Is the email newsletter dead?

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Is the email newsletter dead?

The big debate between Justin Boeckman (Element Fusion's Internet Marketing Director) and me right now is whether or not the day of the email newsletter has come and gone. Recently Feedburner (which has been purchased by Google) began offering a way for a website owner to make it possible for their visitors to subscribe to their blog posts via email. (Read Element Fusion's blog post about this.)

Boeckman thinks the traditional email newsletter is preferred by owners because it is delivered within an html design that the sender can control. Plus, most email newsletter solutions (even like Breeze which is offered by Element Fusion) offer sophisticated reporting for tracking purposes. So, he’s probably right in thinking that this method of communication will be with us for a while. But in my experience, many email services block the html design elements from going through anyway. So why not let people come to your website to read your news if they want to see it all “pretty” or simply read the guts that get sent to them in their email program using Feedburner and the blog?

I am inclined to think that many business owners (especially those using a content management system like Water or Sky that includes an integrated blog) will love being able to communicate news out to interested parties in this new manner.

Another reason I like the idea of using email fed blog subscriptions better (and think the users of the worldwide web will to) is that it allows for a steady trickle of information in bite sized chunks rather than a once-a-month delivery of a newsletter that is too big to read all at once. I don’t know about you, but I just archive the newsletters that come my way and promise myself I’ll read them later. But I never do. However, I think I’ll actually read a quick blog post on a single subject when it is delivered to me.

Please let me know your thoughts. I’m trying to blog as soon as I think of something rather than waiting till I think I’ve got it all figured out. So, if I’m way off base here, please let me know. (If you don't want to comment here, please email Andrea Decker directly.)

Posted on Fri, October 26, 2007 by Andrea Decker

4 comments (Add your own)

1. Justin Boeckman wrote:: My 2 cents: I would have to say that I like the new email subscription but your newsletter and your blog should carry different tones. 1. Your blog should inform visitors about industry trends and become a resource for new and prospective clients to learn about what is happening. 2. The newsletter should be used as a marketing piece that attempts to sell people your goods and services. It also has helpful information and guides people back to the site but the main purpose is to announce and sell goods or services. If site owners start using their blog as a medium to blast people emails and sell people on their goods/services then they will lose readers. It’s a great tool and I will use it but if it is abused by a site I will cancel my subscription and find another resource.
Fri, October 26, 2007 @ 7:29 PM
2. Colin Rowley wrote:: Andrea, I can see where you are coming from, but let's face it, the older generation hasn't figured out RSS yet, thus the email newsletter is often the only other option for someone looking to stay involved with a site's news and commentary. Btw, there has been a universal call by organizations like Campaign Monitor to bring web standards to email. The push is getting some press and putting on pressure on email clients like Microsoft Outlook and GMail to get their act together and agree to a general list of standards when it comes to displaying newsletters correctly within the window. Let's pray they push for integrating CSS with email clients. That would be a fantastic feature. Good topic!!! Colin
Sun, October 28, 2007 @ 8:40 AM
3. Andrea wrote:: Colin: My point with the whole post was to bring to light that Feedburner has closed the gap for the older generation who doesn't "get" the whole RSS thing. Essentially now there is no difference for a site visitor to opt in to receive a newsletter or to opt in to receive future blog posts. They both go into the subscriber's inbox. So, there is no need for the subscriber to understand RSS. The only difference as I see it is that the traditional email newsletter can be sent to a recipient whose email address has been added to the subscribing list by someone other than them. (This is where unethical practices such as SPAMMING come in.) But with the Feedburner solution, the subscriber is in complete control. There is no way for a person's email address to get added to a spammer's list in my preferred scenario.
Mon, October 29, 2007 @ 7:28 AM
4. andremotuca@hotmail.com wrote:: andremotuca@hotmail.com
Thu, September 23, 2010 @ 3:58 PM

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