Remington Begg
We’ve all done it - deleting a company’s email newsletter from your inbox before even reading it. Why? Because it’s not relevant to you, the timing is bad, your inbox is cluttered, the subject line wasn’t compelling enough, and the list goes on.
If you’ve never created an email newsletter before, the thought of creating one that’s both effective and compelling can seem daunting. You need something that will capture your audience’s attention, but you have no idea where to start. Before you even jump on the computer to start your company’s first newsletter, here are some tips to keep in mind.
Determine if there’s a need
Email newsletters are not for everyone. You don’t need an email newsletter to be successful with inbound marketing. Before you get started creating the actual newsletter, do some research. Look at things like:
- What are other companies in your industry doing?
- For the companies that have successful newsletters, what about them makes it so successful?
- What types of media does your audience consume?
- What is your audience interested in?
Next, examine your business’ goals. Are you trying to increase leads? Increase awareness of your company? Find better quality leads to send to your sales team? If you know what your company needs, you will be able to effectively implement strategies that help you achieve your goal.
If your audience isn’t interested in newsletters or if you find that sending a newsletter doesn’t align with your goals, your time might be better spent working on something else, such as creating content for your blog or new website content.
Keep the content brief
Email newsletters can get cluttered easily if you’re not careful. Skip the paragraphs of text, and use bullet points and short blocks of text to lead people to your website or blog where they can get the rest of your content. Give your subscribers a small taste of your content so that they’ll want to click on your link and learn more.
Utilize white space
It’s easy to overdo it with email newsletters - especially if you have a million great ideas running through your head. Instead of trying to fill up as much space as possible with content and images, take advantage of whitespace (space that's left blank or untouched). Not only will it make the newsletter easier to read, but it will ensure that your newsletter looks good on mobile devices.
Create a compelling subject line
Getting people to sign up for your email newsletter isn’t enough. It’s equally important that they continue opening and engaging with your newsletters. There’s often a temptation to keep your subject line the same to increase familiarity with your readers, but this gets old fast. Instead, change up your subject line and make it relevant to your audience. Creating subject lines that are compelling, different, and creative will be more impactful with your audience.
Follow all CAN-SPAM laws
If there’s one tip to follow, this one is it. Before you send out your company’s first email newsletter, make sure you read up on CAN-SPAM laws. One of the biggest CAN-SPAM mistakes that businesses make is not having a way for their audience to unsubscribe. Companies like HubSpot, Constant Contact, and MailChimp make it easy for you to add unsubscribe links at the bottom of your emails. Additionally, you’re required to unsubscribe somebody if they request it, and you must do so in a timely manner.
If you want to learn more about CAN-SPAM mistakes to avoid in your email marketing, you can read our blog post about it here.
There are a lot of moving parts when it come to creating email newsletters for your company. Creating remarkable newsletters doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s a process that takes time. But if you do your research, plan out your newsletters ahead of time, and follow the steps above, you’ll find that creating your company’s first email newsletter will go smoother than expected.
