Effective advertising almost always includes a robust email marketing strategy, regardless of the type of business. Emails are inexpensive to produce, yet they reach a broad audience efficiently. Email is an excellent way to communicate your latest company developments, announce limited-time offers or share blog content.
Email newsletters are a popular marketing tool that provides a “one-stop-shop” approach to increasing engagement and conversion. Below, we explain the benefits of email newsletters and offer a step-by-step guide to creating a campaign that gets results.
What is an email newsletter?
An email newsletter is a regularly sent, interactive communication designed to nurture contacts and communicate with customers. It’s a way to engage your email subscribers and share new, exciting and helpful information.
Email newsletters should inform people about products and services in a fun, accessible way. The goal is to provide value to recipients by offering relevant information and deals.
Avoid overly “salesy” newsletters that may alienate your audience. Instead, put yourself in your customers’ shoes: What would you want to know about your company or industry? For instance, an electronics retailer might share a guide on the latest smart home trends rather than just a list of discounted items. This type of content establishes authority and encourages readers to read future newsletters.
Email newsletters are typically sent as
email blasts, also called broadcast emails, bulk emails or mass emails. They’re stand-alone messages sent to a significant portion of your email list.
How to create an email newsletter
Crafting an engaging and informative email newsletter doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these steps to create and send a newsletter that resonates with your audience.
1. Choose an email marketing service.
The best email marketing services provide one-stop-shop solutions that are ideal for businesses of all sizes. The software is typically easy to learn and use, and it usually provides several templates to help you customize your newsletter. Such platforms also integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with drafting copy, designing layouts and analyzing subscriber data.
2. Curate a contact list.
You’ll send your newsletters to your opt-in email subscriber list. (Opt-in email marketing means users have consented to receive communications from you.) There are many creative ways to grow your email list, such as hosting contests and offering helpful, downloadable information. However, you should avoid buying an email list, as purchased lists often contain outdated information and spam traps.
3. Segment your list.
A robust subscriber list is a great start, but it’s crucial to understand your subscribers. Market segmentation is the act of grouping contacts based on specific criteria, such as demographics, purchase history or self-identified interests. While some general updates apply to everyone, segmented campaigns often get higher click-through rates because the content is relevant to that specific group.
4. Set your newsletter objectives.
You must understand your newsletter’s goals. Do you want recipients to visit a specific webpage? Do you want them to buy a product? Do you want them to come to an event? What metrics will serve as your key performance indicators (KPIs)? Outlining what you want to achieve with your newsletter before designing it can streamline the process and boost the effectiveness of your messaging.
5. Plan your newsletter’s content.
If you’re starting your newsletter from scratch, consider setting up regular features that will appear in subsequent newsletters, such as a featured blog, a quiz or the latest industry news. Include plenty of links to your website and social media accounts so recipients have multiple opportunities to engage and interact. Strong calls to action within linked buttons or boxes and compelling images also bode well for engagement.
6. Fine-tune your newsletter’s content.
Each newsletter should be carefully crafted. Jeff Bearden, co-founder of At Large PR, suggested paying particular attention to your subject line. “Everyone gets tons of emails sent to their inboxes on a daily basis, so to help make sure your newsletter gets read, make sure to come up with a catchy subject line,” Bearden advised.
The newsletter length can vary, but avoid overwhelming your readers. “Keep the content relatively brief, under or around 500 words,” Bearden recommended. “Paragraphs should be short and digestible, and it’s great to include images, graphics or photos.”
7. Schedule your send.
Timing plays a vital role in open rates. While various theories abound, many experts advise sending email communications during the early hours of a traditional workday, between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. In addition, Tuesdays and Thursdays have been identified as top-performing weekdays. However, the rise of remote work has shifted these norms; it is essential to review your own analytics to see when your specific audience is most active.
8. Determine your send frequency.
Bearden emphasized that consistency is key when it comes to email newsletter frequency. “If you have the resources and content to keep up with a weekly schedule, that can be a great way to maintain engagement,” Bearden noted. “If you can only manage a monthly schedule, there are upsides to that approach as well — consumers won’t feel overloaded by your content. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that it’s consistent.”
9. Analyze the results.
Email newsletters provide essential metrics that you should evaluate carefully to determine successes and identify areas for improvement. Which parts of the newsletter did consumers click the most? Were there email deliverability issues? Which of your segments engaged the least? Your results should influence future campaign planning.
Why do businesses send email newsletters?
An email newsletter strategy has numerous benefits, including the following:
- Email newsletters maintain relevancy: Consistent communication helps companies stay relevant and top of mind with their subscribers.
- Email newsletters build rapport: Email newsletters help brands build rapport with subscribers by delivering helpful content.
- Email newsletters boost website traffic: Email newsletters are an excellent way to boost website traffic via embedded links to your web content.
- Email newsletters can increase sales: Email newsletters engage interested parties and can help increase sales.
- Email newsletters are inexpensive: Email newsletters cost relatively little to produce, involving only labor costs and a subscription fee for an email marketing service. That makes them less expensive than many other advertising methods, such as print ads and pay-per-click advertising.
