When it comes to email marketing, people often tell me its a chore to produce quality content for both your Web site and an email newsletter. Which is true and also the reason you make sure that content is in sync. That said, you don't have to duplicate your efforts; you only have to produce the content for your Web site and automate sending the latest blog to your email marketing list. Keep reading to find out how surprisingly easy it is.
Not all email marketing platforms are created equal, so make sure you're using a platform which supports these features. We use Mailchimp and found its automation features to be superior to Constant Contact, though AWeber, GoDaddy, and Zoho all have some equivalent options. In this case, I'm referring to RSS to Email.
RSS is a data feed which most content management platforms (including WordPress & Joomla) provide and that can be consumed by Web apps and certain email marketing platforms (again, we prefer Mailchimp's implementation). Here's a sample RSS feed of this blog. Mailchimp's RSS-Driven Campaigns consume that information and format it according to the template used by your campaign. The latest blog is then emailed to your marketing list automatically - you set the schedule and each time a new blog is posted, Mailchimp will pick that blog up the next time it checks the feed.
To summarize, setting up an automatic email campaign which sends your blog is simple:
That's it. The intro to those blogs will automatically be emailed to your marketing list. You didn't need to type it twice or even copy and paste it into multiple tools. If you need some help with the set up, contact us and we'll provide knowledge consulting to help.