(Warning: The following blog post has all kinds of French frou-frou words and phrases. Sorry. We just can’t help ourselves.)
The big news in online marketing these days is a little email newsletter with a distinctly French flavor. My Little Paris started as the brainchild of Fany Péchiodat, a hip Parisienne who was constantly hounded by her friends to spill her favorite spots in the City of Light. My Little Paris became the byproduct of those requests and is now an email newsletter with some 800,000-plus subscribers. In addition to giving readers a taste of joie de vivre, Péchiodat’s simple model might just inspire your email marketing, too.
The genius of My Little Paris lies in its simplicity. The daily newsletter gives readers one — that’s right, just one — tip. Whether it’s a great cafe or cheap museum or untapped fashion source, My Little Paris populates its readers’ inboxes with information, style and charming illustrations. One tip daily is a genius idea because, unlike most email newsletters, My Little Paris isn’t interested in bogging readers down with tons of facts or hard-selling techniques. Pamela Poole recently described it on the Huffington Post like this: “It’s the digital equivalent of one of those perfumed cards stuck between the pages of fashion magazines in my inbox every day. You know how you can’t resist taking a whiff? I will probably never have a pedicure in that rooftop garden with the killer view of the Eiffel Tower! But I took a moment to admire the artwork and project myself into the picture for a very quick mental getaway before moving on to the next — ordinary — email.”
My Little Paris undoubtedly has a fantastic topic with endless ideas to write about, but any business email newsletter can use an engaging narrative, great visuals and diverse content to keep followers and consumers happy. By using the platform of an email newsletter to inform and entertain rather than just sell, subscribers will actually open and read the darn things.
So, readers, you tell us: What gives a newsletter that “ooh la la” and what makes it just “blah?” Sound off in the comments section below! And if you’re looking for a great newsletter, check out ours here!
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