Why Meta, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo Don’t Send You Newsletters and how your business can benefit from that knowledge.

Okay, slight alteration to the truth here, if you ask Meta, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to send you a newsletter they will but imagine not promoting the fact you have a newsletter?

Imagine your customers having to hunt for an email to sign up to get your offers and news in their inbox?

That’s every business owners dream, isn’t it?

4.5 billion emails were sent in 2023 according to Beehiiv (Read more here.)compared to 402 million in the 2022!

And while the view is polarised on the benefits of email marketing with some calling its untimely death others firmly believe it’s the cornerstone to any great marketing strategy with over 361.6 billion emails sent so far in 2024 daily across all platforms.

However, when you consider the consumers growing consideration of the planet as we see unrivalled natural disasters and questions over the planet’s future many are becoming aware of the cost of email. Did you know that 200 billion email are sent globally every day, with a CO2 cost of .3g to 50.G that’s no small issue that businesses need to consider.

So before you jump on a platform like Hubspot to keep in touch with your customers and potential customers is it even necessary to send newsletters?

Did you know that while I send out a monthly newsletter for INsiders I haven’t sent out a regular newsletter for my Mandie Holgate side of the businesses in years…well if ever! And yet that is by far the most lucrative side of my business – the INsiders is a passion project that got out of hand and now is my business family, mentoring community and passion for business, leaders and their employees success – I couldn’t part from it any easier than I could a lung! (Read about the INsiders here.)

Let’s look at the big players and how they ensure the foundations to a sustainable business, and increased profitable, innovative success (without relying on newsletters);

Big brands don’t flood your inbox with newsletters, unlike many companies for the primary reason that their business models and customer engagement strategies are different. (And we will look at how you can benefit from that knowledge whether your team is you on your own or 250 strong later in this article.)

These companies focus on engagement on their platforms, using targeted advertising to reach billions of users directly. Their business model revolves around selling advertising space rather than products, but it’s not just about the paid ads. You are constantly reminded why you are there and the benefits of that company.

Many small businesses miss a trick by reminding customers why them. It’s not enough to make the sale, how do you ensure your customer reviews you, raves about you and returns?

Big budgets and social proof. Many big brands with physical products rely on mass advertising and distribution through retailers. While you don’t pop over to Coke’s website to get your favourite caffeine sugar hit, you do know you don’t like Pepsi or vice a versa and that’s social proof marketing.

The big brands want us to all shout about who we love. They create the “Them and Us” mentality that says, “This is not for you, this is ours!” And people from Android to Apple from Mercedes to BWN will tell you why that brand is best than the other!

It would be nice to get Beyonce to pop in and buy one of Stephanie Blythe’s amazing cakes or one of Gorgeous Gourds lamps (See Amanda’s amazing work here) or see Taylor Swift pose with a Charlie Kirkham painting (See Charlie’s stunning art here.) (both INsiders!) or even one of my books, it’s not likely to happen….yet!

And while your budget may not stretch to big celeb endorsements, the micro influencer is not to be sniffed at. Increasingly I am offered discounts or freebies (even some free holidays!) because my social media gets viewed, commented on and liked (and people buying!). Okay, not billions but it’s better with social proof to get real engagement and real likes than 3 million who just like the music of Justin Timberlake and have no intention of buying one of your products!

Look for those that match your target audiences (if you don’t know who they are, you need this.) and their likes, worries, passions and fashions. Engage in their conversations (there’s no need to get creepy about this and stalk them) genuine interest will exist since you both want to attract the same audiences. Good networking online and offline can ensure you get to meet the right people that would be perfect to give that micro influencer boost to your leads, sales and profit.

Tell a story. Newsletters aren’t dead but to get people to sign up it won’t be enough to have a free course or eBook. People must be reminded on seeing your name in their inbox every time, why they want to make time to open it and read it. It’s got to captivate and offer something unique to your existing strategy/communication anywhere else to ensure that. How many have emails they need to read and haven’t? So how will a newsletter/sales email stand out? Tell a story. Make it so compelling they would forget to pick up the kids from school or go to a meeting they are so engrossed!

Get personal. The days of one size fits all are over and with AI, international competition, restrictions on resources, changes in consumer’s needs and wants and a fast-paced volatile world this can make your business thrive or nosedive.

The big companies collect enormous amounts of data to personalise your experience. When you see a perfectly timed ad or product suggestion on social media, you know that’s not by chance—it’s the result of sophisticated algorithms and real-time data analysis and while you haven’t got Meta’s might there’s lots you can do to personalise your leads/customer’s experience. You can use data analytics from tools like Google Analytics or insights from social media platforms. Track how your customers engage with your business, then tweak your strategies to meet their preferences. (A simple and fun way of seeing what your potential customers are enjoying is to share something different to what you would normally and see how many share it. It’s amazing how far reach can go!)

