I’ve been watching my e-newsletter new subscriber stats for a while now, mostly because the number of subscribers had been increasing even though e-newsletter open rates have been declining — according to most industry reports.

In the last year, the number of people who subscribe to my e-newsletter on a daily / monthly basis has doubled, as has the overall number on the list.

The number of subscribers started increasing when I added my e-newsletter subscription form to this blog — which generates more traffic now than my DH Communications, Inc. Website.

Because I have a field on my subscription form that asks people how they found me, I’m able to see which marketing tactics generate the most subscribers.

Hands down, “search” is the number one method of driving traffic and subscribers. Over 89% of new visitors to the blog came through Google organic search alone (for the period 1/1/09 to 6/15/2009).

For the time period cited, approximately 25% of all newsletter subscribers came via search.

Writing articles for other blogs, portals, and e-newsletters is the second best way to drive traffic and subscriptions. For example, an article I wrote for Jill Whalen’s High Rankings Newsletter netted over 100 new subscribers in 24 hours.

And today (June 25), MarketingProfs featured my blog post about “Plug & Play Website Templates” in their Get to the Point e-newsletter — which is driving e-newsletter subscribers even as I write!

What has surprised me the most, however, is the number of subscribers who come in from *comments* I’ve left on blogs — as well as links to this blog from other bloggers.

I’m surprised for two reasons: I didn’t really think people followed blog links, and two, blogs were supposed to supplant e-newsletters when in fact, it’s blogs driving the traffic — and subscriptions.

I’m not quite sure what ideas or analysis I can derive from my numbers except for this:

Despite the number of blogs to which I’m subscribed and don’t have time to read, I always seem to find time for e-newsletters and this is because the e-newsletter arrives in my inbox — whereas I have to open my blog reader to access new blog posts, something I don’t do often enough.

An e-newsletter is like a good sandwich — quick and easy to digest.

Done well, e-newsletters give me a quick tip or two I can use. Most important, they arrive in my inbox without me having to do much of anything — except subscribe once.

If you read still subscribe to and read e-newsletters, please tell me why. I’d love to know.

According to an October 2008 survey of 189 marketing professionals by Forrester Research (Making Social Media Work in B2B Marketing), B2B marketers continue to rely on traditional digital marketing methods to drive leads — including e-mail newsletters.

Yet, given the rise of blogs and other social media tactics — and overflowing e-mail inboxes — you might wonder if something as lowly as the e-newsletter is still a viable tactic.

The answer is: most definitely. Think about it. Despite the buzz about social media, email remains the #1 activity on the Internet. This means that all of us check email, read email, and respond to email constantly.

Plus, not everyone reads blogs or has a LinkedIn/Facebook account. I’ve had PR and marketing professionals tell me they never read blogs but they continue to read newsletters, something I realized based on my own experience.

Although I have this blog and Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts, I still have people subscribing to my e-newsletter every single day.

(But, just because people still subscribe to e-newsletters doesn’t mean they’re reading them. If I get tired of a company’s e-newsletter, for example, I don’t unsubscribe, I simply delete it without reading it.)

If you’re a marketer who has been putting out an e-newsletter for years, now is a great time to look it over to see how you can re-invigorate your publication, and your audience, too, with the following tips:

1. Look at your email stats for the last year.

• How many people subscribed?
• How many unsubscribed?
• How did subscribers find your newsletter or what prompted them to sign up?
• If you use your e-newsletter to get people to take some sort of action, such as downloading white papers or signing up for Webinars, what percentage of your subscribers did so?
• How often was your newsletter forwarded to others?
• How often was content in your e-newsletter posted to blogs, appear in Twitter posts, or reprinted or mentioned in other e-newsletters or trade publications?

2. Survey your readership.

Set up a simple survery using one of the free tools available, such as Zoomerang or Survey Monkey. Constant Contact now offers survey capabilities, too.  

Keep the survey short and sweet so that you don’t waste people’s time. (I like to keep my surveys to ten easy questions that can be answered in two minutes or less.) 

Ask your subscribers how often they want to receive the newsletter and what topics they want to read about. If you’re a larger company with multiple products or business units sending out one e-newsletter a month, ask your readers if they would like content written just for them.

3. Make your newsletter a priority.

Newsletters tend to fall through the cracks, I think, because they’re seen as “fluff” versus revenue generators.

For an e-newsletter to be successful — that is, to generate leads and ultimately sales — you have to make it a priority. This means you publish it on time all the time, that you continually develop new content for it (and not use warmed over press releases), and that you analyze your statistics in order to explain to management why the e-newsletter is a necessary marketing tactic.

Done right, B2B e-newsletters are a great way to stay top-of-mind with prospects not yet ready to buy and maintain relationships with current clients. It’s why I’m still publishing mine and have been doing so for the last eight years.

For additional information about email marketing, be sure to download the following reports and articles (which came to me via e-newsletters — ha!):

Exact Target: No Executive Left Behind: 10 Things Your C-Suite MUST KNOW About Email Now

SilverPop: Spam: What Customers Really Think

ClickZ: 10 Reasons to Be Thankful for E-mail by Karen Gedney

Are you a B2B marketer with an e-newsletter success story? If so, I’d love to feature it on this blog. Drop me an email at: info@dhcommunications.com

I’m in the process of updating my Website and while going over my keywords and Google stats I noted — to my dismay and awe — that one single archived issue of my newsletter is generating tons of traffic.

I’m dismayed because the keywords people are using to get to my site have nothing to do with my B2B marketing communications services. The newsletter in question was an interview with another B2B expert.

