We've all been there, sitting at the keyboard trying to figure out how to engage with leads and customers or how to boost sales or even, how to boost leads!

Well, the obvious solutions, or at least the two solutions that spring easiest to mind, are an email campaign or a solo ad blitz, and if you don't have a list of any size, it boils down to the same thing really! The follow-on question is OK, once we have the lead, or sale, how are we going to ensure that we stay 'in the back of my mind' with our audience?

Most marketers have been there — you’re sitting around a

conference room, trying to figure out how to best engage leads and

customers, sell more product, or just “stay top-of-mind” for your target

audience, and someone decides there’s a solution that can solve all of

those problems at once: an email newsletter!

And then suddenly it’s you that’s been chosen to do it. Oh, and make

sure that open and clickthrough rates don’t dip. That sound good?

I’ve been in that situation before, and I was worried. Even though email

newsletters are one of the most common types of emails to send, they

are actually some of the hardest to do right.

It’s hard because it includes a mix of different types of content about different parts of your business, including event reminders, surveys, educational information about your product, service, or industry, and promotions.

And because it’s not an email designed to serve one purpose — say, about one promotion, one digest of previously published content, one lead nurturing email, or one transactional email providing order information, email newsletters have

a difficult time trying to get readers to complete a call-to-action.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them. If done right, you

could develop a really engaged subscriber base, and potentially nurture

them into qualified leads and customers.

At the very “least,” you could engage your company’s evangelists, and they could help bring in business. And that’s definitely something you don’t want to miss out on.

Repeat after me: Not everyone needs a newsletter. Actually, most people don’t need a newsletter. In fact, most of you marketers out there probably have better things to do with your time than search for content and compile it into a messy template that no one’s going to read in the first place. Or your newsletter might be wildly successful and an integral part of your marketing strategy.

Here’s how to determine if you should have a newsletter:

Your boss is making you send one out.

You have an internal newsletter (in which case this guide isn’t all that relevant).

You have had recent proven success with newsletters.

You think you will have success with this method and it is the best use of your time (you have nothing else to do?).

REASONS You Might Need a Newsletter: Spread brand awareness. By building habitual communication with your email subscribers, you enable them to recognize your brand and associate it with a positive sentiment.

Leverage existing content. Many companies do quick summaries of their most popular blog posts and link to the articles from their newsletter.

Include different types of content. For instance, the same newsletter can contain a popular blog post, a new offer, an announcement of an upcoming event, information about a discount, and a link to a survey.

Guaranteed reach (unlike social media). “Email is such a natural fit for BuzzFeed because you never have to explain to people how to share it. People see it and

go, ‘Oh, my buddy or my mom or my coworker would really love this.’ They click the forward button and just send it along. It’s that easy. Because BuzzFeed is built entirely around what people what to share, email has been great for us.”

- Dan Oshinsky, BuzzFeed’s Newsletter Editor