the job force is extremely mobile, and in
numerous occasions we have had controllers and operations personnel
that have moved on to new positions reference past articles on products
and engage us in their new places of employment,” says Buigas.
Other avid readers include Accpac resellers who hired NextLevel
to assist them with implementations in Aruba and Curaao. The free
newsletter builds on relationships that were started during initial
visits.
Content in the newsletter includes new product information, timely
news about the company, contact information, and a support Q&A
section that publishes technical issues the NextLevel consultants
encounter in the field.
To be successful, newsletters must accomplish things, Buigas believes.
They must offer value to clients and they must convey an image to
the client.
“Our belief is that the newsletter should have a primary focus
on our company, with a secondary focus on the products we represent.
Our newsletter is branded with a look and feel consistent with our
Web page, company logo, and other marketing collateral,” Buigas
adds.
Selling Credibility
Ensemble Business Software feels newsletters are effective marketing
tools, but resellers have to be specific about what type of marketing
tool it is.
“My guess is that some resellers consider the newsletter a
lead generation tool and measure success by the number of referrals
and/or client-base cross selling opportunities they generate,”
says president Jon Walker. “By contrast, we consider our newsletter
to be primarily a credibility tool designed to extend our brand
and enhance our position in the marketplace.”
Located in Beavercreek, Ore., Ensemble, a Best Software vertical
market reseller, focuses on the apparel, footwear, and soft goods
industry. The monthly newsletter, named “The Buzz,” helps
emphasize such specialization to its 1,852 subscribers.
“Our branding speaks less of what we do, business software,
than who we do it for, apparel brands in active/outdoor/sporting
markets,” says Walker. “In our newsletter, we try to convey
that we’re a dedicated player in this community. We do this
by ‘dropping names’ of successful clients and by demonstrating
that we understand and embrace industry trends.”
The newsletter has generated a number of opportunities not only
for Ensemble, but for its clients as well, says Walker, who provides
this anecdote: “We featured a dance shoe and accessory wholesale/distributor
in an issue last year. Another client manufactures a line of products
that seemed to fit this market. As a result of our newsletter, client
number two contacted client number one about establishing a business
relationship.”
In Your Face
Gene Marks, president of the Philadelphia-based Marks Group, finds
that newsletters are one of the best marketing tools, and he provides
Webinars to his clients as a supplement to the newsletters. “I
believe clients decide when they want to do business, and newsletters
make it easier for me to stay in my clients’ faces,” adds
Marks.
The company provides five monthly newsletters, one for each product
line it offers. Each issue gives tips, usually twelve, for using
the software. The newsletters cover GoldMine, Microsoft Great Plains
Small Business Manager and Microsoft CRM, Heat, and UA Business
Software. Each newsletter lists schedules for the free Webinars,
through which clients can use the Internet to take a class at a
scheduled time.
Each issue provides links to the Marks Group Web site where clients
can register for the Webinar. “Our ‘Best Practices’
Webinars are designed for our clients and friends to learn more
about how to make the best use of our software applications,”
adds Marks. About 150 people take the courses each month.
“Each time I send out the newsletter, not only do people sign
up for the Webinar, but I get a handful of clients raising their
hands at an opportunity. Maybe the newsletter reminded them that
they needed to upgrade their software. It’s important to always
educate your clients, and to give stuff away for free-it let’s
them see how smart you are,” says Marks.
Content vs. Style
The great debate when it comes to newsletter marketing is whether
the style or the content attracts the reader.
Bonnie J. Nagayama, CPA, and an Intuit Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
for the Moraga, Calif.-based For the Love of Business, produces
a weekly newsletter that includes a handful of items that subscribers
have submitted regarding various accounting and management issues
in QuickBooks. Her company provides both QuickBooks support and
training. Currently, QuickBooks E-News has just under 1,000 subscribers.
Content is important to Nagayama because she wants to build a relationship
with her clients, not just make a one-time sale. Newsletters feature
an ask-the-expert section based on questions that have been e-mailed
to her, QuickBooks updates, and QuickBooks tips and tricks to make
working with the product easier. Resources must be pitched to the
reader’s needs, she notes. “Some newsletters seem to be
too self-serving; those are the ones I do not read. I try instead
to provide information to help the QuickBooks user and accountant,”
she says.
Fluff Hurts
Readers find content more important than style, says David Bilbrey,
president of Everest Manufacturing Software, a manufacturer and
VAR.
