Email newsletters are a great way to build trust and relationships. If they include promotional content, they’ll also grow revenue. The key is to make sure your subscribers actually read them.
Here are 5 tips for making sure your email newsletters get opened, read, and your readers take action:
1. Create Relevant Subject Lines
Most people go through their inbox at least once a day to remove irrelevant email. Today, however, there is just too much email and too little time. So, it's critical for your emails to have a subject line that makes people want to read more. People are looking for an excuse to delete your newsletter - don't give them one!
An example of a subject line NOT to use is "Our June Newsletter." Instead, use something that grabs attention like an interesting topic or headline from the newsletter, such as "Entrepreneurs Explain Their Secrets" or "Inside: Exclusive Interview with Oprah!" Make your readers want to open the email and read what’s inside.
2. Use HTML with Text Backup
Most people prefer to receive their newsletters in HTML, while text-only newsletters were common a few years ago. It’s still a good idea to have a text version as back up for the handful of recipients that cannot read email in HTML, or just prefer text.
3. Remember the Length and Frequency Ratio
The more frequent your newsletter, the shorter it should be.
People will happily open a short "Joke of the Day"; but almost no one wants to get something long every day. So, keep daily emails to a page or less and weekly ones 5-7 pages or less.
Bi-weekly and monthly newsletters can be a bit longer – but only if you have truly fascinating information to share, and be honest with yourself- will this information truly fascinating to my readers?
4. Make it Easy on the Eyes
Here are two easy tricks to make your email newsletters more visually appealing and more likely to be read:
- The format on your email should be simple and easy for a reader to scan. Don't overcrowd a page. See how it will look as you go along and create the content. While writing a newsletter, write it in the same format that will appear on recipient's screen.
- If your newsletter is a big long, add a hyperlinked table of contents at the top. On-screen readers don't want to work hard to find pieces of valuable information in your newsletter. Tell them up-front what will be in it so they can click or scroll quickly to the section of their choice.
Usability studies actually show that most people won't look beyond the first screen of information if there's not something immediately interesting to them. Give them a reason to scroll down!
5. Tone and Attitude
Every brand has its own tone and manner of conveying a message. Make your newsletter's tone both personal and casual.
People like to see a little humanity behind a company. Plus, they respond better to newsletters written by one particular person at a company who they can get to know over time through little personal comments in the emails.
Your best resource for research is your own email. Take a second look at your own inbox and go through the newsletters you receive. Are there some you automatically delete? Why? Which ones do you read? You'll be surprised at all the ideas you'll end up with, often from the most unlikely sources.
What is quality content? Quality content creates curiosity, captures imaginations, compels actions, describes possibilities, ignites new modes of thinking and challenges old ones.
So, how can a small business generate, not just run-of-the-mill content, but truly killer content? Check out this helpful eBook:
Tags: Email Marketing