They are one of the cheapest and quickest mediums for doing this, after all. Businesses can send their messages in bulk across the globe in a matter of seconds and they will be delivered safely onto the computer screens of anyone who declares themselves as being interested in such developments.
Many businesses find that these newsletters are an effective method of driving sales. They recognise that by subtly promoting the value of their products they can encourage subscribers to visit their website and spend money. It is also believed that by providing useful engaging content within these newsletters, businesses can improve their reputation as the thought-leader in their industry, keeping a brand at the forefront of a customer’s mind.
With this in mind, it’s little wonder that brands are becoming keener to create awesome emails for their newsletter subscribers. Here are five tips for creating award winning newsletters.
#1 Subject lines are key
The main hurdle which email marketers have to overcome is to get their messages opened. There are plenty of consumers who get so many emails that they don’t have time to open messages which don’t look interesting. Because of this, the subject line of the email newsletter should feature a reason why the message should be opened.
‘Five days to claim your discount on our summer range’ is a great newsletter title. ‘Newsletter 08/05/2013’ is not. A strong call-to-action is key for any marketing platform and email is no different.
#2 Don’t be pushy
There aren’t many consumers who enjoy being advertised to, so overly salesy emails could do more harm than good. The best newsletters are the ones that offer readers something rather than demand something of them.
#3 Spare the images
Most email providers automatically block images from senders, forcing readers to click a button to download the images. Considering that email is a medium where attention spans are traditionally low, it is probably best to get images to a minimum and get your message across immediately using text.
#4 Optimise for mobile
The proportion of people opening emails on mobile devices is growing all the time. In an effort to boost engagement from this market, many email marketers ensure that their messages appear as perfectly on smartphones and tablets as they do on a traditional computer screen. This means shorter titles, bigger text, bigger buttons and links to mobile-optimised websites.
#5 Don’t send unsolicited emails
One of the reasons that email marketing has such high engagement rates is because consumers have opted in to receive messages. Sending unsolicited emails might be tempting – but in reality it only serves to annoy customers and harm a business’s reputation.
It’s worth noting that if too many emails are marked as spam by recipients, it could harm the deliverability of further communications. It could even land a business with a nasty fine.
Nevertheless, those who follow the five tips above could certainly find that their email newsletters are a profitable marketing manoeuvre.