In its simple meaning, a newsletter is a form of advertising that is sent periodically. It is a regularly distributed publication that is mostly about one main topic, and is of interest to its subscribers. Newsletters are delivered via email. Newsletters are normally used by owners of the websites to communicate and advertise themselves to their readers or subscribers.
An online newsletter has many advantages over print media. One of the main advantages is that sending a newsletter via email is cost effective e.g. you can reach a very broad audience instantly with very little cost.
Some other advantages of having a newsletter system are:
• Newsletters help you to promote your business. Basically a newsletter motivates customers to buy from you.
• A general newsletter contains articles and an appropriate vision and mission of the business. This information helps customers to understand your business.
• Newsletters are an effective communication tool. Creative newsletters can be appreciated by the clients and hence increase the communication between businesses and clients.
• As mentioned above, a newsletter is a cost effective tool, but it can be used as a source of income by putting advertisements in it.
Along with the advantages, the following are two major disadvantages of the newsletter.
• To receive a newsletter client must provide their email address, which in some cases people reluctant to do so fearing that their email address could be passed to other organisations, resulting hundreds of junk emails.
• In some cases a newsletter may not be received by the recipient. Reasons for this could be the spam filters used by many people. So a newsletter might not get through to those who have subscribed because is rejected as spam.