Description
In the 21st century, Public Relations (PR) is a central tenet of building brand identity and marketing of an organization’s products and services. Further, the emergence of the internet has provided a wide variety of approaches that organizations can use to reach their customers and potential users of their products in the market (Trainor 162). Previously, in addition to the use of mainstream media such as television and radio, organizations used print newsletters to communicate to customers and stakeholders. In the present times, the use of print newsletters has been taken over by the use of Email Newsletters or E-Newsletters, which have now become essential parts of an organization’s PR campaigns and efforts.
E-Newsletters can be simply defined as an electronic version of the traditional print newsletter that is physically distributed or emailed to subscribers and stakeholders of an organization. However, it is important to note that E-Newsletters may not be necessarily the exact copies of the traditional/printed newsletters. According to Trainor, E-newsletters involve more than just copying and pasting the printed copy into an email and sending it to thousands of subscribers via email (164). Instead, such E-Newsletters incorporate relevant and high value-added contents, effective layout and design, and interactive resources in addition to the advantage of speed and low cost of creation and distribution.
The use of E-newsletters is very critical in organization as a means of keeping customers and stakeholders updated about the entities’ progress, products, and performance. In the current corporate environment, businesses have realized that they do not operate in a vacuum and that their relationship with the society, customers, and stakeholders is essential for their success.
With the above importance on relations, the companies have to ensure that they use the best approaches to ensuring seamless, fast, reliable, and affordable communication to all people. A study carried out by Baloglu and Pekcan found that the use of E-mail was the most preferred mode of communication by organizations at 48.5% as compared to telephone at 39% and traditional mail at 3.5% (174). From the above expositions, it is evident that organizations that fail to use email in their communication are at a disadvantage as compared to those that use the communication mode. As such, the use of email to deliver E-newsletters is a preferred choice for many organizations.
Apart from providing stakeholders with the progress, products, and performance of an organization, E-newsletters help an organization to establish an identity and presence on its customers and potential clients. Most importantly, it acts as a Public Relations tool that allows the market to understand an organization and its activities first-hand (Baloglu and Pekcan 172). Through the elaborate email contacts, an organization can maintain contact, as well as receive feedback, which can allow it to improve its products in response to customer demands. Any organization that has a good PR is likely to have better brand identity. Such outcomes are very important in ensuring the competitiveness of a business in the market (Tsekouropoulos 5). Therefore, it is very important for organizations to use E-newsletters for their PR efforts and for competition purposes.
Strategic Aspects
The subject of Public Relations in corporate organizations is aimed at ensuring that businesses have the best identity and name in the market. A business that is easily identifiable in the market is more likely to be competitive when compared to others. While many other approaches are used in the PR efforts, the use of E-newsletters is a strategic option that organizations can only ignore at their own peril. To maximize the outcomes of using of E-newsletters in PR campaigns and efforts, an organization must adopt various strategies.
Firstly, the most important step towards the use of E-newsletters is the establishment of goals and objectives. As the most widespread and wide-reaching tool and mode of communication, an organization can make or destroy its reputation through newsletters. Therefore, it is imperative for the PR personnel to do a profound analysis and identification of the purpose and goals that the E-newsletters will be intended to achieve (Strauss, Frost, and Ansary 20).
Such goals should be measurable in terms of the outcomes that the organization seeks. It is noteworthy to have weekly or monthly newsletters without a measureable aspect that can determine their effectiveness (Brodie 4). For instance, a good E-newsletter may lead to the increase of product sales by a given percentage. In others words, when designing and using E-newsletters, it is essential to track its performance and benefits to the organization.
Secondly, it is important to identify the audience who will be targeted by the E-newsletter. Each class of audience has specific interests and information and hence the need to have a deep understanding of such preferences (Strauss, Frost, and Ansary 28). For example, when targeting young people, it is central to ensure that the E-newsletter contains information on events, latest developments, offers, and breakthroughs in the fields of interest among others aspects that will keep the audience involved. However, being too narrow and focused on the specific audience may hinder important marketing opportunities for the organization (Trainor 168). In this case, it is significant to understand that the targeted people also have families and other people who may be easily influenced by the audience. For example, organizations can also include products and services that may be of interest to the parents of the young people.
Thirdly, an important strategic approach is the determination of the frequency of the E-newsletters. Since most organizations are now focusing on the use of the above mode of communication, many people are receiving an average of three newsletters. Many of such E-newsletters are viewed as spam. Therefore, businesses should come up with a frequency that will ensure that the targeted audience does not feel that the companies are spamming their emails (Chang, Wang, and Yang 423). For example, organization can set their newsletters in a monthly, quarterly, biannually, or any other frequency that is deemed appropriate. The most important guideline involves ensuring that the organizations keep in touch with their customers and audience without being a nuisance, hence maximizing the benefits of the use of the tool.
