For a while, people thought that emails were outdated. However, research and case studies have proven them wrong. In fact, people spend one third of their office time checking their email, reading emails or sending them. This means that email is one of the best tools to market your business.
For your own business, whatever it may be, this signifies that you need to elevate your email marketing strategy to a new level. Think about your own experience with email newsletters. Who was impressive? What impressed you in their emails? When did they send that email? Why did you like that email specifically? What was your reaction and action upon that email? What is it about the newsletter that makes you happy to read it every time?
Newsletters have been around for a very long time. Once upon a time they were printed. Now they rely on email. They are important because they represent a clear and direct line of communication between you and your recipients which is your audience. They are a vital part of any marketing strategy. It helps you stay on top of the reader’s minds and have a continuous relationship with them.
There are several types of newsletters:
Goals for any newsletter is to be informative and meaningful. Fullfillment of these goals can be tracked through some common metrics like:
The most important one is the click through rate. With a high rate of people clicking through, you know that you are sharing something valuable and meaningful.
You might also need to include the number of clicks on your CTAs.
So, what does every newsletter need?
Every newsletter is different but some general guidelines include:
Finally, you could also use some clever newsletter marketing tactics.
This is one of the best ways to entice people to subscribe. A quirky name does the majority of the job of drawing people in and enticing them to read on. For instance, Moo, a company that creates business cards, flyers and other things has a newsletter called MOOsLetter. Funny, relevant and branded - what’s not to like?
The welcome email shows you that you have signed up for something fun and engaging. So, you should do the same. Match your branding with your newsletter name, make it fun and interesting.
Readers like having insight into the services or products you are offering them. However, they like proof even more. So, this is what you should give them. Feature a customer success story and entertain your readers.
A customer story will give your readers proof that you are valuable, but an employee feature is great because it shows your readers what’s behind the scenes. Include images, personal photos, family life and so on. This shows your audience that you are more than just an entity trying to market your services, but rather that you are relatable and human, a great company for employees.
The best way to show that you are relatable is to speak to your audience directly. Companies often do this and it works. One of the best examples is Robert Glazer and his agency, Acceleration Partners. He sends a weekly newsletter with inspirational stories, exercises, reminders, tips and tricks and so on. People love it because he is showing them how to grow in a positive, inspiring way. People are actually looking forward to it every friday.
If you want to teach your audience something, motivate them, speak to them in an educational way or anything similar, training is very valuable. They will love this information and they will enjoy reading your newsletter each time. You give them a strong reason to subscribe. You can share great webinars, important points to cover and learn about, blog posts with an immense amount of useful information and so on. This is a fun and useful way to build a strong presence with your newsletter and build authority as well.
This is one of the best ways to get your readers to open your blog post emails when they arrive and to get them to read more from your blog. You can use this tactic to amplify your blog audience and create more traffic. Instead of just putting a paragraph from your blog post as a teaser, you should ask your audience a question that will be answered in the blog post. This will make them think. And, as a plus, people can’t resist having their questions answered. This tactic drives a lot of audience to your blog and it helps you get more traffic.
Contest and giveaways are hard to resist. You can offer people deals, specials and coupons without the contest, but the contest adds an extra edge to it which makes it hard to resist for most people. Deals, coupons and gifts can be great rewards, and your readers will be more likely to actually use them. You can promote your social media contests and giveaways or you can create an email contest or a giveaway. Both are equally great at winning you a ton of audience and more subscriptions.
Newsletters are still a great way to communicate with your audience, especially if you do so creatively and in a fun way. People love to engage with brands that have personality, that understand good humor and know how to entertain them. So, be one of those brands and help your audience love your brand even more.
