Part of what makes email such a powerful marketing channel is its incredible versatility. One day, you can send cart abandonment reminders to boost sales; the next, you can send discount announcement emails to promote your brand differently. The possibilities are almost endless.
One type of email marketing that’s easy to overlook is newsletters. Don’t be fooled, though. Newsletters can generate strong, measurable results for brands. If you aren’t already using email newsletter marketing, now’s the time to start.
What is email newsletter marketing?
Email newsletter marketing involves regularly sending email messages featuring your business’s latest news, updates, and tips. The newsletter should let readers know what’s been happening with your business or industry and what’s on the horizon. Think of it as a quick recap and preview to keep readers up to date.
You may be wondering, what’s the difference between email marketing and newsletter marketing? Unlike targeted email campaigns, newsletters typically go out to everyone on your email subscriber list. The information in the newsletter is general, so it should be relevant to all your subscribers.
Newsletters generally don’t drive direct sales, but they can still have a significant impact. Sending newsletters engages your target audience, builds stronger customer relationships, and enhances your brand’s credibility.
Key components of effective email newsletters
Newsletters are very customizable, depending on your industry, target audience, and marketing goals. Even so, effective email newsletters all contain the following key components — so make sure you include them!
A compelling subject line
Once you draft and send your newsletter, the first hurdle is getting readers to open the message. When deciding whether to open your newsletter, all they have to go on is your brand name, the subject line, and some preview text.
Does anyone open a message with a bland, boring subject line? Of course not! Why would they? On the other hand, an eye-catching, compelling subject line will make it almost impossible for recipients to resist opening the email.
Tease the message’s content or let readers know about the value inside. Just don’t be misleading. Using a subject line that misleads readers can lead to more spam complaints and hurt your campaign’s success.
Engaging content
Content reigns supreme in email newsletter marketing. Carefully decide what topics to cover and how much text to use in each section.
Ideally, your content should be scannable and engaging. Most recipients won’t read every word in the message, just the key points that stick out to them. Craft small, relevant sections with plenty of whitespace so your message isn’t visually overwhelming. Keep your newsletter length short enough that recipients can skim it.
Adding pictures or even videos can make your newsletters more interesting to readers. Just make sure all the newsletter components fit together nicely as part of a cohesive design.
A convincing call-to-action
Getting recipients to open and read your newsletter is great, but what next? For the best results, you need some readers to take the next step and engage with your message. That’s what the call to action (CTA) button is for.
Your CTA button prompts readers to click on a link and complete an action, such as making a purchase or reading an article. Getting readers to follow your call to action is how your newsletter can produce tangible benefits for your business.
Use strong action verbs like “buy,” “join, or “explore,” and play around with different button styles. The more convincing your call to action is, the greater your results from the newsletter.
Email newsletter examples and inspiration
No two email newsletters look exactly alike. You can get creative and try different styles until you find one that fits your brand perfectly. Use these real-world email newsletter examples as inspiration:
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Creating your own unique newsletter style
You can take inspiration from other newsletters and incorporate elements you like into your design, but make sure your design is still unique. Consider the key tenets of your brand identity. Incorporate recognizable brand elements like your logo, brand colors, and familiar fonts so readers will immediately connect your newsletter with your brand.
If you’re unsure where to start with your design, use email marketing newsletter templates. Each template is a springboard for creating your brand’s recognizable style.
Comprehensive guide to creating email newsletters
Creating email newsletters is slightly different from launching other email marketing campaigns, so follow these key steps:
Set clear objectives
Before you start drafting your first newsletter, decide what your goals are. Do you want to boost customer engagement? Improve customer retention? Build brand recognition?
Setting your goals upfront will help you design newsletters that directly support those goals.
Choose the right email newsletter tool
You don’t have to create your newsletters all by yourself. From designing and writing your message to tracking your results, the right email newsletter tool will make the process much easier.
Tools like Constant Contact include many features to create engaging, effective newsletters. For example, the artificial intelligence (AI) writing tool can draft your text with just a few keywords. The results dashboard provides insights into your campaign performance.
Sign up for a free trial to start designing your newsletter campaign.
Ensure newsletters are mobile-friendly
Consumers open nearly half of their emails on mobile devices, so your newsletters must be mobile-friendly to reach as many people as possible.
Optimize your mobile newsletters using larger fonts, big CTA buttons that are easy to click, and compressed images that load quickly.
Optimize your mobile newsletters by using larger fonts, big CTA buttons that are easy to click, and compressed images that load quickly.
Advantages and disadvantages of email newsletters for marketing
Print marketing materials feel somewhat outdated, and it’s easy to imagine newsletters — even digital ones — in the same boat. So, you may be wondering, are email newsletters still effective?
