Blog

Email Marketing 101: Choosing an Email Provider

Email Marketing, Marketing, Newsletter /

Email newsletters are an essential tool for any business or organization looking to establish a strong online presence and build lasting relationships with its audience. They are your most important marketing channel because you control whether or not you reach your customers (and they can choose to ignore you or not). Previously, we’ve talked about why you should be sending emails to your customers (Read here) and how to send an email (Read Here). Today, we’re going to help you pick an email service provider.

Sending regular emails to your customers requires quality software and services to back it up to make sure your emails don’t end up in SPAM folders or blacklisted. Choosing the right email provider will ensure the most important metric for email marketing – deliverability. If your customers are not receiving your emails, you’re not reaching them. All of the services we recommend in this post will have good deliverability. We do not have any partnerships or incentive agreements with any of the providers below.

One thing you should never, ever try is to send mass emails from your inbox or roll your own newsletters to thousands of people. That’ll be your first stop in SPAM Town, and it’ll be very hard to recover.

With so many email newsletter providers available in the market, it can be overwhelming to choose the one that best suits your needs and budget. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the most popular email-sending services available and help you make an informed decision on which provider to choose for your email marketing needs.

1. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is probably the most popular and well-known email service provider. They offer a comprehensive suite of features, including customizable email templates, subscriber management tools, and automation capabilities. It is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. One of the best things about Mailchimp is that it offers a free plan that allows users to send emails to up to 2,000 subscribers, making it a great option for those just starting out or on a tight budget. With its array of features and affordable pricing, Mailchimp is definitely worth considering for your email marketing needs. However, once you get more than 2,000 subscribers, you will have to start paying,

2. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is another well-known email service provider that offers a variety of features to help businesses manage their email marketing campaigns. Some of the key features include email templates, list management tools, and social media integration. One of the great things about Constant Contact is that it offers a free trial, which allows businesses to test out the platform before committing to a subscription. Additionally, Constant Contact offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, which gives businesses peace of mind knowing that they can cancel their subscription if they’re not satisfied with the service. Overall, Constant Contact is a great option for businesses looking to streamline their email marketing efforts.

3. Aweber

Aweber is known for being reliable and user-friendly. It offers a variety of features, including email templates, subscriber management, and automation. These features make it easy for small businesses to create and send professional-looking emails to their subscribers. One of the best things about Aweber is that it offers a 30-day free trial, which gives businesses the opportunity to try out the service before committing to a subscription. This is a great way to get a feel for the platform and see if it meets your needs.

4. Sendinblue

Sendinblue is an all-in-one marketing platform that can help businesses of all sizes with their marketing needs. It offers a wide range of features, including email marketing, SMS marketing, and chat tools, all of which can be used to create effective and engaging marketing campaigns. One of the best things about Sendinblue is that it offers a free plan that allows users to send up to 300 emails per day, which is perfect for small businesses or those just starting out. For larger businesses, there are also paid plans available that offer more advanced features and higher email-sending limits. Regardless of the plan you choose, Sendinblue is a great option for businesses that need a multi-channel marketing approach and want to engage with their customers across multiple platforms.

5. Mailerlite

Mailerlite is another email service provider that offers a user-friendly interface, email templates, and automation features. It is a great option for small businesses and bloggers due to its affordability and ease of use. It offers a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month. Mailerlite also offers a range of features, such as segmentation, landing pages, and pop-up forms, that can help you grow your email list and engage with your subscribers. 

South Shore PR recommends either Mailchimp or Mailerlite. We work most commonly with both of these preferred platforms for our clients. However, we have experience with many different platforms, including niche nonprofit platforms such as Network For Good. We are well-versed in email platforms here at South Shore PR. Whichever email platform you choose, make sure it works for your organization, is easy to use, and, most importantly, you understand how to get great results. 

Email Marketing 101: Choosing an Email Provider Read More »

The Crucial Link Between PR and Authentic Storytelling For Small Businesses & Nonprofit Organizations

Community Relations, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media /

Chances are likely that you’ve been on social media at some point today. As you opened your social media channels, chances are also likely that you were bombarded with advertising messages at every turn. With the endless stream of advertising, influence, and brand engagement, building brand trust and credibility has never been more vital. So, this may leave you asking, how do I stand out in this crowded field? At South Shore PR, we are dedicated to supporting nonprofits and smaller companies to tell their stories authentically. For smaller organizations, your authentic story is your lifeline and what sets you apart in a crowded marketplace.

At the heart of South Shore PR’s approach lies the art of authentic storytelling. Skepticism towards traditional marketing tactics runs higher than ever these days, and communicating through storytelling has become a beacon of trust and connection. It’s about more than just crafting compelling narratives; it’s about sharing the genuine stories that define your organization’s values and mission.

