Email newsletters are one of our four email types you should be sending to your subscribers to help build trust and interest in your business, as well as encourage more sales.
Newsletters are a great way to inform and educate your reader about your business and show that you’re there to help with advice, tips and more. But competition for your reader’s attention is fierce and they’re getting tired of the same old stuff: in 2015, over 60% of consumers surveyed by the UK Direct Marketing Association said that marketing emails they received included nothing that was of interest to them.
With this in mind, it’s important you write your email newsletters so they get the results you want. Here are our top seven tips for doing just that.
1) Know what you’re aiming for
Your email marketing is like any other marketing you do for your business: it has to have a clear aim otherwise you won't know when you're doing it successfully. As mentioned, newsletters are a great way to educate and inform your audience, rather than give them the 'hard sell'. Bear this in mind when you think about what your aim for them might be.
For example, your aim might be to build trust in your business, give something extra to your readers, or develop deeper relationships with them – all of which will encourage repeat purchases. Or you might want to attract new customers through your newsletter. Whatever your aim is, keep it in mind as this will inform what you write about.
2) Stick to a schedule
Once you’ve established yourself as a provider of good quality content, make sure you keep it regular. Once you’ve worked out which days and times work best for your recipients, stick to those – people will expect your emails to come through on a weekly basis, or however often they’ve signed up for. Be consistent and build up trust and loyalty in your business.
3) Know your subscribers
All of us have received emails before where we weren't interested in the content, it didn't mean anything to us and so it went straight into the deleted folder or was never opened. To make sure this doesn't happen with your email newsletters, make sure you really know your subscribers.
That includes understanding what they're interested in, when they're most likely to read their emails, and whether they read their emails using a smartphone. The best way to know what works well for your readers is by reporting on when you send emails, what content you send, subject lines used, and which ones were most opened and clicked on. The more you do this, the more you will learn about your subscribers and when they’re most likely to respond best to your emails.
4) Don’t try and sell, inform and educate instead
There's a place for promotional and sales messages in email marketing – but your newsletter isn’t it. Instead, focus on giving your readers something useful which fits with your aim and their interests. This will make it more likely that they'll open your email and engage with it.
This could be hints and tips, a guide, a tutorial or even just an update on your business and what it means for them. It could be a selection of interesting advice from elsewhere or an article on your blog that's particularly helpful. Don't forget, you can also ask your subscribers what they'd like to read – just email them.
5) Keep it clear and simple
Just like with the information on your website, a good email newsletter should be clear and simple. There are lots of different ways to include content in your email and what works best will depend on your recipient. We’d recommend including a series of links to content with a short explanation of each to keep it short and snappy.
The language you use should also be clear and easy to understand – try not to use jargon which your reader won’t understand as they will give up reading it. And, don’t be afraid to inject a bit of personality.
6) Write a great subject line
The subject line of your email newsletter is the first thing a reader will see when they open their inbox and can be the difference between an email being read or being binned. Set aside plenty of time to write an attention-grabbing subject line; in some ways, this is just as important as what's in the email.
We've got a great article on writing the perfect email subject line right here.
7) Proof, edit and test your email
If there are spelling and grammatical errors in your email newsletter, it'll give readers the impression that you (and your business) are unfinished or unprofessional. Always ask someone else to take a look at it before sending, as often when you've been writing something for a while it can be harder to 'see' the errors.
Similarly, it's important to test your email newsletter to make sure it looks good, reads well and all the links are correct. Using email marketing providers such as MailChimp, you can send yourself a test email to check on your phone, tablet and desktop as the final step before sending it to your subscribers.
With these top seven tips for writing email newsletters that get results, you’ll feel more confident when it comes to crafting interesting, relevant and engaging emails for your customers.
For more advice on email marketing, read the following articles:
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