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If you are targeting small to medium businesses, a recent survey entitled Optimizing Email Newsletters for Small/Medium Businesses has some useful information for you.

According to the study of over 300 executives, email newsletters rank highly as sources of information, beating out websites and blogs, and matching print media for importance. A weekly or monthly newsletter was the preferred frequency, and ‘how to’ and product information the top content areas requested.

83% of respondents to the survey indicated that email newsletters were either very important or important sources, putting it in a near statistical tie with print media (84%) and ahead of corporate/media websites (71%). At the bottom of the list were many of the “new” media distribution methods, including webcasts/podcasts (40%), RSS feeds (39%) and blogs/wikis (34%).

Among other key findings from BBI’s SMB email newsletter report:

• SMB executives pay attention to email newsletters. 65% of respondents said they read some issues thoroughly and skim others, 12% said they skim all of them, and 11% said they read every one completely.
• When asked what is most important in deciding whether or not to read a vendor’s email newsletter, 64% said it was who the newsletter was from. The subject line (16%) was secondary.
• Four out of five respondents said they had at one point unsubscribed to a vendor’s email newsletter. The top reasons for stopping an e-newsletter? Irrelevant content (63%) and didn’t want something that wasn’t being read (58%).
• The vast majority of SMB executives want to receive their email newsletters weekly (45%) or monthly (34%). Few want them daily (11%) or quarterly (6%).
• Half of SMBs were indifferent as to what day they would like to receive email newsletters, but those that did express a preference preferred Monday. “First thing in the morning” or “anytime during the day” were the times they said they were most likely to read their e-newsletters.
• A successful email newsletter can have a positive impact on the vendor’s image. A third of SMB executives said they had an improved image of a vendor from its e-newsletters. However, the opposite may also be true when an e-newsletter is poorly executed – 14% said the email newsletter damaged the sender’s image.

If you would like to hear how professional permission-based email marketing can benefit your business call Propeller today on 07 3822 9123. For further information on our email marketing services visit the email marketing section of our website.