Our last article focused on how you can craft an effective email campaign, but why are these campaigns essential to your construction or trade company? The key is to know how to utilize them properly and create something your clients or potential clients want to open and read. Here are a few ways you can make your email newsletters work for you.
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The Benefits of Email Newsletters
First, what benefits can you get from your email newsletter?
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  • You can keep your company at the forefront of your client’s minds. If you send out a newsletter even just once a quarter, it gives your clients a reason to keep thinking of you.
  • It can help you bring in business even when the industry seems relatively slow, by promoting open houses, decorating trends or highlight a new build or neighborhood you are in.
  • It’s cheaper and faster than mailing print newsletters, so you can immediately reduce your budget.
  • They give you the opportunity to connect to your clients on a more personal level.
  • You don’t have to worry about SEO and other search engine requirements. There are no keywords or phrases you have to try to naturally work into the content!
  • They are fairly easy to put together, and won’t take too much time.

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How Often Should You Email?

One of the biggest questions you’ll have upfront is how often should you send out one of these newsletters. Where is the line between useful email newsletter and spam that gets deleted without being opened? For construction firms, a monthly email is good. You can get away with a second email in the same month if it’s for a major occasion, holiday sale, or other event. Don’t push it too much, though. Emailing too often can result in losing subscribers and having your emails marked as spam.
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What Should Your Newsletter Include?

While emailing once a month or quarter may not get your newsletter instantly send to the delete folder, it’s also not a guarantee that it will be read. That all depends on the content you include. Most companies make the mistake of making the newsletter too focused on selling something. That is indeed something you can include, especially if you’re offering a special discount or other type of benefit to your clients.
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However, no one wants to read a newsletter every month that’s only focused on trying to sell them something. The content needs to have a benefit to the reader. It needs to be interesting, and it even needs to teach them something.
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There are several ways to create content with benefits. First, you could write a small article about a recent accomplishment. This could include a project you just finished, an award your company has won, or other recognition you’ve enjoyed. You could also take this space to highlight one of your employees (or subcontractors) for going above and beyond, or even discussing your referral program.
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Another way of providing benefit is to use your newsletter to offer tips and suggestions to your readers. It’s not always easy to come up with tips for clients of a construction company, but remember that it’s okay to include some non-industry-specific tips.
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Remember that your newsletter is being emailed, not printed, so make use of photos and color where it works. Don’t go overboard on color—you want to make sure the finished product looks professional. For those who don’t have much experience in newsletter design, don’t worry. You can find many free templates online that you can customize.
Keep it Short and Use Links
Most people aren’t willing to read long newsletters, so remember to keep it brief. While an article length of 500 words is great for a blog, it’s a little too long for your newsletter, especially if it’s not the only piece of content you’re including. Instead of including the whole article, provide a short summary or introduction and link to the full article at the end. Interested people will click the link and read the rest of the piece.
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These are just a few tips to getting the most out of your email newsletters. If you follow them, you’ll be able to use your newsletters to bring in new clients and get past clients to think of you when they are ready to build again.
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