Best practices to adopt when writing your next newsletter

Email newsletters can be boring. We've all been there, scrolling through our inbox and hitting delete faster than you can say "unsubscribe."

Many new businesses find it difficult to build an email audience and even harder to keep them engaged. This may be because social media marketing, with trending reels, videos, and hashtags, seems to have displaced traditional email sending to a significant extent. Prospects find social media to be more engaging and less boring than conventional emails. But if you run a business in any corporate industry like retail, health, education, manufacturing, or personal service, you will find that email marketing is still a highly effective way to announce your business. 

Well-written newsletters can prove very invaluable in building and nurturing the attention of your subscribers. They can help with marketing and branding and reach more formal and executive audiences, which are unavailable on social media.

Let us go into detail about the best ways to create an email newsletter that people will actually want to read.

What is a newsletter?

A newsletter is simply an email sent to subscribers that shares useful content about your brand, like news, promotions, tips, and updates relating to your products that customers should be aware of.

Newsletters are usually a part of an overall marketing campaign to engage audiences, drive traffic, and convert leads. As such, they are sent at regular intervals to people who have subscribed to the mailing list.

A newsletter can take any form according to the purpose it is intended for. For instance, it could be either a content digest, an ebook, or announcements about upcoming features, promotions, and so on. What is important is that they provide value to your subscribers. Otherwise, you stand the risk of losing them, or at least their attention, for the time being.

Why is writing newsletters important?

As stated above, newsletters are a great, inexpensive way to keep your email audience engaged and informed. They can really boost your business's visibility if they are curated and sent out correctly.

With about 20 lines of text, you have the opportunity to provide genuine value to readers, be recognized as a knowledgeable industry leader, and be remembered whenever any one of your audience members considers making a purchase in your line of business

Statistics have proven the effectiveness of email marketing through newsletters. For example, every $1 spent on email marketing yields an average of $36. This makes email the most cost-effective marketing channel. 

Here are five reasons why newsletters are important:

• They help you build trust and credibility by sharing information about your brand, and your values. This way, subscribers can connect to you in a deeper way.

• Unlike social media, where algorithms control your post impressions, you can be sure that your newsletters will end up right where you sent them — in the inbox of your subscribers.

• Newsletters are cheap. They do not require the enormous promotion fees required by TV, radio, and social media ads.

• They are personal and have a more direct feel. Newsletters are more memorable than regular posts because they are conversational in tone rather than general.

• They convert into sales. Statista says that about 49% of consumers enjoy receiving promotional emails on a weekly basis from their favorite brands.

These only apply to properly written newsletters, so let's understand how to write the perfect email newsletters. 

How to write a newsletter by email

In writing your newsletters, you must decide what kind of content it will have, the schedule, and the overall campaign objective. A good way to begin is to review successful newsletters and use them as a template for yours.

Here are some best practices that should guide you in writing your newsletters:

1. keep it short and sweet

Short is sweet, and too much detail is boring. When a newsletter feels cluttered, chances are, it gets ignored altogether. Therefore it is important to keep these two factors in the design: concise copy and white space.

We know that some content requires length, but that's what your website is for. Nobody has time for an email novel. Let the email be a concise copy of the content on your website, with a link to access the full gist. But if you don’t have a website, we've got you covered. Click here to get one in a matter of seconds and for free from Workee. 

White space has a positive visual effect. It decongests the overall look of the letter and creates the illusion of having more space. Also, your newsletter should be sectioned properly and be easy to read. 

Typically, you write in short sentences for clarity. Use bullet points or numbered lists for long, punctuated sentences. The subject of the mail, which is the most important part, should be at the beginning, while the rest of the mail should be explanatory and focused on only the subject matter.

2. Craft a creative and compelling subject line

First, make sure your subject line is snappy and attention-grabbing. Stop with the "Newsletter #37" subject lines already. You will agree that email folders are usually topped with several unread messages. However, a catchy subject line can be the hook your readers need to open the mail and delve into the content you're sending them.

Using the same line over and again may help subscribers get familiar with you, but it might not invite them to keep checking out your new content. Your subject line is the point of attraction to make your subscribers open your emails promptly, just as you would want.

3. Include a clear call-to-action

Your newsletter must provide steps for your audience to follow. In fact, many newsletters have calls-to-action strewn around the body of the email in the form of compelling words, links, and key phrases. These provide the audience with cues as to what to do next.

However, these many CTAs are not equal in importance. There must be a clear, definitive call to action, usually at the end, which is the overall reason for the mail. For example, the CTA may urge readers to reserve a seat for an upcoming event, sign up for slash sales, or get a free ebook.

Remember that the major purpose of newsletters is to create engagement. Therefore, your content must require your readers to take some form of action. 

4. Personalize your content 

Emails are a marketing channel, but that does not mean that newsletters should be all promotional. In fact, you are more likely to convert your audience into loyal customers by consistently providing them with valuable, relevant, and timely information. On the other hand, too much promotion can turn them off.

It is best to send promotional newsletters when there are exciting new deals, products, or services.

Using a content calendar helps you rotate the content types for your newsletter across the various content pillars. Promotional and educational content are used more often, but inspiring and personal newsletters also go a long way in helping you connect with your audience. And don't forget to address your readers by name and tailor the content to their interests.

5. Conduct A/B Testing 

Accurate A/B testing can help businesses to craft newsletters that result in increased engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates.

There's probably no better way to understand your email audience and their preferences than through A/B tests.

A/B testing helps you with segmentation because your mailing list can span across different demographics, so you might need to create specific content for each group. It also helps you discover the perfect delivery schedule that works for your audience without being too intrusive or too silent.

Generally, A/B testing provides data for you to work with when curating your newsletter strategy.

6. Make it visually appealing

No one wants to stare at a wall of text for ten minutes. Throw in some eye-catching images and colors, or even a GIF or two, to keep the reader engaged. It is important to use only high-quality, royalty-free images for your newsletter. Content creators usually subscribe to stock photo libraries for standard images to improve the aesthetic quality of their newsletters. Images in a newsletter may include flyers for an upcoming event, such as a sale or launch, a book or magazine cover, or a web page cover image.

Remember that newsletters are part of an overall marketing strategy. So, you should use every opportunity to direct your audience to your Workee website for further information.

A best practice is to embed the link to your homepage on the banner of the email. You could also attach links to images, text, and buttons, directing visitors to your homepage or other relevant pages on your website.

Workee provides a free website builder for professionals at no cost. Visit our homepage to get yours.

Conclusion

Newsletters are more than just regular emails. Your business can really use them to share content that connects with your audience.

With interesting subject lines, clear calls to action, proper design, and other best practices listed above, your newsletter will be something your customers look forward to.

Excellent newsletters and a great website are the perfect combinations. Workee provides this, as well as other tools and services, to make your job more exciting

Workee is absolutely free, but there's an optional premium plan in case you decide to reach for more. Sign up and get started.