Email newsletters are an important tool for businesses because they provide a direct and personal way to connect with customers. Through a newsletter, businesses can share updates on new products or services, promotions and sales, company news, and other relevant information with subscribers. Email newsletters also allow businesses to segment their audience and tailor the content to specific groups of customers based on their interests and needs. Additionally, newsletters help keep the business top-of-mind with customers, leading to increased brand loyalty and repeat business. They also provide a cost-effective way to reach customers compared to traditional forms of advertising.
Emails are also useful for multiple use cases and can be really effective if you have a plan in place for the same. Some hygiene checks in building your newsletters can help you prepare for a long-term roadmap in keeping your brand relevant to your audience, leveraged through email marketing.
Here are some things for you to tick off to form a really strong strategy for emails.
Attention-grabbing subject line
Even before getting into the email, you need an extremely compelling and intriguing subject line that leads the user to open the email. Inboxes are flooded with newsletters from every other brand, creator and others. How does yours stand out and capture the user’s attention?
On-brand design and elements
Consistency is key, and keeping brand colours, fonts, and elements through every email and newsletter helps to build reliable credibility for the brand. Even using a simple colour tone or font can go a long way in building your brand long-term.
Designing the newsletter
Focus on layout, giving ample white space, making it easy on the eye and also legible to read. A badly designed layout can easily compel more users to unsubscribe.
Building the content
If you’ve zeroed in on a great subject line, as well as picked up a really pleasing layout to display your newsletter, you now need to tune into the most important bit - the body. A user opening an email on average spends only 12 seconds. This means you should pack in your content really tight, crisp and to the point that’s also relatable to them. With really good content, you have a higher chance of conversions and moving the user to take action.
The thing about CTAs
Strategically placed call-to-actions aid in gently nudging the user towards an action. These actions might include discounts, upgrades, expanding on a written piece, watching a video, booking a demo, and so on and so forth. CTAs are mostly found in the form of buttons, highlighted in a contrasting colour with a clear message on what the button could lead to. Interspersing CTAs with relevant content that flows into an engaging story could be the formula for a successful newsletter.
An unsubscribe button
Users need to exercise the power to opt out of email newsletters whenever they wish to. The downs of not having this button could lead to frustration with the brand, and much worse if that ends up on social media as a post. Allowing your users to consent to receive your emails is a hygiene check you just shouldn’t skip out on.
A/B testing
Divide your newsletter into at least 2 versions to get a clear data backing of what your user base reacts best to. This way, you can refine your content on the go and keep it very crisp with a deeper understanding of what your audience is looking for.
Images, gifs or videos?
While images and videos can really enhance newsletters visually and give them the oomph it needs, they can also add a lot of weight to the email causing a delay in loading. This could potentially lose the user who might exit the email and then not come back. So while the video could have been great content, we’ve lost the customer’s interest because of the time lag. Images still do the trick, but gifs are great on email since they’re super light and at the same time can be relatable as well.
Dark mode
With the popularity of dark mode growing to be a preference for so many users, you should ensure that your newsletters adapt to dark mode too. Another thing to keep in mind is to optimize for mobile too!
It’s really not rocket science to trigger successful emails to your users. Listen to their needs, what they’re looking for, and stitch it to your brand and put your best foot out there! You’ve got this, and we’ve got you.
Ready to fire your first email newsletter? We think you are!
See you in the next,
Team Fyno
