How to Create a Newsletter People Will Actually Read

Everyone is creating newsletters these days. Marketers have realized that it pays off to give their customers something in return for their time and money, so newsletters have become increasingly popular.

These newsletters often (well, actually the marketers behind the newsletters) offer free e-books, coupons, sales deals, infographics, or blog posts, and only those who have subscribed can access them. They are delivered to subscriber inboxes so they can, in a way, allow them to keep in touch with their favorite brands.

However, just sending a newsletter is not enough. You should ensure that you have created an interesting newsletter and that you are also offering something of value to your customers and subscribers. Otherwise, they might unsubscribe and not visit your site anymore.

That is why you should set objectives before sending out emails. Meaning, you should know what is it that you want to achieve with the emails, e.g. increase conversions, acquire and track new leads, or create a conversation with your readers.

Therefore, you should spend some time planning and brainstorming how to create a newsletter that your customers and subscribers will actually read.

But before you do all of this, gather some data and do some research to see if you really need a newsletter. Take a look at your industry, your competitors, and your goals to see if they line up with newsletters and their purpose. If your answer is yes, then keep reading!

How to create an interesting newsletter?

To help you make an interesting newsletter, here are some very useful tips.

Make the newsletter personal and constant

Make sure you provide your customers only with newsletters and ideas that are customized and consistent with their interests and needs. Also, keep the ideas fresh and new, but focused.

Keep the newsletter brief

Be concise. Give them just enough text to make them interested and want to look for more info either on your website or your social media accounts where you can build a relationship with them.

Have a compelling subject line

Make sure you let them know in the subject line what the email is about. Using a catchy and interesting subject line will make your readers more likely to open and read the email. Your lines should include emotions such as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), curiosity, or even humor.

Don’t worry about SEO

Your newsletter could be your chance to have an honest conversation with your readers, which is something they will truly appreciate. So leave the SEO rules and guidelines for your website and not your newsletters.

Use CTAs

Include calls to action and make them known so they can motivate the readers to click if they want to subscribe/buy/add the product or service you are offering.

Remember to go niche

Remember you do not need a large audience for a newsletter. You need a small, but a right group of those interested in the newsletter.

Sending to small audiences can be great for small businesses since many email marketing software solutions offer free services for smaller customer databases (such as MailChimp that offer free services for up to 2000 contacts or Benchmark Emails that give you 1,400 free emails per month to up to 2000 subscribers).

Include informative content

Having informative content is key even when it comes to newsletters, so here are some tips on how to create it. Enrich the newsletter with blog posts, tips, tactics, how-to tutorials, industry news, major events, interesting facts, reviews, company news, webinars, or testimonials.

These will most likely help your audience see that you run a serious business with credibility in the industry and that they should take you seriously.

Lose the sales hype

Inform your readers about sales, but do not be too pushy. This is not only tacky but will also most likely cause you to lose most of your readers.

Let your readers easily opt-out

If opting-out is hard to do, your readers will find it very annoying. Instead, let them go easily. That way you avoid angering them and causing them to never come back. Also, you remove the possibility of them adding your email address to their spam list.

Have a cool design

Having a cool design is a great way of standing out from the rest. Besides that, you need to make the design responsive to any device. Also, you should use company branding or logo so the readers can identify your newsletters quickly.

You can also include images and videos in the design in order to make a lasting impact on your reader. However, don’t make it too much, a simple, but elegant design will be enough.

Why You Should Care About Newsletter?

Often, marketers create newsletters to generate new leads and grow a large but engaged audience. To make sure your newsletters are efficient, they need to be related directly to the reader’s industry, preferred topics, and interests.

Remember to reduce the number of emails you send out. Many people have unsubscribed simply because they received too many newsletters in their inbox. That is why many marketers suggest keeping the amount at 2 emails a week, just enough to remind your readers you exist.

What’s Next? Look at the results

After you have been sending out newsletters for a while, it is a good time to analyze the results, check your goals and objectives to see how well you have been doing and what needs to change.

See what kind of emails had the most success, which emails generated the most clicks, etc. Ask yourself some questions so you can see how you can change your content to make it even more effective.

In Short

Email marketing and newsletters are an essential tool if a business wants to retain and attract customers.

Just remember, after you manage to get a person to subscribe to you, offer them content that is high in relevance and quality. Send emails on a regular basis (but not too often) and be personal in your communication with your readers.

And that is all we have for you today. Thanks for reading and good luck!