Building a solid marketing plan requires more than careful creation of eye-catching displays, having a knowledgeable staff, or offering a diverse high-quality product mix. Part of achieving success through marketing is realizing that everything about your operation that touches the customer — within your four walls and out on the street — is marketing.

Numerous methods are available to help you extend your marketing effort beyond the four walls of your store. You might choose to partake in a big media blitz — local television, newspaper, and radio advertising and the like, but the key element retailers have noted consistently as one of their most effective marketing techniques is the customer newsletter.

A Vision for Success

Newsletters come in all shapes and sizes — from single-sheet bag-stuffers distributed at the checkout, to slick multipage versions sent monthly through the mail, to up close-and-personal e-mail newsletters delivered right to the customer's desktop.

Regardless of how it arrives, the newsletter's purpose is to spread the news, stimulate sales, and keep in touch with customers. Yet, retailers often forget to include it as a line item on their marketing plan. In fact, at Kitchen Classics, "the newsletter is our main source of marketing," explained Muriel Hart of the Phoenix-based kitchenware store, who also relies a bit on local television advertising for marketing.

"You cannot find a better return on your investment for being able to let people know what is happening in your store than through a newsletter," agreed Deborah Miller, communications and Web manager for retailer A Southern Season in North Carolina.

All your marketing efforts — from advertising to in-store demos — must reflect your company's vision and the newsletter is no exception. The medium may differ from that of the radio ad or the POPs set up in your store, but its purpose should essentially be the same — to entice customers to partake in all that your store has to offer.

Most specialty retailers, kitchenware and specialty food alike, utilize customer newsletters as an extension of what the customer experiences while in the store. In essence, the newsletter is a way to inform and educate their customers, as well as a forum to provide a bit more information about products and services that are found within the store.

"The function of our newsletter is to teach our customers more about what we sell, why we sell it, and how to use it," said Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Mich. "We believe that the more our customers know about the food, the more they will want to buy it."

In addition to Zingerman's News, ZingTrain, the company's educational arm, has its own newsletter called On Track, as well as an employee newsletter that includes everything from 401k programs to schedule changes and new product information.

A Reflection of You

Bills, junk mail, bills, flyers, coupons, more bills . . . a newsletter? If a well thought-out and designed newsletter arrives with the typical mishmash of daily mail, bets are that the recipient will toss all other mail aside and quickly delve into its contents.

Because the newsletter is the "print portal" into your business, as Weinzweig calls it, it needs to effectively reflect the look and feel of your retail environment. The look of the store, its lighting, graphics, and even the staff attitude are depicted in Zingerman's News. There is no doubt a Zingerman's customer knows exactly who the newsletter is from when they receive it. But beyond the newsletter's look, its content and the way it presents content also reflect Zingerman's attitude.

"Graphics are really a big part of our look and feel," added Holly Firmin, who edits Zingerman's News. "The main thing that sets us apart is that we want to make it a fun and enjoyable experience, rather than an intimidating one. Our graphics and illustrations allow us to convey that message loud and clear."

At A Southern Season, the newsletter format has changed with the times. The main customer newsletter called Well-Seasoned is now e-mailed to a growing subscriber list. Originally a printed and mailed newsletter, the e-mail version offers customers information ranging from store promotions and what's happening at the demo station to wine news and company profiles. The look of the e-mail newsletter incorporates some graphics, but Miller is careful not to be too graphic intensive, since some of the newsletter recipients' browsers may not be able to read html. The complete newsletter is on the retailer's Web site and does include enhanced graphics, such as photos and logos of companies whose products are highlighted. For instance, the current newsletter (at press time) informs readers that Elinor Hill-Courtney of Golden Whisk will visit the demo station. Included is a brief write-up about the company and its products, along with a photo of Elinor herself — wearing her crown, of course.

Whether chatty and informal or straightforward and businesslike, the presentation of the content, both visually and verbally, should evoke your store's personality. And, there's no rule stating that you can't change the focus of the newsletter — for example, moving from offering a list of cooking classes and demos to becoming more personable in describing new products or the chef who will conduct the cooking class. The same goes for the design. Find a look that works well for you, even if it requires a bit of tweaking. Zingerman's News has gone through four or five significant redesigns since its inception when it was printed on legal paper, then taken to a copy shop for photocopying. The first redesign included a larger format and a move to newsprint, "which is less costly" added Weinzweig. Finally, about five years ago, the layout size was again increased and the frequency changed from monthly to every other month. Find what's right for you and stick with it.

