We’ll be the first to admit it: social media can be overwhelming.
New platforms are always emerging and old platforms don’t stay the same for long. There is an overwhelming amount of choices, especially for a newcomer to the world of social media marketing.
If you own a business or franchise, you’ve like been involved in some form of marketing for a while now. From clients we’ve talked to, newsletters are a very common form of basic marketing that a lot of small businesses keep up with. Even those CEOs who consider themselves out of touch with the fast-paced nature of today’s social media marketing have most likely been utilizing a company newsletter for years.
Newsletters have a lot of value. We do not advocate getting rid of the company newsletter—SMC sends one to clients monthly. But we think that a blog is just as valuable. To get the most out of your content marketing strategy, you really need both.
We know we talk about thought leadership a lot, but becoming a thought leader in your space is great marketing, plain and simple. And social media, and your blog in particular, is a great tool for making this happen. The blog is where you can go in depth; it’s where you can truly demonstrate your expertise in your space.
A newsletter should be used in tandem with your blog (not instead of it). If the blog is where you add to the conversation, then your newsletter is where you show your clients what you added. It’s a compilation of your “greatest hits,” if you will. Use your newsletter as a monthly status update, sharing news and emphasizing your successes in an efficient manner.
Sending a weekly, monthly, or even quarterly newsletters is helpful for informing your clients about your current events or accomplishments. You can also place portions of blog posts in your newsletter that you feel your consumers should see. Unfortunately, even with all of this, newsletters are still relatively one-way—they’re not always a true indicator of your success.
A blog on the other hand is something your consumers must actively seek out, making it a good way to measure whether or not you are publishing content that your consumers want to see. If you are getting a high number of blog visits a month, it’s a pretty sure sign that your content is in line with your strategy. Website traffic is also a good indicator of a successful blog. Unless they put your blog in an RSS feed, it’s not delivered to them in the same way a newsletter is.
What’s more, the format and content of a blog allows for a lot more flexibility than a newsletter. Your blog is your space to comment on anything you want, from employee birthdays to industry news to a company retreat; the blog is your playground.
Add to that the consistency of a newsletter, and you have a winning combination. Leave your creativity and play for your blog, and let your clients know what to expect with your newsletter. Email is considered “the original social media,” and surprisingly in this ever-changing digital world, it’s still relevant. Yes, to read a blog is to make a choice, but if you want to make sure your news is reaching your consumers, sending a newsletter through email is very effective.
Blog or newsletter, it shouldn’t be a choice. Content is key in social media marketing, so you should use every tool available to get your content in front of your consumers.
Photo Credit: by CC Maria Reyes-McDavis
