Veteran Hints & Tips subscribers know that I strongly
advocate the use of email newsletters to initiate, develop and
solidify relationships with prospects and customers. (If this
is "news to you", check out the
Email Marketing Hits & Tips archives!)
Whether you are in the midst of developing a newsletter, or
tinkering with the one you already have, you can benefit from
taking a look at what makes other email newsletters
successful. Check out the TimeShareValues newsletter and you
will see what I mean.
TimeShareValues.com, a leader in Internet timeshare sales,
uses online auctions like eBay to sell their timeshare
properties on the Internet. Husband and wife co-founders, Mike
and Antonette Manoske, recognized the Internet and online
auctions as perfect vehicles to successfully market vacation
timeshares at low costs. They also knew that their best
customers, especially at auction, would be the ones who
understood the concept of vacation timeshares and were
prepared to buy. The savvy duo successfully uses their email
newsletter to educate, inform and develop relationships with
their customers, and to drive traffic to their auctions.
So, what makes the TimeShareValues email newsletter so
good?
|
The Packaging |
The layout is clean and navigable with a table of
contents up front, an easy-to-read font and a nice balance
of text, graphics and links. Each timeshare property is
presented both visually, and descriptively. Mike and
Antonette have adopted a warm and casual tone-of-voice that
is well suited to their audience, inviting recipients to
read further.
|
The Content |
The TimeShareValues.com newsletter is a good mix of
promotional and educational material. Mike and Antonette
effectively position themselves as the experts they are by
sharing advice and providing useful information. For
example: the November issue includes a travel forecast for
2002 and a listing of the top 50 restaurants as published by
Gourmet Magazine. (I clicked on both!)
|
The Right Links |
The TimeShareValues.com newsletter is replete with
clickable links including strong call-to action links for
timeshare auctions, and equally compelling links to various
pages of their website such as archives of past articles and
their own inexpensive "Sell Your Timeshare Yourself"
instructional program. So, the newsletter effectively drives
traffic to the TimeShareValues website, opening up
additional possibilities to convert browsers into buyers.
|
The Power of Viral |
Good newsletters get forwarded, but it doesn't hurt to
give readers a little nudge by spelling it out, so
TimeShareValues explicitly encourages word-of-mouth
referrals and newsletter forwarding in their own friendly
way "Please tell a friend about our site, and newsletter.
They'll appreciate it, and so will we."
|
The Often Omitted "Must Haves" |
An easy way for recipients to "Unsubscribe" is mandatory
for permission-based email marketing. TimeShareValues takes
this a step further by allowing recipients to "edit
interests". This means that recipients are able to pick and
choose what types of information they wish to receive.
TimeShareValues can then understand and segment their
audience to increase the relevancy of their communications.
Also included is a "Privacy Policy," that solidifies the
company's position as a trusted source. Finally, the
"Feedback request" encourages two-way communication.
"We have seen our profits increase since we began our
newsletter," Mike added. Well, that pretty much says it all,
don't you think?
Note: TimeShareValues uses our product, Constant Contact.
Click here to see the Constant Contact-specific case study
on TimeShareValues.
Click
here to subscribe to the TimeShareValues Newsletter