For nonprofits and smaller businesses, authenticity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a lifeline. We know first-hand that smaller organizations thrive on building genuine connections with their stakeholders, whether it’s donors, volunteers, or customers. By weaving authentic and cohesive narratives that showcase the impact of their work and the values they uphold, they create truthful emotional bonds that foster trust and loyalty.

In a landscape dominated by big-budget campaigns, authenticity becomes the great equalizer. While larger competitors may have more resources at their disposal, they often lack the personal touch that resonates with audiences on a deeper level. That’s where small businesses and nonprofits have the opportunity to shine. By embracing and showcasing their unique stories and staying true to their values, they can carve out a niche that sets them apart.

But authenticity isn’t just about painting a rosy picture; it’s about transparency and honesty, even in the face of adversity. Trust is currency, consumers demand accountability from the brands they support these days. That’s why we believe in owning up to mistakes, acknowledging shortcomings, and demonstrating a genuine commitment to making things right.

At South Shore PR, we help our clients navigate this delicate balance between storytelling and authenticity. We work closely with nonprofits and smaller businesses to uncover the stories that define their brand and resonate with their audience. Whether it’s through social media campaigns, blogging and website management, earned media coverage, or community engagement initiatives, we strive to amplify their voices in a way that’s both genuine and impactful. Ultimately, the role of PR in building brand trust and credibility is inseparable from the art of authentic storytelling. By embracing authenticity as a guiding principle, nonprofits and smaller businesses can forge meaningful connections that transcend transactional relationships. In an age where consumers crave authenticity above all else, being true to your brand isn’t just a strategy—it’s a necessity.

The Crucial Link Between PR and Authentic Storytelling For Small Businesses & Nonprofit Organizations Read More »

Email Marketing 101: How to Send an Email Newsletter

Email Marketing /

Last week, we shared on the South Shore PR blog that we explored why email marketing is now the most important marketing channel your organization can leverage. This week, we want to dive into how to start your own email newsletter. Email marketing is a powerful tool for reaching out to your audience and keeping them updated about your business. Sending an email newsletter requires careful planning and strategy. In this article, we will discuss the nuts and bolts of how to send an email newsletter. In a future post next week, we’ll talk more about email newsletter service providers and whom we recommend if you’re just getting started.

1. Define your newsletter’s objective and target audience

The first step in creating an email newsletter is to define its objective and target audiences. What is the purpose of your newsletter? What do you want your subscribers to do after reading it? Who is your target audience or audiences? Is it the same as your target customer? These questions will help you create relevant and engaging content for your newsletter. For example, if you’re running an e-commerce store, your objective may be to create more sales, so sending regular newsletters is a great way to create sales. Or perhaps you’re a non-profit looking to promote a fundraising campaign. Or maybe you’d simply like to keep your customers updated with what’s going on with your organization. This is the most important first step – what is your newsletter for? Don’t forget to include your internal audience, too!

2. Choose an email service provider

Once you have defined your newsletter’s objective and target audience, the next step is to choose an email service provider. There are many email service providers available in the market, such as Mailerlite, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Aweber, and Sendinblue (we’ll go into these more below). These tools provide you with the necessary features to create and send email newsletters, such as email templates, subscriber management, and analytics. You cannot simply cut and paste a bunch of emails into your email client and send an email to thousands of people; that’s the first stop on your way to SPAM town. Using an email marketing service ensures the deliverability of your emails. We will go into more detail on providers next week. Stay tuned.

3. Build your subscriber list

Before you can send your newsletter, you need to have subscribers to whom you can send it. You can build your subscriber list by adding a sign-up form on your website or offering an incentive for people to join your list (one of our e-commerce clients offers a 10% off coupon for new sign-ups). It is important to have permission-based email lists. We cannot emphasize enough that you must have permission from a subscriber. It’s enshrined in US law. 

Never buy an email list from a third party to grow your list. Doing this will harm your reputation and lead to spam complaints. Users must opt-in to hear from you (and you must provide a one-click unsubscribe). 

4. Create a newsletter template

Most email service providers offer pre-designed newsletter templates that you can customize to match your brand’s look and feel (and most will link to your e-commerce store to show products). You can also create a custom template from scratch if you have coding and design skills. Make sure your template is mobile-responsive and easy to read on different devices and email clients. Most providers will take care of this for you, and out of the box, most will have a template that you can customize with your logo and colors. 

5. Write compelling content

Your newsletter’s content should be relevant and valuable to your subscribers. Write engaging headlines, use images, and break up your content into small paragraphs. Keep your newsletter concise and include a clear call to action (i.e., buttons to click) to encourage your subscribers to take action.