“Resellers/CPAs need to have quality in the words they write.
Fluff will just end up in the garbage can,” he says. Bilbrey’s
St. Clair, Mich.-based company sells software from AccountMate,
BusinessVision, and Accpac, along with offering its own manufacturing
software.
Bilbrey, who has been producing his monthly newsletters since 1997,
thinks good content creates credibility. “I’m a source
of information to my clients and giving them content they can count
on lets them know me without even meeting me,” adds Bilbrey.
| However, Walker also considers style, both visually
and editorially, important in delivering the Ensemble message.
“We work on the assumption that most people don’t
read the newsletter word-for-word, but may merely glance at
it or scan the headlines,” he says.
To leave a positive image, publications need good design
and restraint to produce a professional looking piece, along
with eye-catching art that portrays the firm’s image
to readers “without being stodgy or boring,” says
Walker. He recommends hiring a graphic designer to create
an initial template and guidelines, which can then be used
by the staff.
Ensemble also tailors its message to the client. Last year,
Ensemble was working with three embellishment prospects. Embellishment
is a sub-set of the market that includes value-added screen-printing
and embroidery companies. “We put together a newsletter
that highlighted recent improvements to our Embellishment
Solution as well as a client spotlight on a large embellishment
company that’s been using our software for years. Opportunistic?
Perhaps. Credibility builder, absolutely,” says Walker.
Delivery Time
Once resellers/CPAs have mastered the content and style of
their newsletters, they’re left with the nagging question
of delivery. Paper or email? Either can work.
Susan Sheridan, senior vice president of marketing for Pleasanton,
Calif.-based Accpac International, says, “On the plus
side for paper, it’s harder to throw away a hard-copy
newsletter without giving it a cursory glance than to delete
an e-mail. Plus, since e-mail list availability is still somewhat
primitive, you can reach more prospects names with physical
mail.”
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And the Survey
Says
Repeat business comes from marketing to clients that resellers
and CPAs already have. In fact, the acquisition of new clients
costs two times more than obtaining repeat business.
For just that reason, just over a year ago, Terri Zeh Jacobson,
president of Long Lake, Minn.-based Resources for Small Business,
had a marketing consultant survey clients about the company's
newsletter. The survey was conducted through telephone interviews
of decision-makers among the client base.
1. Did clients find the newsletter useful? Most of her clients
said yes.
2. Did clients read the entire newsletter, parts of the newsletter,
or just scan it? The majority of respondents read the entire
newsletter.
3. Did clients think it would be more readable if Resources
for Small Business had glitzier newsletters or professionally
written newsletters? Clients said the fact it was not professionally
written contributed to their belief that the information was
directed at them.
4. How often did clients like getting the newsletters? Biweekly,
monthly, quarterly, biannually, or annually? "Everyone
responded they liked quarterly or when I thought something
was important," she notes.
5. What features did clients want to see added/subtracted
from the newsletter? "Most said they were happy with
the content. A couple suggested more information about events
(which I subsequently added) and information about what others
are doing," says Zeh Jacobson.
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However, e-newsletter savings are significant. But emailed newsletters
must have extra appeal. “If you’re going “e,”
be sure you have an irresistible subject line, and an HTML layout
that puts attractive ‘click-through’ opportunities above
the fold,” Sheridan adds.
Todd Salkovitz, partner relations manager for Rockaway, N.J.-based
MYOB, likes his newsletters mailed to him because electronically
delivered newsletters can be easy to forget, overlook, or just ignore.
“A piece of paper is hard to lose, as opposed to a single e-mail
among hundreds we all get every day. You can read a printed newsletter
on the train,” he says. But since others will disagree, Salkovitz
suggests offering clients a choice in delivery.
Terri Zeh Jacobson, president of Resources for Small Business,
an MYOB Certified Consultant, has always produced a paper version
of her newsletter. She publishes the four-page issues for less than
one dollar per client. Her Long Lake, Minn.-based company provides
management consulting for businesses with 25 or fewer employees.
Recently, Zeh Jacobson sent out an electronic version of her newsletter
because she wanted clients to know she was going to attend a certain
trade show. “I got some really positive reviews, and since
the newsletter did not include pictures, I also got negative feedback.”
About 250 clients and 75 “friends of Resources for Small Business
receive the newsletter monthly,” all of whom are people that
might generate referrals, she says.
