5 Tips for Creating Effective Email Newsletter Campaigns

Marketing

Creating an effective newsletter campaign is more than just creating good content for your newsletter. From the subject line to formatting and everything in between, your audience is more likely to engage with your email newsletter if it appeals to them. We’ve compiled a list of 5 tips to ensure that your email newsletter stands out and keeps your readers engaged.

1. Use a relevant and catchy subject line

Your readers likely receive tons of email messages each week, many of them also newsletters competing for their attention. If your subject line does not grab their attention right away, your readers may delete your email without even reading it, or open it just to unsubscribe from future emails. A subject line like “Company News” is not likely to resonate with your reader and you’ll likely see low open rates. In fact, a subject line like that may even cause your newsletter email to bounce into their Spam folder. Instead, consider using humorous subject lines, lines with lists and numbers to intrigue readers, or creating a sense of mystery or urgency, depending on your company’s specific goals.

2. Make sure your content is pertinent and useful

Once you have drawn your readers in with a good subject line, you now need to keep them engaged! Keep in mind that your average reader will have a short attention span when they begin skimming your email. If your content and messages within the newsletter are useful and helpful for your audience, they will not only remain subscribed, but they will begin to look forward to your newsletters. Choose a few pertinent and helpful topics and offer the reader the ability to click through a link to your website or blog to find out more information on whatever topic you have touched on that interests them most.

3. Formatting is just as important as content

A good email newsletter campaign is both readable and appealing. Even if you have amazing content, if your reader cannot quickly and easily scan through that content to find what is most relevant to them, they’re unlikely to continue reading. Choose appealing images and keep the text relatively short. In fact, Constant Contact found that for the vast majority of industries, emails with three or fewer images and roughly 20 lines of text had the highest click-through rate from its emails subscribers! Remember, you can always encourage your readers to click through to your website or blog to learn more, so don’t feel like you need to include everything you want to say in the body of the newsletter itself. Also, don’t forget about mobile users. Choose a template that is readable on both computers and mobile devices to ensure your newsletter’s impact reaches everyone equally.

4. Be consistent

Pick the frequency with which you will be sending out your email newsletter, and then stick with it. If you tell your readers that you will be sending out a monthly (or weekly, daily, quarterly, etc.) newsletter, it is important that you be consistent. Your newsletter may be one of the first touch points that a reader has with your company, and it can set the stage for how they view your professionalism or how well you stick to your word. If you are creating a solid newsletter and they are looking forward to your next email, only to find that it does not arrive (or arrives late), they are likely to feel disappointed in your company. Sticking to the frequency you promise your readers shows them you are professional and care about delivering great content to them.

5. Provide an easy-to-find opt-out link

As much as it may pain you to know someone no longer wants to receive your content (we know – it’s a bummer, but don’t take it personally!), providing readers with an easily findable opt-out link where they can opt out completely or update their own email preferences is less likely to result in a “mark as spam” click instead, which can really hurt your newsletter’s delivery in the long-run. If many users are doing it, your emails will then be filtered as spam from email clients. Plus, you never know, your readers may come back when they are ready for their weekly emails again, but probably not if they had a hard time unsubscribing the first time around!

If you have some tried and true strategies you have implemented in your own email campaigns, we would love to hear your feedback! What has worked for you in your industry?