How to Create an Effective E-Newsletter
A newsletter can be a valuable marketing resource for your business. People check their emails every day – at home, at work, from their phones, and on the go. Being able to communicate with both established and potential customers through an e-newsletter will keep you in their minds and makes it easy for them to share your newsletter with others who may be interested in your business.
In order to make your newsletter effective and worth your time and money to create, apply these tips to create an effective newsletter for your target audience.
Capture Their Attention With These Tips
The first thing your newsletter needs to do is to motivate people to open it! People are overwhelmed with too many emails every day, many of which are deleted without being opened. To encourage newsletter recipients to open your emails, consider how your newsletter will appear in their inbox.
Your email needs to have an attention-grabbing subject line. Subject lines, as implied by their name, are supposed to tell recipients what they will find within the body of the email. However, simply stating “February Newsletter”, or something mundane like “Please Read”, is often not enough to grab people’s attention. You want to use buzzwords like “amazing” or “sensational”. You can also use words and phrases that imply urgency to the email like “limited-time” or “urgent” will make people more curious.
Consider the fact that something as simple as the “From” line impacts whether someone opens an email. People are much more likely to open emails from “real people” instead of companies. If the emails come from come from you and not your company, your readers will feel like they are receiving a message from a human and not a corporate entity. You should strive to be as personal as possible!
Make Your Newsletter Worth Their Time
To not make sure your subject line doesn’t sound like clickbait, ensure the content of your newsletter is worth your readers’ time.
- What is the goal of your newsletter?
- Do you want to increase sales?
- Boost traffic to your website?
- Spread awareness about a new product or service?
- Are you recounting the accomplishments of your business?
Whatever it is, narrow down your goals to guide you through the writing process. By knowing what you want to say, you can avoid overloading your newsletter with unnecessary information.
Be sure your newsletter is not too long. Avoid long-winded introductions or anecdotes about your personal life. Instead, dive right into the subject of the newsletter. Be short and sweet! If you bury the true subject of your newsletter beneath too much personal information, your readers will click right out of the email.
Start your newsletter with a great first line to motivate readers to open your newsletter. Even on phones, email inboxes display at least a sentence or two from the body of the email. Write a direct opening statement such as, “Let’s get down to business.” Or pose a question like, “Why should you diversify your investments?” with the answer in the body of the newsletter. The opening line of your newsletter is often the deciding factor whether readers will continue, so get creative with it!
Making it Personal
Readers want to feel there is a real person they are communicating with, especially in their email inboxes. Your newsletter shouldn’t feel like an automated message drafted by an algorithm. No, it should feel like a person spreading awareness about what their business and services can do for others.
As stated earlier in this post, sending newsletters by email with your name on it rather than your business will allow people to feel they are in contact with a real person. That means the body of your newsletter should feel personal as well. You want the language in your newsletter to sound more like real conversation, not industry jargon, and this is accomplished through conscious word choice.
Refrain from loading your emails with too much information about your personal life. Simply put, readers should feel as though they are listening to you talk about your business, personal yet professional.
Offers They Can’t Refuse
Another way to motivate people to open your newsletters is to include special offers. Some businesses include discount codes or links to limited-time deals. If you’re trying to attract people to sign up for your newsletter, consider offering something for free when they provide their email address. This can be a downloadable item such as a tip sheet, a “how to” instruction page, or some other item of value.
Be Consistent About Sending Timely Newsletters
Make sure the release of your newsletter stays consistent. If your newsletter is monthly, set a schedule to release it at the same time every month. If your newsletter is weekly or biweekly, try not to miss a scheduled mailing. With consistency, readers maintain their interest in your newsletter.
You shouldn’t send out newsletters too often, either. If you release your newsletter off schedule or too often, readers will begin to feel like you are spamming their inbox. While some content can be “evergreen”, meaning it’s good to read throughout the year and over multiple years, your readers don’t want to read the same information over and over. Determine a reasonable schedule of new information and “evergreen” content that keeps readers engaged with every newsletter.
Good Content, Direct Message = Newsletters Read
Creating a direct, consistent, and rewarding newsletter will keep your customers engaged. You shouldn’t underestimate the power of email marketing in boosting revenue and increasing traffic to your website. It builds trust in your products or services and defines you as an industry expert when existing and potential clients need you. Even when your newsletter isn’t opened and read every time, your name and business are fresh in their minds. That’s an investment worth your time!
Custom Content For Your Newsletter
If you need custom content for your business or HOA newsletter, Expressly Written creates templates and writes fresh content for you. Most of our clients simply don’t have time to consistently write a newsletter and we’re happy to help. Email us today for a free, no-obligation, quote for your newsletter at [email protected].
Kim Ruiz has been writing professionally for over 25 years. This guest post was written by Logan M. Cole to highlight the passion behind good writing for our Expressly Written clients.