How to Make Newsletters Effective : 15 Useful Tips

Everybody’s using email campaigns to market their products these days, but are they doing it the right way? Even if you are happy with the current results of your email marketing strategy, you should always be looking for more advanced alternatives. 

Email open rates vary across industries, but the average business can hope to reach 14%. Not bad, but the figure can go much higher if you constantly keep feeding subscribers with educational and informative content. How do you do that? 

It’s a simple question with lots of answers, so we decided to select the top 15 tips to help you create better and more productive email newsletters. Let’s check it out!

1. Segmentation before anything else

According to the report, segmented email campaigns show a 50% higher CTR than untargeted campaigns. That’s how critical segmentation really is for email marketers, so make sure to divide subscribers into logical groups before you launch a campaign and design a newsletter. It is important to use a specific segmentation parameter like the sales funnel position, location, or product interests. 

2. Make it theme-specific 

We’ve seen way too many newsletters that cover a whole palette of topics simultaneously. Although it’s not easy to craft a theme-specific email newsletter, it’s a much better solution if you want to make it look natural and appealing. For example, you can focus on a special event, holiday plans, or the latest industry trends. 

3. Write great subject lines

Do you know that almost 70% of subscribers will report an email as spam based on the subject line alone? The way you write these few words can make or break your email newsletter plans, so you better start writing great subject lines. The general rule of thumb is to keep it short and straightforward because recipients want to know what’s going on immediately. 

4. Create unique content

It’s no secret that the content of your newsletter has to be unique, but our main point is that you need to offer something more than the compilation of your blog posts. Jake Gardner, a digital marketer at the best essay writing service UK, says you have to take the extra step here: “Instead of copying content from the blog or social networks, you need to give users additional value through completely unique content.”

5. Be helpful

Another important advice is to be helpful and write about things that mean a lot to your subscribers. The purpose of a newsletter is to educate, inform, solve problems, and entertain. If you approach content creation like that, rest assured your newsletters will be helpful.

6. Don’t beat around the bush

The worst thing you can do is to introduce a newsletter through a long and vague email copy, which is why we recommend being direct and straightforward. Don’t beat around the bush and don’t force subscribers to wait for too long. Give them what they want as quickly as possible.

7. Structure email newsletters properly

The newsletter usually contains a lot of different posts, which means that you have to pay attention to the structure. Instead of making large bundles of text, do your best to break the content with images and negative space. It will make the whole document look simpler and more readable even if it consists of dozens of pages. 

8. Be stylish

If you have a favorite writer or musician, we bet you can recognize their work almost instantly. This is possible because creative authors always build a unique style. You should do the same thing with your emails – try to develop a style of copywriting that the audience can recognize quickly. That way, the business becomes memorable and subscribers start anticipating your newsletters.

9. Go easy with brand promotion

The key goal of digital marketing – email newsletters included – is to promote the brand and its products and services. However, email is primarily a lead nurturing tool, so you don’t have to be overly promotional. A much better solution is to use the Pareto principle by creating 80% of highly informative content and leaving only 20% for direct promotion.

10. Take advantage of power words

Buzzwords and jargon undermine email marketing, but power words make it much more effective. Your job is to take advantage of power words strategically and use them to drive curiosity and engagement among subscribers. There are hundreds of power words to consider here, so you’ll have to do the homework and find the ones that work for your audience. 

11. Brand your newsletters consistently 

Design is another aspect of email newsletters that contributes to the overall productivity of the content. In such circumstances, it is necessary to brand newsletter templates using the same color schemes, logos, and other attributes that make your business recognizable among customers.

12. Ask for feedback

Email marketing is a two-way communication channel and you might as well use it to ask subscribers for feedback. For instance, you can send a questionnaire or a link to opinion polls to learn more about their attitude toward the brand, industry, or niche trends. It will make people feel satisfied because they know that you appreciate their opinions.

13. Be consistent but not pushy

Do you send email newsletters every day or two? If yes, you are definitely bombarding subscribers with too much content. The majority of consumers don’t mind receiving emails from their favorite brands weekly or biweekly, so you should stick to that pace and avoid being too pushy. 

14. Avoid adding too many visual elements to emails

Users check their inboxes on all sorts of devices and emailing platforms, which can be a burden for digital marketers. Why is that so? Well, it turns out that some users cannot see large files such as images, GIFs, or videos. This is why most marketers avoid adding too many visual elements to their emails.

15. Add one CTA per newsletter

The last tip on our list is to pay attention to calls to action (CTA) and include only one to your newsletters. What you choose to sell or promote depends on your current business activities, but the only fact that matters here is to know that multiple CTAs tend to confuse people and prevent them from taking any action whatsoever.

The Bottom Line

Email newsletters are the core of digital marketing, so you ought to treat them with all due attention. The most important thing is to keep track of the best practices and add them to your email marketing strategy. We showed you the list of the top 15 ways to create better email newsletters – now you can respond by putting our ideas into practice. Good luck!