Blog or newsletter - which is a better marketing strategy?
Posted by Audrey Sendrowski-Breuer on Tue, May 03, 2011 @ 07:54 PM
Blog vs. Newsletters 
Remember when newsletters were the rage? They're still around but more and more small business owners are opting for blogs over newsletters. Makes sense - blogs reach a wider audience, Google LOVES them, and you get known without having to jump through SEO hoops. That's because once you've written and published your article, most (if not all) blogging software tells the search engines that new content is ready to be indexed.
Blogging and writing newsletters are two important tools in an effective marketing strategy. They both help you get found, become a voice of authority, make an impression on the reader, and turn that reader into a lead or a customer.
What is "indexing"? 
Indexing is a process where search engine indexers, or "spiders" crawl the web, looking for the search words/phrases a user typed into Google, Firefox, Safari, etc. They find relevant pages on your website or your blog and then remember the list of keywords/phrases that were found to find your content again when someone does a search using those keywords/phrases.
Blog software, like Wordpress, automatically notifys the search engines that new content is ready to be indexed the minute you publish your article. You don't have to be an SEO expert or lift a finger (except to hit the "Publish" button).
Newsletters only reach a select audience.
There's nothing wrong with newsletters. Newsletters are informative; you can pack a lot more detailed information and offers in a newsletter than you ever would do in a blog. Think of it as the difference between a magazine and a postcard.
Newsletters have weight. Blogs, by their nature, are meant to be short, sweet and to the point.
Publishing a newsletter is a bigger commitment than writing a blog. A good newsletter will give more in-depth information to subscribers about topics they are expressly interested in. Which is why they signed up for your newsletter in the first place. Newsletter subscribers tend to be more invested in what you have to say/sell/offer than blog readers.
Bottom line: blogs are available to everybody. You don't have to subscribe to get the benefit of the information.
Newsletters are directed to a select audience. If you want to capture a select audience and provide more in-depth coverage of specific topics relevant to a targeted, opted-in group, newsletters are a great medium.
Either way, you can't go wrong. Both are effective marketing tools and part of a strategic marketing plan. Both can help establish your positioning, your USP, your image. Just pick one that suits you and that you'll stay committed to. It's getting interesting, relevant content consistently out there that matters most!
Best,
Audrey
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