6. Test and preview your newsletter

Before sending your newsletter, make sure to test and preview it to ensure that it looks and works as intended. Check for spelling and grammar errors, broken links, and image issues. Preview your newsletter on different devices and email clients to ensure that it is mobile-responsive and looks the same across different platforms. Send it to yourself and click every single link to make sure they work. You cannot ‘unsend’ a newsletter, and you cannot fix it after it’s been sent. A newsletter is permanent (and if you make a mistake, it’s a permanent mistake).

7. Schedule and send your newsletter

Once you have tested, tested, and retested, as well as preview your newsletter, it is time to schedule and send it. Choose the best day and time to send your newsletter based on your audience’s behavior and preferences. Most email service providers offer scheduling options to send your newsletter at the right time. They can also usually send it out based on timezone or open rate. A good rule of thumb in the email industry (backed up by data) is that Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursdays are the best days to send, with Wednesday being the best. 

Don’t be intimidated by all these steps; once you do them for the first time, it’s pretty simple to get in the flow of a regular newsletter. If this sounds like too much work – then that’s where South Shore PR can do your email marketing for you. We’ll help you build your list ethically so that it is built for quality and longevity. We are experts at building custom newsletters with custom messaging and creating content for your newsletter from beginning to end. We know which services to use and how to make sure your email doesn’t end up in SPAM folders.  Email is one of our superpowers. Get in touch with us today. 

Email Marketing 101: How to Send an Email Newsletter Read More »

Email Marketing 101: Why You Need an Email Newsletter

Email Marketing, Marketing /

Email newsletters are powerful tools for any business. They allow you to connect with your customers, build relationships, and keep them informed about your products and services. In this day and age, they are the single most important marketing channel for your business, large or small, mostly because you have complete control of the entire experience. Here are some reasons why you need an email newsletter as part of your marketing strategy.

You Control It

One of the main benefits of having an email newsletter is that you have complete control over it. Unlike other forms of marketing, such as social media or search engine optimization, where algorithms can change and affect your reach and visibility, an email newsletter is a direct communication channel between you and your subscribers. You have the ability to decide what content to share, when to send it, and how frequently to send it.  Then, your subscriber is the one that decides whether or not to open it (not Facebook or Google). This gives you the power to tailor your messaging to your audience and ensure that your message is being delivered directly to their inbox.

Stay Top of Mind

One of the biggest benefits of an email newsletter is that it keeps your business at the forefront of your customer’s minds. When you send out regular newsletters (and it should be regular – you want a pattern to your communications), your subscribers will be reminded of your business and what you have to offer. This can be especially important for businesses that have longer sales cycles or sell products or services that are not purchased on a regular basis. We cannot emphasize this enough – an email newsletter isn’t just for selling little widgets; it’s also for selling the machinery that makes the widgets. Staying connected with customers who make irregular large purchases is more important than ever. The worst thing your business can do is be forgotten by happy customers, or if you’re a non-profit, you’re donors.

Build Relationships

Email newsletters are also a great way to build relationships with your customers. By providing them with valuable information, you can position yourself as a thought leader and expert in your field and establish trust with your subscribers. This can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business. If you make the newsletter conversational, then your subscribers will feel like they are personally connected with you and your brand. That’s why we advocate putting a personal message at the top of every email newsletter.

Drive Traffic to Your Website

An email newsletter can also be a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website. By including links to your website in your newsletters, you can encourage subscribers to visit your site and learn more about your products and services (or read your great content). This can be especially effective if you use your newsletter to promote new products or services. One South Shore PR client sends out a weekly digest of their website articles and gets tens of thousands of hits on their website (almost instantly once the email is sent).

Increase Sales Or Donations

Email newsletters can also be an effective way to drive sales. By including promotions and special offers in your newsletters, you can encourage subscribers to make a purchase. You can also use your newsletter to promote your best-selling products or to highlight new products or services that you offer. You can also use a special offer to entice people to sign up for your email newsletter.  A common tactic is to offer a 10% off coupon for new subscribers. It’s a marginal discount, but it makes new customers happy and makes them think they’re getting a deal.

Cost-Effective

Even though you have to pay for an email marketing platform, Email newsletters are still a cost-effective marketing tool. Unlike other forms of marketing, such as direct mail or print advertising, email newsletters can be sent to a large number of people for a relatively low cost. This makes them a great option for small businesses or non-profits with limited marketing budgets. It also provides almost real-time, almost priceless data on how your customers interact with your business. It’s very easy to see how many sales you get from an email newsletter send (if proper tracking has been set up – something we would make sure to do for SSPR clients!).

If you want to stay top of mind, build relationships, drive traffic to your website, increase sales, and do it all in a cost-effective way, then an email newsletter is the way to go. By providing your subscribers with valuable information, you can position yourself as an expert in your field and establish trust with your customers. With the right strategy and approach, an email newsletter can be a powerful tool for any business. Start your newsletter yesterday.

