Making the Most of Your E-Mail Newsletter

An e-newsletter can serve as a valuable tool to build a strong e-mail marketing campaign. It can expose your brand to followers on a regular basis, build credibility, and more. Here are some tips to make the most out of your e-mail newsletter.

Make it Easy and Brief

One thing to always keep in mind when creating content is readers don’t like to dig. They want the meat of the article, and they want it handed to them. It should be easy for them to find what they’re looking for. This can be accomplished with easy-to-read formats and zero fluff. Use catchy headlines, lists, and bullet points, and always avoid lengthy, blocky text and paragraphs. Keep them short and intriguing.

Be Regular and Frequent

Readers like to see regular updates. Frequent updates are even better. Regardless of if you choose to send your newsletters daily, weekly, or monthly, it’s important to make them regular. This means readers should be able to count on a newsletter every day, week, or month depending on what you choose. Don’t skip a newsletter unless it absolutely can’t be helped.

Only E-mail Those Who Ask

A larger distribution list isn’t necessarily a good thing. Jason Hartman believes in quality over quantity. A reader should only be receiving content if they’ve signed up for the newsletter. If they haven’t, the newsletter will likely be regarded as spam.

If you’re lucky, the reader will simply delete the e-mail and move on. If you’re unlucky, the reader will get tired of these e-mails they didn’t subscribe for and mark them as spam. Too many newsletters marked as spam could result in the newsletter not even reaching the reader’s inbox.

Be Relevant

Avoid using the newsletter to sell to the readers. The newsletter’s purpose should be information, and it must offer something to the audience. The tone of the newsletter should be conversational and easy to read. Light humor doesn’t hurt. Copy should be clean and free of both spelling and grammatical error.

Make it Professional

E-mail newsletters should look simple and professional, but not slick or gaudy. They’re not flashy webpages, and most HTML graphics don’t even display properly in e-mail feeds. Also, flashy graphics can distract or annoy readers, and cause them to move on or delete content.

Take Suggestions

Not only can asking for suggestions engage and involve the audience, but it’s a great way to find new topics to write about. Consider inviting questions from your readers, topic suggestions, or polls to determine what your subscribers want to learn about.

With these tips you should be able to make the most out of your e-mail newsletter to build a better marketing plan. Also interested in building a blog for your brand? Read “Getting Started with Your Business Blog” to learn more. (Top Image: Flickr | WordDraw)

The Speaking of Wealth Team