How E-Newsletters enhance lead-generation to your web site

by Paul Berezny

With more than 4,000 new web sites being created everyday, you would think web sites would be a good source of business leads. However, that is not necessarily the case.

The Internet is so overwhelmed and cluttered with data, web pages, blogs and other types of information, it is increasingly more difficult to have your company selected and to appear within the first several screens of a search.

There are more than 7.3 million new web pages added to the Internet daily. As the supply of web pages increases exponentially, the availability of space to display hits within the first several screens is constant. How many prospects do you think would go through all the screens of a search?

At one time, all you needed was a web site to get hits and generate sales leads. Now you need deep financial pockets and savvy technology just to keep from slipping to the bottom of the list. Try the following demonstration with your company’s web site to see where it fits in this spectrum.

Conduct an Internet search using your company’s name. I recently “Googled” one company that is a supplier of lighting fixtures located on the West Coast and came up with 64 hits. I then assumed I was a new corporate buyer in California and that I needed to locate lamp suppliers. This time, I conducted a search using the words: West Coast lamp suppliers.

This search generated 997,000 hits, of which 862 were displayed and the balance were omitted due to duplication. However, after going through the first 30 screens and 300 hits, I stopped because there was not one hit for this lighting fixture supplier. How many buyers do you think would continue past 30 screens? I suspect not many.

Does this mean that web sites are no longer valuable? No, that should not be the conclusion. Instead, this demonstration illustrates how the purpose and functionality of web sites have changed significantly. Many web sites have evolved from being sales-lead generators, to becoming inside sales support entities offering customer service, order entry functions, distributing product literature, providing technical service, product information and specifications.

Other mechanisms are evolving for generating sales leads from the Internet. One such growing marketing strategy is the use of electronic or e-newsletters.

The concept of e-newsletters is fairly simple and basic. But the possibilities of how they can be used as sales and marketing tools are endless.

E-newsletters are custom-designed HTML e-mail messages usually containing summaries of feature articles or introductions to articles which may include graphics and photos. The article summaries contain hyperlinks for connecting directly to the e-newsletter’s web site for expanded and more detailed write ups. The e-newsletter provides a sampling of new content on the web site to pique subscriber’s interest, encouraging them to click through to read more. Once on the site, subscribers would acquire more in-depth information and interact with advertisers.

In addition to feature articles, other topics of interest such as news briefs, conference listings, special events and new products and services could be presented as department sections. Macromedia Flash type of animation also could be included. Portals could allow readers to watch videos on products and services, and even receive training.

Although the main content of many e-newsletters is hosted on a web site, e-newsletters are not just web sites. The difference is that e-newsletters are issued and e-mailed out regularly to thousands of specific individuals who have become loyal subscribers. Some e-newsletters are issued monthly while others may be issued weekly.

E-newsletters initiate relationships with their readers. This is very different than the typical web site that just sits lost in cyberspace, waiting for readers to come to the site, or hoping by chance to catch hits.

In some ways print publications and e-newsletters are very similar because of their proactive approach. Both print and email publications are active, in that they search for prospects within their community of subscribers, unlike web sites which are passive, waiting for prospects to search out the site.

However, there are also significant differences between the advertisements in print publications and those in e-newsletters. Print ads are not interactive. The advertiser can not tell if the print ad was read thoroughly, just skimmed or totally ignored. Was the ad forwarded to a colleague or passed on to upper management? With e-newsletters these questions can be answered.

E-newsletter ads are interactive and the results are measurable. With today’s technology, you can track which feature articles were read to correlate reader interests with advertisements and buyer preferences. You can determine which ads were opened and for how long. What ads and product information were forwarded? Which links were used to reach web sites and what information was downloaded?

For example, web site tracking services offer statistics that indicate page views (impressions), sessions (visitors), new vs. returning visitors and ad click-throughs.

Since many e-newsletters are linked to the Internet, they are part of the cyberspace community and exposed to search engines worldwide. This allows e-newsletters to have the best of all worlds. It creates a dynamic opportunity for strategically integrating the e-newsletter’s capabilities, synergistically with the vast resources of cyberspace, to dramatically leverage the availability of business opportunities and sales leads.

Companies can benefit from the sales and marketing opportunities of e-newsletters by becoming an advertiser; an e-newsletter sponsor; by contributing feature articles; or by starting their own company e-newsletter.

Paul Berezny is the sales and marketing manager for McMorrowReport.com. He can be reached via e-mail at: berezny@patmedia.net