Newsletter - blog vs. email?

[Wiggy0618]

I tried doing a search for this, but didn't really see anything via the search function, so if this has already been discussed at length, let me know and I'll try to find it.

I'm starting to see more folks do their newsletters in their blog, and when they send out their newsletter email to their list, instead of the content itself, it's just a quick line and a link to the specific blog post.

Are any of y'all using this method and how has it been working out for you?

I was thinking of trying it out, and was going over some of the pros and cons of each:

Blog pros:

-people are already on site
-can have order pitch, order button, recommended/affiliate products at end of blog post
-people can easily go to other pages on site, which can end up resulting in sales (or at least better possible relationship building)
-almost necessary to do this way if you're newsletters are in video format (which has honestly been what I've seen most, but I've also seen it with text-based content as well)
-can put opt-in box for those who aren't on list and just happen to see post anyway
-depending on how/why you write, blog post could rank well in search engines

Blog cons:

-people have to click on another link inside newsletter to get there (this means you have to depend on them to not only open the newsletter, but also follow the link, and doesn't each click somebody has to make reduce the % of people that will do it?)

Newsletter pros:

-content is immediately in front of reader (no extra clicks needed)
-while you can't have an order button, it's just as easy to have a link to the order page

Newsletter cons:

-can't really do video

There are more pros/cons to each, but that's a basic list. The blog pros is the biggest list, but the one blog con can zero every bit of it out, too.

Would it be considered "Ok" to send out the newsletter (if text based) and post it in a blog, too? Or, if you're going to do that, should you just do the link to the blog in the email?

I know the best way to figure this out is to test it and see what happens - I'm just looking for others' experiences/thoughts.

Thanks.

[CurtisN]

My view on this is that if you just do a newsletter, it's just another email which you need to make more visible than the other emails. However, if you have a good blog that people have grown to like, you can not only refer people who aren't on your list to visit it, but your list will immediately see your email (with subject line " new blog post " for example) and go visit.

Then, once at your blog, they'll be able to post their comments and interact a bit. There's just no sense of interaction with an email. Also, there's what you mentioned about sticking ads on your blog too, but I think the pros of having the blog are to really make subscribers feel more comfortable and more likely to read your stuff. You could have an About Me page which would obviously help for people to get to know you better, but also let your subscriber know that you're a real person.

Curtis

[ezine ads]

Originally Posted by Wiggy0618

There are more pros/cons to each, but that's a basic list.

Here are two important cons that you missed:

Blog con: Many people still use dialup connections. Once they downloaded their emails, they will prefer to read them offline.

Newsletter con: Spam filters are not your friends.

[Sandor Verebi]

Originally Posted by CurtisN

My view on this is that if you just do a newsletter, it's just another email which you need to make more visible than the other emails. However, if you have a good blog that people have grown to like, you can not only refer people who aren't on your list to visit it, but your list will immediately see your email (with subject line " new blog post " for example) and go visit.

Then, once at your blog, they'll be able to post their comments and interact a bit. There's just no sense of interaction with an email. Also, there's what you mentioned about sticking ads on your blog too, but I think the pros of having the blog are to really make subscribers feel more comfortable and more likely to read your stuff. You could have an About Me page which would obviously help for people to get to know you better, but also let your subscriber know that you're a real person.

Curtis

Agreed with Curtis, checking my inbox rapidly I'm not able to distinquish emails or newsletters if the subject line hasn't relate on. It isn't easy if you get 50-80 emails a day. According to this I deleted them without reading.

If I'm on someone's blog I feel more comfortable myself since everything is in front of me. 'About me' page helps me to gain knowledge and trust in the blog owner. If he reach my trust I'll buy his product more likely.

My 0,02 cts.

Sandor
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[Takuya Hikichi]

I do all -- I mail out using HTML and text, then have a feedback page with the same newsletter content copied on my blog from the mailing as archive. So when people have something to say, it gets posted on the blog -- good way to start a dialogue with your subscribers.

[Voasi]

I'd recommend both. I think different types of content will require different actions. I do both.

If, like you said, you want to have video, then direct them to you blog. Or if the content is just too long for a newsletter piece, give a little teaser in the email and then direct to a link.

As for the debate that blogs are more "friendly" or as another poster put it "more comfortable", I don't agree with that. A newsletter is what you make it. Allan Gardyne's newsletter is still great and one of the only newsletters are actually read when it comes in. If you design your content to be excellent in each newsletter and do that consecutively over time, you'll have great open-rates and awesome conversions.

So, like I said, it just depends on the content.