“I think if your newsletter does include pictures, it should
reference a Web site so your clients can choose to go there and
see the picture. That is how I will do my next electronic newsletter,”
she continues.
Nagayama combats the picture issue by removing all the pictures,
logos, and graphics to respect the download time for subscribers
using dial-up connections. Her electronic newsletter provides a
quick overview with a link to Nagayama’s Web site for the full
articles. “I have found this makes the newsletter less overwhelming
and therefore more likely to be read. If the article piques someone’s
interest, it is easy for him or her to learn more, and they are
also archived on the site for easy reference at any time,”
she says.
Furthermore, Walker finds delivering newsletters by e-mail is almost
free compared to printing and mailing costs. He says, “It is
easier to produce a quality product on a monthly basis when you
don’t have to consider the logistics of hard copies.”
The company offers a PDF link from the newsletter for those who
want a traditional copy.
Vendor Support
Although most reseller/CPAs agree that they don’t like
asking their vendors for money to make their newsletters a success,
they do ask them for support.
Vendors such as Best Software, Accpac, and Microsoft Great
Plains provide marketing development funds and co-op programs
to assist resellers/CPAs with their newsletters. While most
channel partners don’t use the funding, they do partake
of vendor content, including information about product updates.
“MYOB provides ongoing, up-to-date information for all
their certified consultants, they provide logo usage, box
shots, and they have a direct link with their company for
certified consultants,” notes Zeh Jacobson.
This relationship is reciprocal. “Some of the articles
we’ve written in our newsletter appear on MYOB’s
Web site in the Business Matters area, and MYOB also sends
their clients an e-zine, which we get and use some of that
information from time to time,” she adds.
Nagayama does not use reseller programs for content or delivery,
nor has she received funds to offset any of her newsletter
costs. She uses services from Rovings’ Constant Contact
of Waltham, Mass., for the format and delivery of the newsletter.
“I do the writing. I can see how many people opened
the newsletter (typically about 65 percent) and how many clicked
through (typically 35 percent). I can also see which articles
were the most popular,” she says.
Walker combines both types of vendor assistance by utilizing
Tango Marketing for some content, which is eligible for reimbursement
under Best Software’s co-op program. Tango Marketing,
based in the Seattle area, specializes in providing marketing
programs to software resellers across the nation. Tango focuses
on the selling and marketing of the MAS 90 product line and
other Best Software packages. “We purchase from Tango
by article, and typically the topic is product oriented. For
example, the StarShip section, an update of StarShip Freight
Manifesting Software, in the January newsletter is a subset
of content we purchased and then massaged for our audience.
If it works out, this type of relationship creates two advantages:
it makes it easier for us to produce a quality product on
a monthly basis, and we focus more internal energy on core
competencies and topics that make us unique,” says Walker.
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Success with
Newsletters
Newsletters should not be thought of as technical writing
but as a marketing project, says Susan Sheridan, senior vice
president of marketing for Pleasanton, Calif.-based Accpac
International.
"Sending out a fact-filled, four-page missive with no
call to action is a waste of valuable dollars," she says.
"Will the vendor give resellers/CPAs co-op credit for
it? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's a smart use of cash."
Sheridan provides these guidelines for maximum results:
• Draw the reader's interest. Understand how
people scan text and use it to your advantage. First, they
look at headlines. So write ones that appeal to the reader's
self-interest. Next, people look at pictures. And while they're
looking at pictures, they read captions. So always include
a caption with any picture, chart, or graph.
• Deliver value. Make sure the information in
your newsletter is timely and worthwhile. Keep articles crisp
and focused on issues that your readers think about or deal
with every day.
• Understand the newsletter's purpose. The primary
goal is not to inform the prospect; it is to draw a response
that results in a purchase, whether that's product, training,
or other services. Get them to commit to additional services,
or have them respond to a free offer and upsell them to something
more. Make an offer part of nearly every article.
• Warm up a cold or lukewarm house list. Who
should get the newsletter? Obviously, current customers should
be on the list, but make your newsletter work harder. Send
it to other lists you purchase or find: trade show attendees,
chamber of commerce members, local manufacturers, and trade
association members.
• Reinforce your brand. Keep in mind that your
newsletter is part of your corporate brand. Use the look,
feel, colors, and logos associated with your brand. The tone,
focus, and content of the newsletter should reflect your company's
unique style and capabilities.
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