Writing a newsletter month after month is no easy task. It’s easy to get people to subscribe to your newsletter, but how can you stop them from unsubscribing? Here are five tips for writing a fabulous newsletter that your subscribers will look forward to receiving.
Check out this blog post I'm reading: Five tips for a fabulous newsletter Click To Tweet1. Tease your readers
Don’t give out too much information. It’s extremely off-putting to open a really long newsletter, and giving your readers all the information they need will dissuade them from clicking through to your website. Instead, be selective with the details you include. If you’re including more than one item in your newsletter, you probably won’t need more than a sentence for each topic; you can even experiment with half-finished sentences.
2. Offer something interesting
Whether it’s the chance to enter a contest, a free resources, exclusive discount codes or the beginning of some great tips, make sure you offer your reader something. The temptation is to push yourself, your business or your website, but being selfless is far more effective. If you are including a sales message, try not to make your newsletter too sales-focused.
3. Give subscribers options
If you’re working with a large number of products or subscribers, let them choose which areas they’re interested in, and send out different newsletters according to their interests. That way you can tailor your newsletters much more effectively and choose which groups you send them out to. Alternatively, you could divide your subscribers up yourself based on whether they are web designers, small business owners etc.
Always give your readers the option to sign up for plain text or HTML newsletters where possible. If your software doesn’t allow for this, choose plain text. Less tech-savvy readers may just assume there’s a problem with your email if they don’t know how to download images or are faced with an email consisting just of code.
4. Watch your language
The best newsletters to read are ones which are interesting. Funny is often the best option, but it’s also the hardest to pull off as well as being the most time-consuming to write.
Don’t be too formal, and make sure your tone is friendly and engaging. Talk directly to your readers using ‘you’ for best engagement, and include a call to action such as ‘Read more’, ‘Buy now’, ‘Contact us today for more information’ so they are clear what the next step is.
5. Track your newsletter stats
The most important part of sending out newsletters is monitoring how they are received. Professional email services will give you access to a wide range of details, including number of opens, time spent reading, click throughs and so on. This is essential when conducting tests to see how appealing your newsletters are, and also great further down the line when you’re fine-tuning elements.
You should always make a copy of the details of each newsletter you send out so you can work on improving future mailings.
What are your favourite tips for email newsletters? Let us know in the comments!
