The Craft of Creating Powerful Newsletters
Make your time in your user's inbox count by creating email newsletters worth a read.
An email newsletter is a powerful tool when it comes to connecting with your audience. However, many email advertisements or newsletters don’t get opened or, worse, get sent straight to spam. By crafting an effective, genuine, and informative newsletter, you can boost your readership and open rate.
When to send
Nothing brings on a drop in subscribers like gratuitous, daily email notifications. Even the most proficient content creators limit how often they’re sending email updates or newsletters. A newsletter should be sent out monthly or quarterly to subscribers, with a round up of the best content or quality updates made to the site. This is your time to shout about what you’re proud of, rather than just sending out a list of links.
Curation is key
Subscribers have signed up for your email newsletter because they like your content or site enough to want more. You should treat your newsletters as an extension of that product, not as a means to an end. Too many newsletters read like a corporate run-through of what the user might have missed, which is often a one-way ticket to the junk folder.
An email newsletter should mirror the tone of your site. Give your users a look back at your favourite features published or updated in the last month. Try injecting a bit of your site’s personality into your email newsletters – it’s what your subscribers have told you they want!
Don’t hide the unsubscribe
Unsubscribe is often treated as a dirty word when it comes to email listservs. To alleviate this, some companies or websites attempt to deter unsubscribing by hiding the option or making it unnecessarily difficult to opt out. This often only leads to frustration for the user, which is a good way to get your emails marked as spam.
To avoid this, make the unsubscribe process as easy as possible. You can even send users to an exit survey that asks why they’re unsubscribing. Maybe you’re sending out too many emails, or they’re not finding the content as relevant as they believed it to be. You can use these results to hone your current newsletter format to make it more enticing for current subscribers to stay.
Consistent formatting
From subject line to signature, your site branding and voice should come through. Email automation services like MailChimp make it easy to create a newsletter template that features your branding and keeps your updates organised. If you keep the same format for each newsletter, your users will come to recognize where they can find their favourite content, whether that’s site updates and patches, downloadable content, or popular blogs.
Think of your user scrolling down your newsletter like a driver following a road map. Maybe there are notable roadside attractions they might be interested in, but they’re likely opening your email to look for something specific. Keep their destination in the same spot for each newsletter, and you’ll likely see your click-throughs hold steady or increase from dedicated readers.
Never underestimate the power of an effective newsletter. Your subscribers are your most dedicated audience, so treat their inbox well. For more tips on how to grow your audience, check out our other blog posts!