Evaluating the effectiveness of newsletters
The short answer is yes. Newsletters are still incredibly effective marketing tools. Nearly one-third of business-to-business (B2B) marketers agree email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads.
Newsletters keep customers thinking about your brand and informed about important company news. Even if they don’t go straight from your newsletter message to making a purchase, those newsletters still strengthen your relationship with customers.
In general, email marketing offers a return on investment of $36 for every dollar spent. Your newsletter can become a key part of your email marketing efforts, contributing to that impressive return on investment.
Understanding the limitations and challenges of newsletter marketing
However, you’ll need to overcome some challenges to get the best results from your newsletter marketing.
For example, many companies struggle with low deliverability when launching their newsletters. If spam filters or email service providers block your message, it won’t get through to your recipients. Your open rates and engagement will suffer, and you won’t see the results you seek.
Another challenge you may face in newsletter email marketing is spam complaints. Too many spam complaints will hurt your sender reputation and increase the risk of your messages getting trapped by spam filters.
Avoid spam complaints by offering an easy way for uninterested readers to unsubscribe from your messages. And never buy email lists, even if you’re eager to boost your subscriber count. People on purchased email lists haven’t agreed to receive messages from your business and are likelier to report them as spam. It’s just not worth it.
Newsletter marketing for ecommerce and different sectors
Your newsletters may need a different structure depending on your industry. For example, ecommerce brands often link to at least one product page in their newsletters to direct customers to make a purchase.
A B2B company, on the other hand, might focus on getting subscribers to reach out for further information on their services.
Resources to further your newsletter marketing expertise
It takes time to learn the ins and outs of newsletter marketing. Don’t hesitate to utilize resources that help you learn more about this marketing channel. The more you know about newsletter marketing, the more effective your campaigns will be.
Start with ebooks and other educational content about newsletter marketing. This content will offer more in-depth insights on implementing newsletters and addressing challenges. For example, read Newsletter Ideas for Your Business for inspiration on what to include in your message.
If you’re struggling with newsletter design, consider using templates. You can also reference existing newsletters for inspiration until you find your signature style.
Joining communities and learning from fellow marketers
Your fellow business owners and marketers are also excellent resources for learning more about email marketing best practices. Consider joining an online community of marketers to learn more about digital marketing and newsletters.
Technical insights and tips for newsletter marketing
You may have to navigate some limitations if you have a basic plan with your email service provider. For example, you can only send 2,000 messages per day with a basic Google Workspace account. If you have over 2,000 subscribers, that limit will prevent you from simultaneously sending your newsletter to your entire email list.
Two ways to circumvent these limitations are to upgrade your account with your email service provider or use additional email marketing software. Advanced email software will help you upgrade your newsletters and gain more control of your campaigns. You’ll get access to more features and tools than the standard set email service providers offer.
Maintenance and growth strategies for your subscriber list
Your subscriber list is the backbone of your email marketing campaigns. Each new subscriber represents a new connection and the possibility for more conversions from your emails.
Building your email list
Step one is convincing customers to provide their email addresses. Typically, the best way to get customers to share contact information is to offer them something enticing in return, such as
- Exclusive discounts
- Early access to promotions
- Downloadable content
- Free gifts
Minimizing subscriber churn
Sometimes, you gain subscribers, but they don’t always stick around for long. Subscriber churn rate measures this metric — how quickly you lose email subscribers. Clearly, you want to minimize churn as much as possible.
One way to reduce this figure is to require new subscribers to double opt in. This means new subscribers must provide their email and then click a confirmation link in a message you send them to join your list. Using a double-opt-in structure reduces the likelihood of adding incorrect or fake email addresses to your email list, minimizing churn.
You can also let subscribers choose the frequency of your messages. Some customers may be unsubscribing simply because they want fewer emails from you. By customizing their message frequency, you can prevent them from unsubscribing entirely.
Analysis and optimization of newsletter campaigns
Once you’ve mastered newsletter basics, the key question is, how do you make an email newsletter successful?
The answer is to track and analyze your campaign results consistently. Pay attention to key metrics like:
- Open rate
- Click-through rate
- Conversion rate
- Return on investment
- Unsubscribe rate
- List growth rate
- Share rate
Measuring these statistics will help you understand how your campaign is helping you achieve your marketing end goals and where there is room for improvement. For example, if you have a high open rate but a low click-through rate, you may need to adjust your CTA button to be more compelling.
Next steps in newsletter marketing
Start sending your own brand newsletter to take advantage of the benefits of email newsletter marketing. You’ll build brand recognition, develop stronger customer relationships, and increase engagement. Get started by selecting an email marketing software platform to help you run your campaigns. Sign up for a free trial of Constant Contact today.
