Imagine you're at Alfredo's
And Alfredo's is your favourite Italian restaurant and you've been yearning all week for this lasagne.
You sit down, chomp a mouthful, then another mouthful. The flavours explode in your mouth. Then Alfredo steps in and takes the plate away before you get the third bite in. It's enough to make you choke, right? You were into the meal, but Alfredo says you have to get up from your table, and continue your meal in the next room.
Newsletters can make you boiling mad like that, you know…
You open the newsletter, you're reading about a topic that's of immense interest to you. You're about 150 words into the newsletter and suddenly you can't read any more. You have to click, go to the website to get the rest of the story. Yup, you still get your “meal”, but it's a bit of an inconvenience.
Or is it?
The purpose of a newsletter is to create engagement. And there are two distinct ways to create this engagement.
Method 1: Give the client the entire “meal”.
Method 2: Give the client the “aroma”.
Let's start with Method 1: The entire “meal”
At Psychotactics, if you've noticed, you get the entire article in your newsletter. This means you never have to click on anything. Once you've downloaded the newsletter, you can continue to read the article from start to finish. And the concept there is simple: You are sitting down to eat a meal, and yes, you need to enjoy it before being yanked all over the place.
However, that's only part of the engagement. Once you finish the meal, you're offered “dessert”. For “dessert” you have to get up and go to the other room.
In our case, the “dessert” may be a special free report. Or in most cases, we sell products, books or courses. So the form of engagement here is simple: Once the meal is done, you're allowed to create engagement by driving the client to another site. But of course, that's not the only way to engage the client. You can just give the client the “aroma” of the meal, instead.
Method 2: Give the client the “aroma”
The precise word for this method of engagement is called the “tease”. You create enough drama with your headline, and a couple of paragraphs. Then you've created just enough curiosity for the client to click to your website. Many blogs use this method of engagement because they want their readers to go to the blog, watch the video, read the article, and then comment.
So what they're generating is a ton of engagement. And of course the best way to create this engagement is to leave the reader in a state of intense curiosity, so much so that they're forced to click. Some blogs will use a controversy too, and that too will force the engagement. But it's all about the aroma, the aroma and nothing but the aroma. The main meal is consumed elsewhere.
And you don't have to choose between one or the other system
At our membership site at 5000bc, we don't send out complete newsletters. Instead, we send out just a teaser every week. That draws the members in, and they then read and discuss the issues in what we call “The Cave”. So yes, we'll use the “aroma” system, but the goal of the system is not to just create engagement, but to do so in a safe space.
“The Cave” is password-protected, vetted etc., so you don't have dolts just trying to impress. It also helps, because you get a discussion, opinion based on people who speak the same language. Many, if not most members have read The Brain Audit, they've done a course like the Article Writing Course or Copywriting Course. They understand the methodology and the philosophy.
You may not have your own “Cave”
So your blog or your Facebook group, or whatever you choose, will have to do. And for the most part it will do just fine. You create the “tease” and pull your clients to the space where you want to engage them. Or you can give them the entire article in the newsletter itself, and then use the “tease” to get them to see some product/service/course you're offering (or will offer in future).
Both systems of engagement work
And there's no “right” form of engagement. You just have to decide which one suits your business. However, if you don't have a “Cave”, then yes it would be a good idea to draw people to your blog or group, where they can interact. It's not the safest bet, but it's a lot better than no engagement at all.
The purpose of the newsletter is to create engagement
The clients are there to eat. They want to have a hearty meal. They don't resent paying for the meal if you're a great chef and you've given them an outstanding experience. So get into that kitchen and get that lasagne going.
You can use the aroma.
Or the entire meal.
Alfredo would do both, I'm sure!
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