Ah, the dreaded newsletter. Either they never get opened or worse, they head directly to the spam folder. It seems every nearly every company, brand, or organization offers some type of email newsletter, whether or not it gets read is another story. So what can you do to set your newsletter apart from the thousands sent out daily?
The first question is to ask yourself whether your business really needs a newsletter. If you don’t have regular news or updates and you really only
plan to promote your products in it, then perhaps not. If, however, your company regularly is churning out new, worthwhile content and your clients like to stay abreast of changes in the industry then a newsletter might be the way to go.
Here are 5 easy ways to make your email newsletters effective:
- Don’t Sell—If people have chosen to receive your newsletter, they have invited you into their inbox. Don’t waste the opportunity by becoming a pushy salesman who only wants to talk about this deal or that deal.
- News, Advice & Tips—This is the stuff that people actually want to read and that you want to be able to provide. Offer up ideas on saving money for your industry, how to articles, and tips to make the most of whatever it is you have to offer.
- Bullet Points & Images—Most people do not have a long attention span when it comes to emails. The time spent reading one is usually less than a minute, so keep it short and sweet with bullet points and lots of eye-catching images.
- Make a Calendar—If you are going to send out a regular newsletter, pick a day and stick with it every week or month. Your readers will become used to receiving your newsletter on that day and your interactions will go up.
- Subscribe and Unsubscribe—When you encourage people to subscribe, let them know exactly what they can expect from your newsletter. Also make sure they know how often they’ll
be getting your emails. Lastly make it easy for them to unsubscribe if they’d like. They can always come back, but if you make it hard for them to unsubscribe they might click that spam button.
After you have sent a few newsletters, take a look at your metrics to see how successful they are. You’ll want to take note of the interactions and whether they forwarded your email. If there are certain aspects of the email that were more successful, duplicate them with new information.
Have questions about newsletters? Talk to us in the comments.
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download a free copy of the PR Checklist – a 24 point list of Press Release Dos and Don’ts here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/pr-checklist/