Including the Essentials

Who you are, where you are, how to reach you, and your company logo" are all essential elements to include in a newsletter, according to Weinzweig. Beyond that, he notes "effective representation of the look and feel of your business" is necessary. This vision for Zingerman's look and feel is written down, so that it pervades everything they do in the store, in the newsletter, and beyond.

As for the newsletter's content, it is essential to have a clear vision of your goal. "There is no right answer to this question," said Weinzweig. "However, if you have no long-term vision of what you're trying to accomplish, then you'll be hard pressed to create a successful newsletter."

Education is a big component of the experience at A Southern Season. Customers can meet vendors to discuss firsthand how products come to the shelf. Miller has transformed that education and also made it available in Well-Seasoned, with a purpose of giving customers added information they may not otherwise receive.

"Our e-mail newsletter is very intensive in its contents," explained Miller and includes in-depth product information, for example. "But most of the information from the e-mail version is then extracted and presented in our online calendar of events (found on the Web site), as well as a bag-stuffer newsletter placed in bags at the register. They all complement each other, but it is the e-mail newsletter that holds the most amount of information," she added.

A personal touch is very important in the newsletter, notes all three retailers. And Kitchen Classics adds that personal touch by "talking to each customer individually through our newsletter," explained Hart. It is important to speak to the customer rather than at the customer, she noted. "I've received so many newsletters which the sender used as a forum for their own egos, as opposed to talking to the customer. We want the newsletter to bring people into the store."

Hart has been putting together the company newsletter ever since they opened the store 14 years ago. Primarily, the newsletter is used to inform customers of the cooking class schedule, "but that is only the hook," she explains. "Only half of the newsletter is devoted to the cooking classes, the other half discusses promotional items, new items, their benefits, etc. It's all very educational. What we do is provide value to our customers," she added, noting how many customers bring the newsletters into the store with them with items that they are interested in circled.

Well-Seasoned speaks to the customer by always beginning with a feature, often focusing on a vendor who has an interesting story to tell and is coming to visit the store. However, depending on the month, that may change to include items, such as the origins or traditions of Father's Day or other in-store events. "For example, this month we promoted our 75th anniversary sale," said Miller.

Putting It All Together

An effective newsletter starts with planning. Hart does all the writing for the newsletter, then places it onto a disc, and takes it to the copy shop where they do the layout. Afterwards, it's off to a mailing house for labeling. The cost for Hart's monthly newsletter that reaches about 13,000 consumers is around $5,000. However, Hart notes that originally it didn't cost $5,000 — "when I did the labeling and mailing myself." There are ways to minimize your costs, but because the newsletter's popularity grew, Hart thought it was better to have someone else do the layout, printing, labeling, and mailing.

What about the return on her investment? "We always breathe a sigh of relief the week following the newsletter because our sales often double," said Hart. "That's ongoing proof of the value of the newsletter." She notes further proof of the success of the newsletter is when the customers call immediately upon receiving it to register for cooking classes that were promoted in the newsletter. "They know there is limited class space and with it being promoted in the newsletter, the class will quickly fill up."

Once you've completed the design and content portions of your newsletter, you might wonder to whom it should be sent. The newsletter is an obvious asset in reaching your current customer base, but can also be a wonderful merchandising vehicle to seek new ones as well. Increasing a newsletter subscriber base isn't as hard as you might think. You've probably captured your customer list from checks, charge cards, and the like.

One caveat. Be sure your customers request the newsletter. If distributed in the store, customers have the opportunity to decline; however, if you mail your newsletter to every name you have on a customer list, you run the risk that someone may be annoyed at receiving something unsolicited. The same is true with an e-mail newsletter. Encourage customers to share the e-mail newsletter with friends by asking current subscribers to forward the newsletter to friends. Be sure to include a way in which customers can sign up to receive the e-mail themselves. Miller captures additional newsletter subscribers through the A Southern Season Web site on which there are two areas where customers can click to view (and sign up for) the newsletter — the home page and within the online shopping area. Through all these types of efforts, as well as by providing great content, Miller's newsletter subscribers have grown from 300 to 3,600 in just the past three years.

One of the easiest ways to pump up your newsletter circulation is to ask every customer at the checkout to sign up. "We try to capture the name of every customer who comes into our store," said Hart about potential newsletter recipients. "We always ask if they would like to receive the newsletter and 99 percent say, 'Yes.'"

Building a newsletter subscriber base should be the least of your worries — your greatest challenge will be to create a captivating newsletter that makes customers head to your store in droves to partake in all you have to offer. But "no newsletter stands alone," Weinzweig stated emphatically. "It's only one element of an overall marketing effort. A great newsletter without great product, effective displays, service, selling, in-store signage, and so on can only be minimally effective."