In this article we have collected 10 newsletter tips – both about design and writing – that will help you make the most of your email campaign.
As everybody knows, email marketing is awesome: it’s quite easy, scalable and extremely affordable; and it can still deliver the best ROI among all other digital marketing tactics. But to truly make the most of it, your newsletter must be perfect. A good starting point is of course a professional service like Emailchef, but when it comes to craft the email itself, there are some best practices to remember.
So here are our tips:
- Keep it short and clear.
No, really: do that. We’re all tired of verbose newsletters that never get to the point. - Build a great template and build it consistent with your brand and website.
For all information about how to design a good-looking email layout, please consult our best practices. - Choose captivating, lightweight images.
In particular if they’re very useful for what you’re telling – for instance the picture of your products. Find the right balance between image quality and weight, considering that a good newsletter shouldn’t exceed 40-50 Kb to ensure a perfect delivery. - Curate your email sending frequency.
No one wants to receive loads of marketing messages or newsletters. You may think that your content is always fresh and interesting, but believe us: it is not, if you overload your recipients. The right frequency depends of course on your type of business and marketing strategies, but by rule of thumb never send more than one email each three days. Engagement is not related to the volume of mailings – it depends on the relationship you have built with your recipients. So… - Establish a true relationship.
Exactly. Professional email marketing is a matter of trust and dialogue, so always read the answers of your contacts and be ready to listen carefully to their requests, advices and criticism. Thinking of your lists as a simple stack of addresses and not as people you’re talking to is totally wrong. - Subjects lines are crucial.
A classic tip, but always worth remembering (since, alas, it’s pretty underestimated). To increase your email open rate, check out our tips about how to write the perfect subject line. - Don’t forget an unsubscribe link.
For two reasons: it will help your deliverability (see point n. 10) and it’s required by law almost everywhere. - Tell a story.
You should work hard to develop a fascinating narrative of your brand. Don’t be afraid to share your projects, your views, your feelings. Sometimes readers are not looking for a simple list of pics and links – they want more. Be ready to give it to them. - Test.
Finally, don’t forget that email marketing is a great tool also because it can be improved step by step, newsletter by newsletter. Do perform A/B tests changing small details of your emails (the subject line, the position of a picture or of the call to action, etc.) to get an always better version of them. - Remember deliverability.
What we have listed is essential, but it will be useless if your emails don’t hit the target. That’s why you should always follow the best practices to help Emailchef to do the delivery job.
