Many of us think that we know how to create click-bait newsletter, as we assume it very simple. However, think again about the number of bland newsletters that we see in our email’s inbox every day.
Following these best practices while sending email newsletters will guarantee that your subscribers will actually open and read the newsletters the moment it reaches their mailbox.
- Find out if you really need to write a newsletter
Ask yourself before you decide upon writing a newsletter whether you are doing so because you have relevant content and information to share with your audience or if you just want to post a newsletter because you want to follow what others are doing online. If your answer is affirmative for the first question, then proceed. However, make sure that you have set clear and measurable objectives before emailing your content. Do you want your newsletter to close more deals, drive more leads, or boost retention? Understanding what you want to achieve will definitely help you to focus your efforts, measure success and set goals for your newsletter email campaigns.
- Set expectations
Do your subscribers know what they are signing up for? Be absolutely clear to your audience as to what they will be receiving from you. Is it special discount coupons, an early view of your new products and services, inspirational blogs, or how-to information? Hence, make sure you are meeting your email recipient’s expectations so that you do not bombard them with contents that they do not want.
It is also wise to let your email recipients know how often they will hear from you. Once a month? Once a week? Establish a routine cadence with your subscribers and stick to your plan. Remember your subscribers shared their email addresses only because they trust your brand. Abusing that trust will soon enough end up all your emails in a spam folder or you will register a very high unsubscribe rate.
- Keep balanced content
Unless you have set a predefined expectation, a good thumb rule for any newsletter contents is 10% promotional and 90% educational. This allows room for a focused call to action, however, you must primarily make sure that a large majority of your content is meant to serve your customer first.
- Stick to your brand
Like other communication verbiages, your newsletter should also adhere to your brand’s standards for voice, tone, and design. Although you can also at times write just for fun since users who have subscribed to your newsletter are the ones who are most engaged with your brand and are so ready to hear something different from you occasionally.
- Think mobile first
It has been found in a research done by Litmus “54% of emails are now opened on a mobile device”. Moreover, the number is growing every day. So get your email templates optimized for mobile devices.
This means, keep your content limited to fit on a mobile screen. Make sure that your CTA buttons are large enough to tap. Additionally, limit the image size in your newsletters to avoid lagging load time.
- Make your newsletters exclusive
Remember your newsletter subscribers are likely to be some of your most engaging brand fans. Hence, reward your subscribers with exclusive and early access contents.
- Track, test, and refine your newsletter
Measure what is working well and what needs improvement by going back to the goals you defined to yourself at the beginning of your email campaign. If you find that, your goals are met, go ahead, and set a higher one. If not, then question yourself why and keep on testing and tweaking your newsletter’s images, templates, contents and subject line till it meets your goals.
It is beyond any doubt that newsletters are a great way for staying connected with your prospects, leads, and customers. So go ahead and start building an exceptional email journey with the help of your CRM right today.
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