Personally, for INsiders newsletter I use HubSpot however for the main lucrative side of my business as a speaker, corporate coach and trainer I don’t send anything out, yet I still collect information on every lead.

• Where did I meet them?
• What did we discuss?
• Names of loved ones?
• Dog’s name.
• What we bonded over or joked about?
• Etc, etc.

You have 55,000 in your network and you will need to personalise your knowledge. I genuinely care about every single customer, Insider and delegate at every conference, AGM etc, but my brain is not as big as Chat GPT’s!

We love you! No seriously we do! At some INsiders networking and business growth virtual events this year we’ve discussed newsletters, and it was very interesting to note I’m not alone in not sending one out.

One of our very successful (and fully booked!) digital agencies send one out of generic expected standard but admitted it wasn’t their focus and was the least beneficial to the company in quality or quantity of leads. (Read on for what is good for excellent leads!) what makes customers come back, tell their friends and encourages leads is their communication.

Focus on Customer Loyalty like the big brands who keep customers coming back with loyalty programs, events, and community engagement. Small businesses can create loyalty through personalised offers, referral programs, and even community-building initiatives, such as exclusive webinars, meet-ups, or product discounts. Just like Apple lovers will never endorse an Android your customers will go out and tell the world why they love you, because you showed you love them! There’s a reason why so many small businesses this year have employed me to help them copy my INsiders business model – it works!

It gets the right people engaging with you and spending more money AND telling other people about the INsiders too!

Create Emotional Connections with Your Brand. Coca-Cola doesn’t sell a drink they sell an experience. Small businesses can focus on building emotional connections with their customers, sharing their values, and being authentic. You don’t need a Super Bowl ad to make people care about your brand—genuine interactions and consistent messaging can go a long way. And that’s the biggie for many businesses, consistency isn’t sexy. If you don’t see instant results, it doesn’t mean people aren’t interested. You must remain consistent and understand what makes your customers take action.

Don’t rule out the paid options. We’ve seen some interesting results from customers that have utilised Google advertising and Meta ads. To do this option without a good understanding of the process and tech is pointless but either ask INsiders for support or speak to our resident Facebook Ad expert Karen Rhodes (INsiders get a discount to work with Karen.) As we’ve seen these work well.

I’m not saying no, I’m saying Know why and how. A great newsletter can be a great way to raise awareness of what you do and offer (it’s amazing how many miss a product or service that you deliver) and keeping on people’s radars is essential to ensure it’s you they buy from, however you must know who you are targeting, why, about what and what you expect them to do and what outcomes you will be monitoring.

If you don’t it’s as effective as standing by the motorway with a flipchart hoping your target audiences are driving past. If you do know your business model, products and services, outcomes and communication style to whom, why and how then yes, a newsletter can work very well. With one Insider who did my Blogging for business course (read more on that here) they saw a 3100% increase in their database and it’s had a knock on impact in their ability to access funding, gain council backed projects and go global. So, I have seen newsletter campaigns work very well however and it’s my last point to make…

If the big companies don’t rely on it as a route to market, you don’t have to either. You can dig around on Meta, Coca Cola and PepsiCo websites to sign up to their newsletters, but they aren’t reliant on you doing that because they take their customers on a journey that emotionally connects and makes their customers feel a certain way – consistently!

The big reason I don’t need a newsletter is because of this course, Mandie’s Marketing Production Line. All the elements of my marketing plan work together to do the same as the big guys, what 8 to 10 tools are you using consistently every day in a powerful way?

I can walk into a room and people know who I am, and I’ve not been on a wanted poster to achieve it!

Need more on this course that makes business come to you whatever the world faces, click here.

It’s important to remember that the advantage you have as a small business is that you don’t have to wade through a ton of protocol or departments to make a decision or a change and you don’t have to be an expert in every route to market. I’ve got very successful coaching clients who hardly use social media at all, and others that rely heavily on it.

I’ve clients who get most of their work via networking and word of mouth and others by global PR only (one of those uses newsletters, the other doesn’t!) and then I’ve clients who have never worked with me on marketing and only concentrated on their communication and public speaking skills as that is their route to the good business opportunities, the point is, create a strategy that is a unique as you and your business.

That’s what customers are really looking for, that unique, just for me, exclusive service that you can provide, and the unique and exclusive marketing strategy you create will deliver that, 100%!

To discuss any aspect of this article please feel free to tag me on the INsiders, email me here or even phone me here (+44) 798 993 5556, because if you are waiting for a newsletter, you may have a long wait!