A study from Bluecore showed that 74% of baby boomers and 64% of millennials think email is the most personal marketing channel. With the level of personalization email offers compared to social media, content, or paid marketing, email marketing helps develop a direct connection with your audience.
Sending email newsletters to subscribers provides value and creates trust that may eventually lead to sales. This article covers the steps you should take to send engaging newsletters.
9 tips to start sending engaging newsletters
Before we begin, remember that scaling a newsletter takes time and consistent effort. Don't get demotivated and give up after a few editions. Stick to it, continue experimenting, and ensure you're following all the email marketing best practices.
Let's have a look at the nine tips that will make your newsletter engaging and interesting to your audience.
1. Set the goal for your newsletter
The first thing you need to do before you start writing your newsletter is to figure out why you are sending it. Let's have a look at some of the goals you can set for your newsletter:
- Sell products: Tell your subscribers about new products and services, bestselling items, products running out of stock, and any sales and offers to motivate them to buy your products.
- Educate: Provide educational content to your subscribers through your newsletter. If you're a cosmetics brand, send tutorials on how to use your products and create different looks.
- Nurture relationships: Connect with prospective buyers and existing customers to build long-term relationships by sharing behind-the-scenes snippets about your business, ever-green content that's valuable to them, or content that positions you as an authority and builds credibility in your niche.
- Get feedback: Use your newsletter to ask for customer feedback or conduct user research occasionally. Instead of using a no-reply email, use one where readers can respond directly to your communication.
You don't have to select only one goal, nor does your newsletter need to accomplish every goal. You can send an educational newsletter weekly and a promotional one once a month.
Elisa Doucette of Craft Your Content sends a weekly newsletter, The Writing Rundown, that goes out to 3K people with a 35%+ open rate. She contributes the success of the newsletter to thought leadership content and says, "We provide interesting information that our audience is not going to get anywhere else. And we make that information weird and fun!"
2. Define your audience
Take some time and think about who you're hoping to reach and how many audience segments you will create content for.
If you're a small business owner with the goal of increasing sales, your audience is people who are likely to buy from you or your previous customers. With a defined customer persona, you can understand who you're trying to reach and create content for this audience.
Also, segment your audience based on their interests, so you can personalize and customize your newsletters. One way to do so is by asking them what topics they are interested in when they sign up for your newsletter.
3. Select the right newsletter platform
Each newsletter platform provides some universal features along with its unique advantages and pricing.
As a small business owner, you might not need all the features, but it's worth considering a platform that provides you with major features from the get-go. Here are a few things to look out for when selecting a newsletter platform:
- Built-in templates with customizability: Customize the layout, colors, fonts, and images of your emails with drag-and-drop functionality.
- Segmentation: Divide your email subscribers into separate lists to deliver relevant and personalized content to specific groups.
- Personalization: Add subscriber details in the content of emails to show a personalized touch like a first name.
- Automation: Schedule newsletters to be sent at a specified time or automate a predetermined cadence, like welcome and thank you emails.
- Email testing: Send yourself test emails before delivering a newsletter to your entire list.
- A/B testing: Split emails to see which version performs better. You can test subject lines, pre-headers, CTA buttons, etc.
- Analytics: View and analyze metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribes for each newsletter you send.
Take note of other features like ease of use, pricing, and subscriber limits. DirectLync is an email marketing platform made specifically for small businesses. You can easily design emails and customize them from pre-built templates without having to write a line of code.
DirectLync also lets you create, send, and track your newsletters. Sign up for your free trial today.
4. Determine a schedule
You might find a slew of contradictory data online on how often you should send your newsletter and at what time and day.
Some reports suggest sending emails on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while others suggest the best time to send newsletters are Fridays and Saturdays.
There is no perfect timing or day, or frequency for sending newsletters. As you send newsletters, you can experiment with different times and days to see what works best for your particular audience.
Select the day(s) you want to send your newsletter and stick with it so your subscribers can look forward to an email from you every Thursday or Monday.
5. Customize your automated flow
When starting, you may completely forget about customizing your automated flow. But a warm welcome email when a person subscribes to your newsletter can make quite a lasting impression on them.
Thank new subscribers for signing up, detail what they can expect from the newsletter, and ask them to follow you on social media to keep updated as well.
Make sure each touch point with your subscribers feels authentic to your brand. Write your welcome and thank you emails in your brand voice.
6. Comply with privacy regulations
If you don't comply with privacy legislation and anti-spam guides, your business can get a penalty and fine. Also, reports of spam can result in your emails being marked as junk or having your email account disabled on various email marketing platforms.
Make sure to send emails to people who have specifically opted-in to receive emails from you. Don't buy email lists because people on those email lists have not opted in to receive your emails. Always provide your subscribers an option to unsubscribe from your emails.
Comply with privacy and anti-spam legislations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and CASL. Platforms like DirectLync make sure each email you send is compliant with these laws.
7. Keep track of the email metrics
Without analyzing your email metrics, you won't know what's working and what's popular with your audience. Here are a few metrics you need to measure — along with their average rates:
- Open rate: This shows you the percentage of people who open your newsletter — the average rate is 18%.
- Click-through rate: This tells you the percentage of subscribers who click on a link in your email newsletter — the average rate is 2.6%.
- Unsubscribe rate: This gives you the percentage of subscribers who opt out of receiving your email newsletter — the average rate is 0.1%.
8. Have a compelling subject line and content
Your subject line is the first thing subscribers read, making them decide whether to open your email or ignore it.
So, make it enticing — keep it short and snappy.
Don't forget to use the valuable real estate that is your pre-header text. Use it to elaborate on what your subject line promises.
Now comes the email content. Here are a few tips to make your content truly attention-grabbing:
- Start strong. Capture the emotions of the readers, so they remain invested till the end.
- Use simple language and keep your sentences short and concise.
- Keep your CTA button catchy and action-oriented.
- Make sure your newsletter is skimmable, and break up long chunks of text with headers and graphics.
Look at this simple email from Function of Beauty — instead of just sending a promo code, the email builds intrigue and promises a custom skincare regimen.
9. Promote your newsletter
Once you start a newsletter, you need to actively promote it to get more people interested in what you have to say.
Add a sign-up form for your newsletter on the homepage of your website. To get people to subscribe, consider incentivizing with the following strategies:
- A coupon code or a percentage discount in exchange for their email
- Exclusive content and discounts further down the road
- Entrance into a contest or giveaway
You can also promote your newsletter on your social media. You can add a link to your newsletter in your social accounts' bios. Share occasional sneak peeks of your newsletter's content, showing your followers what they are missing and asking them to sign up for similar content.
Birchbox, a beauty company, gives visitors an incentive of 15% off on their first purchase when they sign up.
Start sending newsletters your audience will actually read!
For a small business, newsletters are a powerful medium to build a dedicated audience, promote your products, and establish authority in an industry.
With the tips mentioned above, you are well on your way to creating a newsletter that your subscribers will engage with.
And if you are looking for a newsletter platform specifically built for small businesses, look no further than DirectLync. You can build forms, send emails, and schedule social media content — all on one platform. Sign up for your free trial today!
