A young man thrusts a flyer into my hands for a nightclub that offers free cocktails. I’m no longer at an age where I visit nightclubs. I haven’t been to a nightclub for many years and do not intend to start, so I throw the flyer into the nearest bin.
The young man was demonstrating the scattergun approach to marketing. Throwing the information out there into the big pond in the hope of a good catch.
Focus your copy
When you’re writing your newsletter, who do you focus on? Do you direct your words towards anyone and everyone in the hope that some will bite or do you target a specific group of people?
The scattergun approach is not the best way to reach the people that matter – those who are likely to buy your goods or services. The people that matter will not be convinced you really care about who they are and their specific needs, if you are trying to reach everybody with vague and wide-ranging copy.
Focus your audience
Had he been offering the flyer to only the young party/club-going people, I’m sure they would have been over the moon to receive it and the free drink that it offered. But as he was indiscriminately handing them out, everyone tried to avoid him.
When you’re writing your newsletter, target a specific audience. If your business is car sales, send your newsletter to people who have shown an interested in your cars. Offer the information only to those who want to hear from you, otherwise all your hard work will go in the bin, or worse, in the spam folder.
Image credit: Malmaison Hotels, Cocktails.