Do you think that newsletters are a thing of the past? Well, I’m here to tell you you’re wrong!
Today, email marketing remains one of the most effective lead nurturing and customer loyalty strategies out there. And newsletters are one of its basic ingredients. Newsletters are just one of the tactics that make up an entire email campaign.
In this article, we’ll explain what modern newsletters consist of, how they can help you in your business, and the keys to creating the best newsletter.
Although the concept of a newsletter is quite simple at first glance, sometimes there can be confusion between newsletters, mailings, and email marketing in general. Let’s clear this up:
To delve deeper into this concept, let's look at some of the features that a good newsletter should have:
Sometimes it can be tempting to include everything and the kitchen sink into a newsletter: blog posts, product news, the best tweets of the month or week, but remember: the briefer the better.
Define clearly what the purpose and style of your newsletter will be, as well as a minimum and maximum number of content for each. That way, your readers will know what to expect.
Approximately 90% of queries on Google are informative, i.e. they seek to answer a general question. Well, the same principle applies to your newsletter: try to make 90% of the content informative, educational or entertainment, and limit the promos to the remaining 10%.
When we talk about newsletters, we’re not talking about the long text-based formats from the 90s. Modern newsletters use videos, images and links.
Video is the most consumed content on the Internet and offers endless possibilities for brands. According to a FreshMail study, emails with subjects like "video" or "watch this video" have higher opening ratios, meaning they can be excellent content for your newsletters.
In addition to regular videos, GIFs also have a place in emails and can help you connect with your audience, especially younger ones. And thanks to new formats like HTML5, you also have the possibility to include interactive elements.
However, keep in mind that not all devices and email clients support the video format. Don't let that stop you: instead of giving up on these contents, my advice is to look for an alternative (usually in the form of a static image) for users who can't view them correctly.
If a user has subscribed to your newsletters, then they are clearly interested in your brand, but that doesn't mean that they're going to open the emails. The next step is to create an attractive and recognizable subject line that motivates them to open the email.
In general, there are two opposing approaches to creating subjects for newsletters: always use the same one, or modify it each time based on the content. The first method generates familiarity for the user and can contribute to branding, but the second gives you more freedom to create truly eye-catching subject lines.
The key to success for a good newsletter is that it adds value to the subscribers life. To do this, you have to not only stand out in their inbox and among the competition, but also among the rest of your own marketing channels.
If your emails are simply a "reboot" of your blog content and social networks, you're not offering enough incentive to the user. Think about how you can make your newsletters truly original.
A newsletter has a lot in common with a magazine or newspaper, as it is an informative content piece issued regularly. And as such, it makes sense for you to take advantage of the current happenings to give it more hook.
Holidays, memes, major news stories, the arrival of summer, the latest trends... there are many ways to make your email relevant and make users want to open it.
A newsletter with a wide audience can be a great showcase for creators and influencers in your industry, so it can be a great idea to collaborate and collect other voices.
A good newsletter puts the user at the center of it... sometimes literally. To make your users identify with what you're saying, there's no better way than to give them a voice. Some ideas: Collect the best comments of the month, tell stories about how your customers are using your products, or answer frequently asked questions on Twitter.
The essential pre-step for someone to receive your newsletter is to register themselves in your database, usually through a form. Optimize it with A/B tests to see which questions and fields can help you get more subscribers.
If you want to know how your newsletter is working, you'll have to measure it! Perform regular checks to identify the ingredients in your ideal email and over time you'll begin to get better results with each submission.