Practical Aspects
The use of E-newsletters requires consideration of many factors. In this case, one of the main considerations to keep in mind when making and using the tool is the content. Content is key when it comes to the use of E-newsletters (Trainor 166). Indeed, great formatting, e-metrics, pictures, color, and web tricks cannot redeem an email newsletter that has poor content, nor will they make it successful (Strauss, Frost, and Ansary 11). Therefore, it is crucial for a PR department to understand that the success of an email newsletter is determined by the information that it provides to the audience. The content must be timely, useful, and relevant to the audience. Otherwise, the E-newsletter will turn out to be a waste of time for customers and prospects who will view it as just another annoying spam in the email inboxes.
The first approach to a successful email newsletter is the choice of the content. The company should decide whether to have different people who contribute to the E-newsletter or to have only one individual who will do all the work (Brodie 6). Further, it is important to determine whether the information will be new or recycled from previous articles by other writers. Regardless of the approach, original content is highly recommendable. A good E-newsletter adds value in terms of information to the intended audience. The respective organizations should ensure that the information provided is truthful and precise (Tsekouropoulos 16). In addition, keeping track on new ideas using bold letters and sentences is advisable, especially for audiences who are used to skimming across email newsletters.
Secondly, the target audience is very important in determining the success of the email newsletter. A good PR department must understand the gender, age group, areas of residence (geographic locations), job functions, title, and industry among other characteristics that can be obtained through customer or subscriber profiles. Such approaches will ensure that the current audience is targeted, as opposed to the use of broadcast approach to distributing the newsletters (Tsekouropoulos 18). For example, it is futile to send a newsletter about a high-end mobile phone or product to an individual who is unemployed or whose job level cannot allow him or her to afford or use such products.
Thirdly, another practical aspect towards successful use of E-newsletters is the tracking of performance. The performance can be obtained from the product performance of the organization or from customer feedback. For instance, the PR department must work closely with the sales departments among others to determine the impact of the E-newsletter on the sales of a specific product (Baloglu and Pekcan 176). On the other hand, an organization can attach online feedback forms to receive views and comments from the audience concerning the appropriateness of the E-newsletter. Such approaches will provide the department with important information on the ways of improving the newsletter for the best outcomes (Baloglu and Pekcan 173).
Fourthly, when creating the content of the E-newsletter, it is important for the organization to consider the tone and language in the content. In most cases, a friendly tone is highly recommendable, as it ensures that the content creates a sense of good relationship and rapport with the customer. However, in some instances, businesses should note that professional tone is highly recommendable. For instance, medical E-newsletter should be written in a professional tone, which stirs authority and confidence on the organization from the audience (Strauss, Frost, and Ansary 32). In addition, the use of images and other pictorials such as graphs and tables to emphasize the written content is highly encouraged. Images and other pictorials make it easier for the content to be understood (Baloglu and Pekcan 175). Further, they are easily remembered, hence leading to better recognition of an organization and its products, as opposed to mere descriptions.
Example of “Good Use”
There are several examples of good use of E-newsletters in organizations. For instance, the use of newsletters is highly effective in some institutions of higher learning such as the Harvard University. The tool has helped the institution to retain an image of exceptional quality (Tsekouropoulos 7). The use of E-newsletters at the university allows the institution to highlight and communicate various breakthroughs in research and development. Further, it allows the university to communicate with its stakeholders on programs and other activities, thus creating good relationships inside and outside the facility (Brodie 15). Another example is the Wal-Mart Retail Chain Company whose E-newsletter allows customers to identify new offers and products that they may be willing to buy. Through such communications, the organization has created a massive following and thus a good advantage over other competitors.
Conclusion
The use of E-newsletters is an important indicator of the importance of the internet technology to the modern businesses. The use of the email newsletters allows organizations to share information with customers and stakeholders with ease and conveniently. To maximize the benefits of the E-newsletters, organizations must identify the target audience to guarantee relevance. Further, it is important to determine the content that will be contained in the E-newsletter. Poor content is counterproductive.
Hence, it should be avoided. When creating the content, the use of images and pictorials is crucial in complimenting the written information. An organization must also choose the tone of the content. While a friendly tone is encouraged, professional tone is significant when communicating highly proficient information. The PR department must also ensure that it tracks the performance of the E-newsletters. Good E-newsletters must translate into higher sales, brand identity, or any other outcome that the organization emphasizes.
Works Cited
Baloglu, Seyhmus, and Yakup Pekcan. “The website design and Internet site marketing practices of upscale and luxury hotels in Turkey.” Tourism Management 27.1(2006): 171-176. Print.
Brodie, Roderick. “Is e‐marketing coming of age? An examination of the penetration of e‐marketing and firm performance.” Journal of interactive marketing 21.1(2007): 2-21. Print.
Chang, Hsin, Yao-Hua Wang, and Wen-Ying Yang. “The impact of e-service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty on e-marketing: Moderating effect of perceived value.” Total Quality Management 20.4(2009): 423-443. Print.
Strauss, Judy, Raymond Frost, and Adel Ansary. E-marketing, New York, NY: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Trainor, Kevin. “Integrating information technology and marketing: An examination of the drivers and outcomes of e-Marketing capability.” Industrial Marketing Management 40.1(2011): 162-174. Print.
Tsekouropoulos, Georgios. “Optimizing e-marketing criteria for customer communication in food and drink sector in Greece.” International Journal of Business Information Systems 9.1(2012): 1-25. Print.