This will be the first in a series about data mining...

Your customers use the internet all day long and many of them share their likes and dislikes on social media. You can also learn more about your customers by seeing which pages of your website they view and which links they click on from your newsletters. This week we will focus on your newsletter.

1. Your newsletter should already be mobile friendly so your customers all get a good reading experience no matter what device they use.

2. Your newsletter should be written with AT LEAST one good call to action section. Communication, updates, stories, profiles etc all add value for your customers but the ROI is in the sales piece. Every newsletter should have a sales section with a very specific linkable call to action - not just a phone number.

3. Once you send out your newsletter do you check to see who clicked on the links? Your newsletter program should give you a #, what % this is and the list of email addresses of those that clicked a specific link.

4. Do you send a follow up email to those that clicked a specific link? You should have your follow up email written in advance with more information on the specific topic that you send to those that clicked the link.

5. Do you follow up with a personal email or phone call? Once someone has clicked once or twice on the same information you know they have some interest. You staff should be following up these leads personally.

Here is the process...

• Your enews included three lines about booking a Christmas party with a link to your banquet menus.
• Your Event Coordinator has pre-written an article "5 things to think about before booking your Holiday Party" that includes their own contact details and an offer to come look at your facilities plus another clickable link (i.e. book an appointment, view our pricing, or simply read more).
• You download the list of email addresses that clicked the link in the first newsletter and send them this second email 3 to 5 days later.
• If you have a small database, follow up personally with an email (not from the email system) or a phone call to everyone who clicked the first time. If your database is larger and you are time restricted at MINIMUM personally follow up with those who have clicked twice.

The ROI of your newsletter will become clearly evident the first time that you follow this process all the way through.