- Email newsletters reach your target audience: Many people check their email inboxes frequently throughout the day. With this level of attention, you have a higher chance of engaging with your target audience than you do with other advertising methods.
- Email newsletters provide valuable metrics: Email newsletters generate measurable analytics for digital marketing teams. Your email open rate and click-through rate (CTR) are significant KPIs that offer insight into how subscribers interact with your content. You can use these insights to tweak your newsletter and reduce your email bounce rate. These email analytics are powerful tools that should be reviewed regularly to help you increase conversions.
Email newsletter best practices
With so many companies sending email newsletters, it can be challenging to stand out. Here are some email marketing best practices to apply to your newsletters to help you maximize your results.
Create a landing page.
Kristie Plantinga, founder of Place Digital, suggested having a dedicated page on your website where visitors can opt in to receive communications from you.
“Be sure to include clear calls to action that direct your reader to a landing page if they’re looking for more information,” Plantinga said. This tactic will help increase your subscriber base and prevent spam designations. You can also use social media to grow your email list by sharing your newsletter landing page on your social accounts. Implement SEO strategies to drive more traffic to your site and increase your newsletter’s audience.
Keep it simple and well structured.
Use email newsletters to share updates and nurture your contacts. However, don’t overload recipients with too much information, no matter how pertinent it is. A longer message may rub recipients the wrong way, or they may just ignore it. “Create an email structure that is easy to read,” Plantinga recommended. “Well-structured emails can keep your reader engaged.”
Personalize your emails.
Plantinga emphasized the importance of personalization. “Personalize emails to customers using merge tags,” Plantinga advised. “Emails with personalized subject lines are 26 percent more likely to be opened.”
Format your newsletter for multiple devices.
Many recipients will receive your newsletter on a mobile device. As you design your newsletter, use one-column templates to ensure it’s easy to scroll through on each type of device. Always preview your newsletter in various device modes to see how it will look on a phone versus a desktop computer. (Most email marketing services allow you to toggle between device views.)
Use a strong subject line.
First impressions matter. Your newsletter’s subject line is your one chance to convince the recipient that your email is worth opening. Keep your subject lines short — ideally between five and eight words — but ensure they convey what your newsletter is about. Consider adding the contact’s first name to the subject line. Testing subject lines can help you gauge your audience’s preferences.
Be consistent.
Commit to sending your email newsletter on a regular schedule. Sporadic communications will confuse subscribers and may trigger spam filters. You don’t want to bombard your audience with communications, either. Send your newsletter at least once per month but not more than once per week. Stick to the same format so your contacts know what to expect.
Don’t act like a spammer.
Newsletters are meant to encourage engagement and conversions. Unfortunately, missteps can lead recipients (or their email service providers) to assume your friendly communication is yet another spam message. Avoid spam trigger phrases such as “apply now” and “buy direct.” Instead, use language that’s relevant to your industry and your audience’s interests.
Carefully curate your content.
Sara Jensen, principal at Brighter Messaging, noted that appropriate content will vary by industry and audience. “Content in a newsletter will vary greatly depending on your industry and expertise,” Jensen said. “Focus on content that provides value to your list.”
Plantinga recommended including employee profiles, information about awards and accolades, holiday hours and industry-specific tips.
Your industry may impact your email open rate. For example, business and finance businesses average about 31 percent, nonprofits receive 40 percent and ecommerce has almost a 30 percent open rate, according to
Mailchimp.
The best software for email newsletters
Although it’s possible to create your email newsletter with HTML each time, using an email marketing platform is far easier and more efficient. These software platforms eliminate coding, help you organize your contacts, and give you easy access to your email KPIs.
These are some of the best email marketing software platforms we’ve researched.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an excellent choice if you have a relatively small email list and have never created an email newsletter. The vendor offers a free service that supports 500 contacts and 1,000 sends per month (with a daily limit of 500 sends). It includes basic email newsletter templates that can be customized by dragging and dropping images and text. Higher-level paid plans provide additional capabilities and features.
Email personalization can boost your open rates. Most email marketing platforms allow you to insert personalized content anywhere in the message.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact has robust features and an easy-to-use interface. Although it isn’t free, it has tiered plans starting around $12 per month and various email newsletter templates. You can also access an extensive image library, list-building tools and automation functions to ensure your email newsletters go out consistently. The platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) tool can help you write newsletter content with just a few keywords, thereby saving you time. Read our Constant Contact review to learn more.
Benchmark
Benchmark has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop email editor, an HTML code editor and free images for your newsletter. You can edit images within text blocks with custom width adjustment and text wrap. Benchmark’s Smart Content AI helps you write new content from scratch or repurpose blog posts or other content for inclusion in your newsletter. The platform offers a free plan that allows for 2,500 emails per month. Read our Benchmark review for more information.
iContact
iContact has a free 30-day trial for new users, and then offers plans that start at $9 per month. It provides many professionally designed templates, a drag and drop editor and automations. With the premium plan, you can also access tools such as optimized send times, audience segmentation and engagement follow-ups.
Jennifer Dublino contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
