Newsletter vs Blog. Which one is most important for your creative business?
You’ve probably heard that your business needs an email newsletter and you may have even been told that you should write blog posts to keep your website up to date. They are both excellent forms of creative content to use in your writing career, art business, or other creative profession.
But do you really need both? Or Either?
And what should you write about in each one?
It took me years to track down an acceptable answer to this question, and I am so excited to share it with you!
Today, we are going to talk about the differences in your creative content and how to use your email newsletter vs blog to their fullest potential to keep your audience engaged.
What is the difference between an email newsletter vs blog post?
Both forms of creative content should reach your audience and provide value. But what is the difference?
Your Newsletter
Your email newsletter is one of the most powerful forms of content you have. Why? Because you use it to communicate with your email list.
Your email list has the potential to be the most valuable asset in your business. It takes years to grow a substantial and engaged email list, but once you have, it can help your business thrive, even when times are hard.
Your email newsletter gives you direct access to your audience. Social media is flashy and attractive, but algorithms control your communication. If the algorithm doesn’t think that your content is engaging enough, it won’t show that content to all of your followers.
If you want to learn more about connecting with your audience on social media check out my Quick Guide to Social Media Platforms and my post on How To Post Consistently on Social Media.
Your emails, however, are not controlled by someone else’s algorithm. You can send them as often or as little as you want and they will go out to everyone who has opted into your list.
Of course, I recommend you follow the best practices for engaging with your audience no matter how you communicate with them.
Your newsletter is important because sending out updates about your business reminds your audience that you are still around. It also gives you the opportunity to talk to them about new features, products, and sales you have coming up.
I recommend that every business owner put effort into growing and maintaining an active email list.
If you’re still on the fence about whether or not you need to focus on email marketing, check out my post What Is The Big Deal About Email Lists?
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Your Blog
Your blog can also be a powerful asset to your business, but it’s not as important as your email list. Your blog is where you will educate potential customers and offer them free value.
This is also where you can add generic product updates and information about your company. Your blog helps you earn potential buyer’s trust.
Blog posts also offer extra content for search engines to log and drive traffic to. If you optimize your blog posts using SEO strategies, you can bring in free traffic to your website and convert customers at a higher rate.
Blogging is a complicated business strategy, and it’s not necessary for every business. However, it can be an excellent way to build trust with your audience and provide value without a “catch”.
How do you know if you need a blog for your business? Ask yourself these questions:
- Would your business benefit from clarification of any kind?
- Would you like your business to be more easily searchable on google?
- Would you like to attract more leads without paying for ads?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then writing blog posts might be a good idea for your business.
Your Newsletter vs Blog
The difference between your email newsletter content and your blog post content comes down to purpose. You can write similar content in each one, but your tone and objective should be different.
Your blog is the place where you post generic content that is optimized for search results.
Your email newsletter is where you have a conversation with your audience.
You can also look at it another way: Your blog brings in new potential customers, and your email newsletters give them a reason to stay.
Both forms of creative content can (and should) answer customer questions and help them solve problems, but they do so in very different ways.
If you choose to use both in your business, the content of each should complement one another.
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How Your Newsletter and Blog Posts Work Together
Your business blog can be an excellent assistant to your email list. Blog posts can answer frequently asked questions, educate consumers on the problems they are facing, and keep customers updated on important things going on with the business.
Your goal as you blog for your business should be to gain the trust of potential customers and funnel them into your email list.
Once subscribed to your email newsletters, your customers should get a more in-depth look at the business you are building and get a feel for you as the owner.
Newsletters should let them know about new blog posts and new products. But they can also give subscribers extra tips and more in-depth information about your products and services.
Your newsletter is also an excellent place to let subscribers know about exclusive deals and insights that nonsubscribers do not get access to. This builds loyalty to your brand.
As you write content for your blog posts and email newsletters, keep the purposes of each in mind.
Conclusion:
Your newsletter and blog are both excellent forms of creative content to keep your audience informed and engaged. The biggest difference in your newsletter vs blog is the purpose behind them.
Your blog posts should inform and entice potential customers to find you and join your email list. Your newsletters should nurture those potential customers and help them trust you enough to purchase from you.
Use these forms of content correctly and your audience will love hearing from you!
What is your favorite thing to include in your email newsletter? Tell me about it in the comments!
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Thanks for clarifying the differences between them. However, I am not sure if I cheat or not, but I write an email newsletter each month (with any/all milestone and that lists all blog posts, etc.) and then I publish it as a blog post. I like to keep it as a chronological record of our progress. I do not promote this blog post, however, so the only folks who will find it are folks who are scouring the blog on their own… 💁🏾 But, yes, actual blog posts are promoted vigorously on all 35+ social media platforms. Thanks for enlightening me as to the purpose of each, however. 🙌🏾
I don’t think that’s cheating. If that is what works for you and it helps you get it done then I think that’s fantastic! Keep up the good work! 😀
This is such a great layout of the difference and benefits of each and how they work together. I will definitely reference this in the future. Thank you!
I’m so glad you found it helpful! I looked for a clear-cut answer to this for years, and when I finally figured out how simple it actually was, I had to share it 🙂
So true! Both are important. An email list is valuable and blog articles too. You can reach your subscriber better than on social media.
This was extremely helpful! I need to start working on a newsletter for my email list. I keep putting it off 😬 Thank you for sharing all of this helpful information!
Great post! Newsletters are so often overlooked at great nurture tools for small businesses!
Hi Amanda
Reading this article, reminded me of the good ol days when I was starting out and constantly ignored email lists for a long time.
It was probably one of the biggest mistakes but as they say its better late than never.
Thank for sharing this. It is a must read for beginners.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I know this was a question I had for a long time when I was starting out and I’m glad to hear it will be helpful to others. 😀
This was a really informative post. I’m still getting to grips with how to properly engage with my newsletter subscribers, because I’m just not used to that kind of conversation. One thing I would like to add to your post though, don’t add people to your newsletter subscribers without getting permission first. People really hate that