Looking to create an effective email marketing strategy? South Shore Public Relations can help you with this—we can help you build your list and make the most of it. Don’t believe us? Sign up for our email newsletter here.

Examples of Successful Email Newsletters

SSPR Client – Anglotopia – Anglotopia sends out a weekly digest newsletter to 36,000 subscribers. Here’s a recent example.

The Marginalian – *The Marginalian* has a free Sunday digest of the week’s most mind-broadening and heart-lifting reflections spanning art, science, poetry, philosophy, and other tendrils of our search for truth, beauty, meaning, and creative vitality.

Now I know – Now I Know is a free daily newsletter; you’ll learn something new every day.

The Browser Newsletter – Every day, they read hundreds of articles and recommend five outstanding stories for you to enjoy, so you’ll always have interesting things to ponder and fascinating ideas to discuss at dinner.

The Hustle – Have you heard about The Hustle? It’s a daily newsletter that provides you with the latest updates on business and technology in just 5 minutes or less. While there are several other newsletters out there that offer similar content, what sets The Hustle apart is its unique tone that blends information with humor. 

Why We Buy – Katelyn Bourgoin’s “Why We Buy” is a newsletter that’s published twice a week. It aims to help marketers better understand the psychology of buyers by sharing insightful tips. The newsletter is presented in an engaging and fun manner, and includes relatable real-life examples and scenarios from popular brands.

Email Marketing 101: Why You Need an Email Newsletter Read More »

What is a media kit, and why do you need one?

Marketing, Media Relations /

TL:DR: A media kit essentially tells advertisers and potential partners how they can work with you and what you can offer them. It does not usually include pricing (that’s a separate rate card, a topic for a future post).

A media kit is essentially a collection of promotional materials that provide information about an individual or business to potential collaborators, sponsors, and advertisers. It is an effective way to showcase your work to the world and can help to attract new clients, advertisers, customers, and sponsors.

Typically, a media kit includes a variety of information, such as a biography of key stakeholders, a list of services or products offered, statistics about key individuals or business’s online presence, testimonials from satisfied customers, and contact information. It may also include examples of previous work, such as articles, blog posts, or videos, as well as information about collaborations and partnerships.

There are several reasons why having a media kit is necessary. It can be essential in establishing your credibility as an organization. Potential clients or sponsors want to know that they can trust you and that you have a proven track record of success. A well-designed media kit will help to establish this credibility by showcasing past successes, highlighting relevant experience and expertise, and providing social proof through testimonials and endorsements.

By showcasing your work and experience, a media kit can help to appeal to potential clients who are looking for someone with your specific skills set or expertise. It helps to communicate the unique value proposition of an individual or business and what sets you apart from competitors in their industry.

If you don’t have a media kit, you are missing out on a chance to share your story and celebrate your wins as an organization. Businesses are interested in partnering with individuals or other non-profits that have a robust online presence and a large following. By providing detailed information about one’s online reach and engagement, as well as examples of previous collaborations, a media kit can help attract potential sponsors and collaborators.

Finally, a well-designed media kit helps to save time and streamline the process of presenting to potential clients, sponsors, and collaborators (and crafting your pitch is something South Shore PR can help you with!). Instead of having to gather information every time you pitch someone, a media kit can provide all the necessary information in one place, making it easier and more efficient to reach out to potential collaborators and secure new business. When working with a new client, you can send them the media kit before your call so they can get some background. 

Your media kit should be on your website and be easy to find.  It will primarily be looked at on a computer or tablet, so it should be accessible on your website. Some marketers might put it behind a sign-up wall to grow an email list, but you can just provide the downloaded version as well. Your media kit should have its own page on your website. You should also have a quality printed version available to send to organizations that may want to work with you. 

Media kits may seem outdated in this fully digital age, but at the end of the day, you still need to sell yourself, and an excellent media kit is the perfect way to put your best foot forward. A well-designed and informative media kit will guide people, enterprises, and non-profits on how to best work with you (and it’s also a great way to show what you don’t do).  

Who needs a media kit:

A Publication – Whether in print or digital, a publication needs to show how it can work with advertisers and partners.

A Public Figure—If you’re doing the speaking circuit or you’re a known public figure, a media kit will help media organizations understand how to work with you. 

Start-up Business—A media kit is an opportunity to tell your story to outside investors and stakeholders; it helps sell you as a business.

Mature Business – If you’ve been around for a few years, a media kit is a great way to show who you are as a company, who the key figures are, and how people might want to partner with you.

Non-Profits—Having a media kit is essential for non-profit organizations, as it helps communicate your mission, leadership, and how outside organizations can collaborate with you.

Examples of an effective media kit:

South Shore PR Client Example:

Other Examples:

What is a media kit, and why do you need one? Read More »