Even though this blog drives a fair amount of traffic and inquiries for me, I still publish my e-newsletter, The MarCom Strategist.

I do it because nothing works better to help keep me top of mind with clients who have used my services in the past. The newsletter is also a great way to nurture “warm” leads — those people who’ve looked at my Website or blog but aren’t quite ready to use my B2B marketing consulting and copywriting services.

It’s why I advise my clients to consider an e-newsletter if they don’t have one already.

Ditto for freelancers and consultants. In an article I wrote for The Wealthy Freelancer blog, “5 Tips for Developing an E-Newsletter that Makes the Phone Ring,” I explain how to use an e-newsletter to showcase one’s expertise while generating on-target inquiries.

A relatively new blog, The Wealthy Freelancer was started by Pete Savage, Steve Slaunwhite, and Ed Gandia. Although all three gentlemen are successful copywriters, the blog is geared toward helping all freelancers and consultants build profitable businesses.

Be sure to check it out. The blog features lots of useful information without any hype.

Bob Bly recently asked on his blog, “Does Article Marketing Work?” He asks his blog readers for examples of using articles to generate business.

I agree with all of the comments to Bob’s post: marketing one’s expertise and thought-leadership via articles is a terrific tactic. I use it myself — except I’ve never once used an article submission Website.

Using these sites is akin to haphazardly spreading seeds over a field and hoping you get a bumper crop of wheat.

It’s better to write articles and get them posted where your target audience will see them. These places include your own blog, blogs written by others in your niche, industry Websites, and e-newsletters.

If you write articles for other sites, be sure to post them to your site and/or e-newsletter as well. If you get quoted in an article written by someone else, post the citation to your press room.

It also makes sense to publish an e-newsletter and post all issues to your Website (and be sure they’re optimized for specific keywords).

By posting all this content to your site — versus an article submission site — you’ll much more effectively showcase your expertise and thought-leadership *in one place*. You’ll drive more traffic as the search engine spiders find your optimized content and index it, and you’ll see an increase in inquiries about your services.

At least, that’s how it’s worked for me all these years.

Have you used article submission sites? Can you track new business to these articles?

Last week I was a guest on IMN’s Pro & Content podcast. (IMN offers B2C and B2B companies e-newsletter and other marketing solutions.)

IMN Marketing VP, Jo Ellen Collins, and I talked about how to develop content for newsletters, blog posts, and articles.

One strategy I’ve used since I started my business — keeping track of the “mistakes” or errors I see companies make when it comes to writing marketing copy.

I realized early on I was seeing the same mistakes repeatedly. Over the years I’ve developed numerous articles, presentations, and even an e-book (due out hopefully this month!).

Another tip you might not expect: watch TV. While on vacation in Florida I happened across a news show about “dental tourism” — the new trend of traveling to another country for cosmetic dental work.

When I returned home, I emailed my client, Helaine Smith, about it. Her response, “This topic is hot!” We ended up doing a podcast and an e-newsletter about it.

You can find the IMN podcast at their site — it’s located in their Pro & Content monthly e-newsletter.

(And that’s another tip — don’t think you have to *write* all of your content. Podcasts are great, too.)

Karen Gedney, ClickZ’s B2B email marketing expert, interviewed me for her most recent column, “Missed B2B Email Opportunities.”

Karen writes:

An e-newsletter can keep you in the game throughout a long consideration process. For example, a recent Enquiro Search Solutions study cites that although the top influencer of the B2B purchasing decision is the vendor’s own Web site, other online influencers are important, such as trade publications, business publications, and opt-in e-mail.

While prospects review your Web site, they’re likely to opt in for your e-newsletter, allowing you to begin the sales conversation at the height of their research process and throughout an extended buying cycle.

My e-newsletter continues to be one of the best methods I have for remaining top of mind with prospects and customers. I still receive calls every month that begin, “I’ve been getting your newsletter for some time now and have a project . . . . “

Excellent article, Karen, and thank you!

According to Nielsen Norman Group’s recently released e-newsletter usability study, 82% of respondents still don’t understand the acronym “RSS” (which stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’) and that despite overflowing email inboxes and declining open rates, email newsletters still outperform RSS.

(Indeed, I am somewhat amused that I have added an email subscription form to this blog since RSS is supposed to be the way around clogged inboxes.)

I once talked to Jessica Albon about why people react so emotionally to e-newsletters. Said Jessica at the time, “E-newsletters arrive in your in-box. They interrupt your work and force you to deal with them — either you read the newsletter, file it away for later, or delete it.”

She’s right. Sometimes I grind my teeth due to e-newsletters — often they arrive unbidden in my inbox, forcing me to take the time to unsubscribe. Other times, I get a newsletter from one of my favorite people, such as Betsy Harper, and I stop everything I’m doing to read it.

Done right, an e-newsletter is a true marketing investment that pays signifcant dividends no matter what size your company. As the Nielsen Norman Group study shows, newsletters impart high-value information and they influence purchasing decisions.

The reason companies should consider them “long-term multiyear investments” is because people archive their old newsletters — making the information valuable months and years after it has been written.

In a BtoB Online article Nielsen suggested “e-mail marketers should not only be optimizing their Web sites for search but should also think in terms of keywords when creating e-mail newsletters.

“You want to be sure when people search for a topic you are covering in an e-mail, that it pops up in that particular search. You want to use the same terminology that your target audience is using. Newsletters need to be thought of as a long-term, multiyear investment. Desktop search is a way to have that longer-term relationship.

Want to know the future of e-newsletters? Read The London Times Online article, Google to Focus on London for Next Phase of Growth. Is your newsletter ready to go mobile?