[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
Yes, social media is important, and your website definitely can’t suck. But building an email list is still one of the absolute best ways to stay in communication with your customers.
Here are some great email newsletters to inspire you:
1. Zillow and Trulia
2. Launch Ticker
3. Yelp
4. Check it out: Upside Down Text
1. Zillow and Trulia
Zillow, an online real estate database, knows that not everyone can afford an $11 million ski chalet in Breckenridge. So why do they include listings like this in email newsletters to their users? People are curious, and they’re going to click on it. It’s the same reason Trulia, a similar real estate site, shares market, crime, and school rating updates for where you live. They’re two different marketing strategies for the same thing, but both are useful and interesting.
The lesson: Sometimes selling real estate is a long-term sale. To keep their users coming back for more, Trulia and Zillow keep the content interesting.
2. Launch Ticker
No one in their industry is doing what Launch Ticker is doing. They send twice daily emails on the top tech and startup news with each story under 300 characters. And the contributors treat the newsletter like a startup too, giving feedback to one another inside the newsletter so readers can see what tweaks and improvements Launch Ticker’s making along the way.
The lesson: Launch Ticker knows there are a lot of competing publications for their topic, so they cut through the clutter by being different.
3. Yelp
Yelp brings together their users’ best content for their weekly newsletters. It might be stuff like “The Best Places to Get Cookies in Memphis,” or “Good Pho Restaurants in Seattle.” They don’t have to come up with these topics on their own. They just curate the great stuff Yelp users share with them daily in a fun, useful summary for their email subscribers.
The lesson: You don’t necessarily have to come up with great content on your own. Your customers are a great resource for ideas and stuff to share.
4. Check it out: Upside Down Text
This simple site does one thing: Turns the text you type uʍop ǝpᴉsdn.
Check it out: Upside Down Text