I get the impression a lot of you want as much advice as you can get on newsletters. We had a lot of clicks on the post I wrote last month with just three tips for newsletters. Then I visited Matterhorn Nursery the weekend before PANTS and spent an afternoon with Sandy Power, who handles Matterhorn’s newsletter. She asked for ideas, and so we chatted for a little while at the computer, then I had her walk me through the store so we could hunt up topics. As we did so, I realized that of all the hats a retailer has to wear, newsletter publisher may be the most uncomfortable.
We magazine publishers, though, live for that kind of stuff. So need met plenty in the form of Sandy and me, and I realized I should perhaps pass along more than the three brief tips I offered last month.
Make your newsletter worth reading
A retailer’s first instinct is to put new things in the newsletter. Usually, that’s a bad idea, because a lot of the new things relate to problems. Somebody ordered too many yaupon hollies, so they are going on sale. Or you caught your greenhouse manager with her hand in the till, and so you now have a new manager to introduce.
You and your employees are not the target audience, your customers are. What your customers want from you is your expertise. Believe me, they will find advice on which plants can handle root competition with an oak tree more interesting than learning Joe Bob was promoted to floor manager.
Give your customers ideas that require purchasing stuff
The best retail newsletter I’ve seen is, sadly, from your big-box competitor, Lowe’s. It’s not so much the Martha Stewart-esque production quality that dazzles, although that’s admittedly breathtaking.
No, what gets my attention is that it tells customers how they can use Lowe’s products to make their home and garden a better place. And these aren’t silly projects, either. I’ve seen simple articles on how to turn a window shutter into a headboard and more complex ones on how to install a small in-ground pond. A sidebar lists the materials used in the project (prices included), the skill level and how long it should take to do it.
The genius in the newsletter lies in that sidebar. You are telling your customers what to buy in a tidy list. To see what I’m talking about, click on the images at the beginning of this post.
The funny thing is, if you tell customers what to buy in your store, a lot of people will do exactly what you tell them to do.
When Sandy and I walked around Matterhorn, we saw a lot of hydrangeas in bloom. Sandy could do an article about how to create instant romance for a summer party that features hydrangeas. Take a stroll around your garden center and see what you think your customers can do with what you have in stock.
Write about what you have a lot of at full price
If you have a sale, you will want to mention it, but don’t make it the most prominent part of your newsletter. After all, those products are selling for a reduced margin. That old adage that a 10-percent improvement in your best player benefits the team a lot more than a similar improvement in the worst player applies here.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve read about a sale in the headline story of a newsletter. The first couple of articles should be big and sexy pieces about full-price products with healthy margins.
So the first step in selecting your newsletter content is to take a look at your POS reports to see which high-margin products you really want to move. Once you have a product in mind, start asking around about interesting ways that product can be used at home, and you’ll soon have your first story ready to go.
Turn to consumer magazines for inspiration
Nobody knows how to romance products better than consumer magazines. And since your newsletter is a mini-consumer periodical, why not borrow ideas from the masters? Once you’ve selected which products you want to promote, look at how Better Homes and Gardens makes products irresistible. Also look for inspiration beyond articles discussing items comparable to your product. Even stories about lip gloss in Glamour can help you select the right words to glam up your pottery.
-- Carol
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