However, creating an email newsletter does require a lot of moving pieces you need to follow, but with a proper guideline you can make it a successful part of your marketing repertoire.
What is your objective?
Now before even thinking about getting into the process of creating an email newsletter, you need to outline what your intentions are. You need to have a proper structured outline in place and figure out how you want this to work for you. This is an easy process but it is crucial since this is the strategy you will be working with. Once you figure out what your objective is for your next email newsletter, then you can start your execution plan.
Adopting Content
Ok so you have your objective, you know what you want to get out of your next email newsletter, and you know what physical measurable responses you want from your readers. Now you need to decide on the content you will use.
Adopting content for your newsletter comes down on two things. First, give the readers something resourceful. Think about how reading your communication will be relevant and provide value to them and hopefully offer them something new and insightful. Second, do your homework. Make sure you research and gather as much information as possible so you can give your work meaning by backing it with quotes, facts and statistics.
But what you don’t want to do is overwhelm them with information. All you need is just make sure what you’re saying has meaning so you can provide value to your product. Adopting and gathering content is all up to you, but providing a path, will bring value to your company.
Creating the Template
The template is where your subscribers will see who you are, so it’s important to present something attractive for them to read. But you also don’t want to bombard them with flashy and unnecessary designs that have no value being there. Give them something that is easy to read, user-friendly and format’s well with the overall tone and atmosphere of your business. Try to inspire yourself by looking at other email newsletter designs, and try to pick the best elements you like and see if they would integrate well into your template.
Putting it together
You have your objective, you’ve got the idea, you’ve either written or gathered relevant, valuable content, you know what you want it to look like, and now it’s time to start putting it together. This is where the “meat and potatoes” of your newsletter will be, so make sure you spend time on perfecting it, but don’t restrict yourself on how creative you can and should be.
A big mistake a lot of people make is to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. A newsletter is a great medium where you can add a sense of style and personality to your content, so try to come across as business casual.
Give your readers the 5 or 6 pieces of solid, clear and concise information that will be useful, and then add perspective to it.
Just remember to over look your content and make sure you proof read, proof read and proof read!
Give your Subject Line Substance
All audiences like different things, so having a strong and compelling subject line will help grab your reader’s attention and tempt them into reading your newsletter. Coming up with a subject line isn’t rocket science but coming up with a subject line that shouts who you are and what you are all about, will help you push your’s over other.
Try some test runs, so you can nail down what suits both you and your audience appeal.
Be legally responsible – Don’t forget about CASL
So you have everything on your newsletter and you are now ready to send it out, but there is still one more thing you need to do before you can click the send button. You need to make sure that from a legal perspective, you are following all the proper legal guidelines and Canada’s new anti- spam legislation (CASL) is the biggest law you need to concern yourself with.
In basic terms, this new law which comes in to effect on July 1st, of this year, is meant to reinforce the sending of electronic messages and proper consent you must need in order to send out messages like an email newsletter. So if you haven’t been spamming people, then you simply might just need to tweak a few things in order to coincide with the new legislation.
Ready, Set, Send!
Everything now is lined up and you are now ready to finally hit the send button.
Checking back for Data
After those first few days of having your newsletter out there, make sure you can check back and see what the numbers are like. See how your newsletter objectives are performing and see which parts of your newsletter are performing well and which parts aren’t.
Here are some questions you can refer to when you check back for data and do a post-analysis:
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The reason it is important to go back to check for data and commit to a post-analysis of your newsletter is simply to give you a better sense of direction on where you should go for your next newsletter.
What does this all mean?
What will make your next email newsletter stand out from all others is because of your planning, content, platform, and engagement you will have with your audience.
Take these tips & best practices and “test” your next newsletter with a select list of your audience.
Compare the results with your previous email campaigns.
Share them with me – send me a note, add me to your mailing list.
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