E-Newsletters to Enhance Your Electronic Marketing

Combining a familiar tool with a new communication channel.

People like newsletters. Readers like financial newsletters because they are a "comfortable" way to learn more about how their financial institution can help them address their financial concerns. Financial institutions like newsletters because they are a means to communicate marketing messages on a recurring basis without resorting to a constant barrage of "sales pitches."

The role of electronic communications is changing the way financial institutions communicate and the way consumers handle their finances. Websites are becoming marketing tools and email is becoming the communication channel of choice for many. Newsletters are changing as well.

Making E-Newsletters Part of Your Marketing Efforts
Electronic marketing is more than just having a website that describes your products and services. Regardless of the communication channel, marketing still centers on the definition - Marketing is understanding the customer's needs and then responding with products that fill those needs. Electronic newsletters can meet that definition.

E-Marketing Goals		E-Marketing Success Depends on
Use your website to create a favorable impression.		Having new visitors come to your website.
Use your website to provide information on offerings.		Having all visitors return to your site more often.
Use your website to enhance sales of your products and services.		Demonstrating how your products can help visitors reach their financial goals.
Reinforce relationships with web visitors.

Components of a successful e-newsletter effort
Just like any other marketing effort, you must define your target, establish on your goals and decide what to communicate. Then you must determine how you are going to execute.

Who is the target?
This is relatively simple. You want to target an e-newsletter effort at those people who visit your website and others that you would like to have visit your site.

What to communicate - education and solutions.
The content and form of an e-newsletter should be chosen to reflect your goals. You want the content to be useful and informative so visitors receive value by visiting your site and return often.

Providing education
Internet users, by definition, are knowledge seekers using the Internet to learn and find answers. Providing financial educational content makes sense because it can address issues that are important to the visitor and because there are an almost unlimited number of topics to address.

Most individuals have only a few financial goals:
* Have a financially secure retirement.
* Fund higher educations for their children.
* Improve their current financial lifestyle.
* Manage their investments more wisely.
* Reduce their tax burden.
* Pass their wealth to future generations.
These are emotional, as well as financial, issues. If the financial education is presented in a useful and respectful manner, the readers will feel that the organization offering the education cares about their financial well-being and wants to help them reach their goals.

Providing solutions
Your e-newsletters should also include information on your products and services to demonstrate how they can be part of a financial solution for the reader. People want to know what you offer and why they should choose your organization instead of a competitor for their needs.

One of the most common reasons people visit financial institution websites is to review the rates being offered on loan and deposit products. Therefore, include selected rates to make it easy for the reader. You may also want to include links to other parts of your website.

E-newsletters should be graphically appealing, fast to download and easy to view. They should also be constructed to allow for easy navigation within the newsletter.

Financial Wisdom E-Newsletters

Financial Wisdom has created a series of prepackaged newsletters that can make the execution of an electronic newsletter program easy. The format of these e-newsletters is simple, flexible and straightforward.

A "front page" includes descriptions of the four educational articles with links to the articles in an "articles folder." You add a "top banner" with your name, logo and/or other graphics. The "front page" also enables you to add articles and links to other parts of your site.

You load the "front page" and article folder to your site. To encourage your web visitors to read the e-newsletter, you will probably want to add a link on your home page. Each month, you simple load the new "front page" and change the links.

Sample E-Newsletter Front Page (on your server)

ABC Financial E-Newsletter Dedicated to helping you reach your financial goals. Are you aware of the new benefits of IRAs? The new tax law has made a good idea even better. Planning for a financially secure retirement is even easier with the larger contribution limits coupled with the income tax savings you can enjoy. There is even a "make-up" provision to let you save even more. Does your estate plan reflect the new tax laws? The 2001 Tax Law made dramatic changes to the way estates are taxed. The rules change every year. Most experts believe that estate plans should be reviewed to make sure they adequately reflect the new rules. Building a financial cushion. Having a financial "reserve" can provide some financial peace of mind. While saving is not always easy, here are five simple practices that can make the process less difficult. New tax advantaged college funding opportunities. The 2001 Tax Act made it easier to save taxes while saving more for a child's (or grandchild's) college education. If a college education in the future for someone in your family, you need to understand the new opportunities. ABC Financial Featured Product ABC Financial News Links Deposit Rates    CD Rates    Loan Rates    Contact Us    ABC Financial Home

This format was designed to be simple and flexible. Choose the name you want and add your own banner and logo. You decide what product(s), if any to feature and any news you want to communicate. Changing the links at the bottom of the e-newsletter is easy.

