In my previous blog post — Part I, on this topic, we covered how an e-Newsletter could be a great way to keep in front of your existing customer base. In this blog post, we are going to discuss using an e-Newsletter for your prospects.  

There is a whole different strategy involved in using an e-Newsletter to keep in front of your prospects and grow new business.

Let’s first reiterate from Part I – some of the points that apply to the benefits of using an e-Newsletter for both customers and prospects:

  • They are a great way to keep your name in front of your customers/prospects while delivering information that is valuable to them. 

  • They are also a great way to keep your name in front of customers/prospects even if they don’t need your services right now.

  • You can utilize them as a platform to talk about your products and services in a more casual and conversational way and help you to continually build relationships with your readers.

  • They work for all types of businesses and with a little creative thinking, can be tailored to your prospects/customers’ needs and interests.  

Let’s continue to use our pool and hot tub business example.  


On the flip side of our strategy and intent of an e-Newsletter for existing customers, we obviously cannot provide them with tips and information about their pools and hot tubs, because they do not have one yet.  On the other hand, we cannot have our e-Newsletter come across as an ongoing sales pitch to try to get them to buy one.  

This is where we need to be creative and provide interesting and valuable information that will keep the prospects engaged and coming back for more.

We know that these prospects are homeowners and are interested in ideas about improving and enjoying their homes and yards.  Some ideas on topics are landscaping, barbecuing, entertaining, outdoor living and activities.  As you can see, there is plenty of interesting and valuable information that you can provide your prospects without sounding like a sales pitch on pools and hot tubs.  With that being said, you can also find a way to subtly hint about how a pool and/or hot tub could add enjoyment to these other activities.

The whole time they are reading your e-Newsletter, you are branding your company and products in their mind.  Both the header and the footer of the e-Newsletter will contain your company’s name, logo, tagline and website URL.

It is also a good idea to continually find creative reasons to lead your prospects back to your other inbound marketing tools — your social media accounts and blog.  Now, as your prospects start thinking more and more about getting a pool and/or hot tub, they are always going to be thinking of you and your company.  

This also starts to expose them to your existing customers along with their comments. They will learn how others are enjoying their pools and hot tubs, as well as reading about their satisfaction with your services. This is referred to as “social proof” and will lead them closer to making the decision to purchase a pool and/or hot tub, as well as using your company.

Contests are a great way to keep engaging your prospects while at the same time pointing them to your blog and social media sites. Unlike the contests for your customers, where your prizes may be accessories for their existing pool and/or hot tub, the prizes for your prospects should be of interest to a non-pool/hot tub owner.  An example of this may be a barbecue grill or a nice utensil set.

These contests should be something that your prospects would be anxious and willing to share on social media. The added benefit to this is while you are still working on your existing prospect, your e-Newsletter, contests, company, products and services are being exposed to their friends as well. This will potentially grow your e-Newsletter readership and prospect pool.  (No pun intended!)  LOL

If you can find a way to tie your contests into fun, live events that give your prospect a reason to come to your business location, this now becomes a great way to strengthen your relationship in person.  

Link this with some type of special promotion for your “attendees only” and now you have a great way to get your prospects to go from “thinking” about getting a pool and/or hot tub to actually “seriously inquiring” about it.

An e-Newsletter, if well thought out and strategized, can be a valuable marketing tool to keep your prospects entertained, educated and engaged.
At the same time, it can be a great source of continued business for your company.

David