When I speak to business owners about online marketing strategies, there is a question I am asked 100% of the time. That question is “What is the difference between blogs and newsletters?” This is a distinction that needs to be explained, because if you don’t know the difference between blogs and newsletters, you don’t know how each of them can work as a team for your benefit!
Before I go on, if you have this question, please rest assured you are definitely not alone. In fact, I encourage anyone reading this who works with microbusiness owners to share this with their networks, because history has shown me that you know one – if not many – people who have this question.
Blogs and newsletters are two different things, and there is a strategic place for each of them. Let’s put some definition around this.
#Blogs and #newsletters are two different things, and there is a strategic place for each of them. #business #smallbusiness #biztips Share on XA blog is content that lives on your website. Since you ideally own the website, you own the blog, and you control the life of that content. Blogs are most often thought of as text-based articles, but there are many potential formats they could take. (Not a fan of writing? Read here for more ideas!).
Blogs are great for your website. Every time you post a blog, you are signaling to search engines that there is new, fresh content on your site, which helps it rank better. The more you know about SEO (read here for some basics), the more you can use your blog to attract new visitors to your website. It’s also smart way to entice previous visitors back to your website. The blog is the carrot you are dangling in front of your audience.
In this metaphor of dangling the carrot, the stick would be the newsletter. Anyway, it is one role that newsletters can play in your marketing plan.
When it comes to newsletters, you are likely going to use an email marketing platform or CRM to distribute them. Newsletters are your chance to get your business name and content directly into someone’s inbox. It is the most reliable form of online marketing in terms of likelihood of being delivered to and opened by the person you intended. It is gives you a means of tracking the statistics and proven interest of the recipients. I can’t stress enough how valuable that information is to your sales approach (read here for my thoughts on that. I get a little too excited about this topic!)
Now, when I talk about marketing strategy, your blogs and your newsletters are two different things, but they can work cohesively as two steps in a process.
Think about it – how many websites are you visiting regularly just to see if they have new content? Do your customers have you high enough on their priority list that they are going to be finding the link to your website on a regular basis and clicking a few times to see if you have new content? The keenest of the keen customers might, but certainly not as many as if you were to just tell them there is new content.
Newsletters are a way to alert your subscribers to new content on your website. You can structure the newsletter with any sections that you think are relevant to your audience (and you can prove whether they are effective when you look at the statistics). Your goal is to get people clicking from your newsletter to your website. And there is nothing stopping you from teasing your blog in the newsletter so you can get the most from each piece of content you compose!
If your website never changed, how often would people go back? How many times do they need to see your About page? Your Services page? A blog gives them a reason to visit, to bring them back to the website that shows them how great your business is. The more that people visit, the better your website will rank and the more impressive your visitor stats will be for pitches you may want to make later to potential partners.
Your #blog gives people a reason to visit your website. Your #newsletter tells them that the reason exists. #business #smallbiz Share on XSo, the summary is that your blog gives people a reason to visit your website. Your newsletter tells them that the reason exists.
I hope this helps clear it up once and for all. There is a difference between blogs and newsletters, but they make a great team!