The Financial Wisdom E-newsletter service also includes summaries of each issue that you could use as outgoing emails. These summaries provide the same description of each article and would offer links to the articles, the e-newsletter "front page," or other parts of your site. You may want to include links to your deposit, CD or loan rate pages to make it easy for the reader.

Many organizations are considering how email can become part of their marketing efforts, yet few have complete and accurate email addresses. Offering a "subscription" to your e-newsletter could be a way to solicit addresses and begin the process of adding email to your marketing efforts.
Twelve prepackaged e-newsletters are included in the Financial Wisdom Library of Content service. The service includes 12 "front pages" and a folder with the 48 corresponding articles.

Financial Wisdom E-Newsletter Content Calendar

Month	Article 1	Article 2	Article 3	Article 4	Featured Product	News
1	New IRA Benefits	New Estate Tax Laws	Building a Financial Foundation	New College Funding Opportunities	To be determined	To be determined
2	Developing a Financial Strategy	Financial Market Indicators	Preventing Credit Identity Theft	FAQ About the New Tax Law	To be determined	To be determined
3	Developing a Wise Borrowing Strategy	Handling Retirement Plan Distributions	Using $10,000 Annual Gifts	Investing in Mutual Funds	To be determined	To be determined
4	Asset Allocation	Understanding Auto Insurance	Before Buying Your First Home	Direct Deposit of Payroll Checks	To be determined	To be determined
5	Custodial Accounts for Children	Investment Portfolio Diversification	Umbrella Insurance Policies	Tips for Organizing Important Papers	To be determined	To be determined
6	Home Equity Loans	Disability Insurance	Reducing Your Debt Burdens	Preparing a Personal Balance Sheet	To be determined	To be determined
7	Laddering Maturities of CDs	The Importance of the Federal Reserve	Accumulating a Down Payment on a Home	Dollar Cost Averaging When Buying Mutual Funds	To be determined	To be determined
8	Taking Money Out of Your IRA	Evaluating Credit Cards	Understanding Life Insurance	Annual Financial Physical	To be determined	To be determined
9	Saving Early for Financial Events	Long Term Care Insurance	Estate Planning is More Than Minimizing Taxes	How Long Will My Money Last	To be determined	To be determined
10	Preparing a Household Budget	Tips for First Time Credit Card Users	Revocable Living Trusts	Mistake - Holding Savings Bonds After Interest Has Stopped	To be determined	To be determined
11	Charitable Contributions of Appreciated Stock	Managing Your Finances in Volatile Times	Debit Cards	Comparing Taxable and Tax-Free Bonds	To be determined	To be determined
12	Review Your Social Security Record	Year Round Tax Savings Strategies	Take Advantage of Your 401(k) Plan	Interest Rate Risk	To be determined	To be determined

You may decide to change the articles and use others from the Library of Content. The choice is yours. With this service, you can also modify the articles as you wish. You may want to include references or links to other parts of your website that relate to the article.

Financial Wisdom Library of Content

These Financial Wisdom E-Newsletters are included with an annual subscription to the Financial Wisdom Library of Content. This educational content service provides financial educational articles for use on websites, in newsletters and other marketing activities. The initial Library contains over 150 useful articles and is updated quarterly with new articles and updates to existing articles.

Along with the main Library and E-newsletters, the service includes a series of Financial Ideas of the Month. These articles were selected and formatted with a summary to be used on a home page with a link to the full article that connects the reader's needs with the institutions products and services.

The Main Library
The main part of the Library of Content is organized into eight categories corresponding to the important issues facing today's financial services consumer.

Article Categories

General Financial	Retirement
Home and Residence	Income Tax and Estate Planning
Insurance	Issues Facing Parents
Investing	Small Business Articles

As an annual subscriber, you use the articles as you wish. Use the articles that meet your needs and then edit, modify or change them to fit your desires. Incorporate them into your product web pages. Create an online library of resource articles. Add an educational aspect to your newsletters. You may even want to use them in the press.

Cost
The Financial Library of Content was created to be a flexible and complete source of financial educational content for your marketing efforts. The service includes the Main Library, E-Newsletters and the Financial Ideas of the Month. An annual subscription costs $5000 and includes an initial CD with the complete Library of Content and quarterly updates.

Summary
Financial educational content can be a powerful part of your website and your total electronic marketing efforts. By positioning educational content at the intersection of the bank's objectives and web visitor's objectives, your institution and your website visitors can reach their financial goals.

Financial Wisdom Marketing Services, Inc.
42 Sherwood Terrace, Suite 6
Lake Bluff, IL 60044