As a savvy marketer you’re already sending out a monthly newsletter to your customers.
Your website has a catchy sign-up box so all your customers – old, new and potential – can keep up to date with what’s going on, find out about your latest offers and glean insights that will help them in their daily lives (business or personal).
The only problem is you’ve noticed a drop in your open and/or click through rates.
What’s going on?
Well, here are 6 tips for you to check out that might help reverse that trend.
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Aesthetics
The look of your newsletter is vital.
If you send yours out containing large blocks of solid text, no one’s going to read it.
By dividing it up into short paragraphs with clear headings, bullet points and images, its content will be devoured (assuming it’s relevant to your audience).
Should you have a large article you really want to include, write a short teaser for it with a link to your website for the full story. That way you’re providing your readers with valuable information and getting them to visit your website.
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Images and graphics
The first point looked at how to arrange your text to make your newsletter aesthetically pleasing – this one considers the use of images.
Images, graphics and videos all add interest to your newsletter and offer new ways of conveying information. Just be careful you don’t over do it because an excessive amount of images and video can have a detrimental affect on the loading time.
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A smorgasbord of content
Creating a structure for your newsletter is a great idea because it means your readers will have an idea of the kind of things you’ll cover, but that doesn’t mean it should get predictable and boring.
You should vary your content to include:
- Case studies
- Blogs
- Top tips and how-tos
- Market commentaries
- Reviews
Mix them up so every month there’s something new.
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Call to action
A newsletter without a call to action is a complete waste of time.
How about, instead of using a text link, inserting a bold button that can’t be missed. Whether it’s taking them to a sales page on your website for more information about a new product, or a link to a full article, making your call to action big and bold will help increase your click through rate.
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Short and sweet
There is a tendency to believe that if you’re sending a newsletter it has to be packed to the rafters with information, resulting in something that’s ridiculously long.
If you do that it’s unlikely to be read.
Sending regular newsletters that are short – no more than 500 words – will have a great impact on your audience.
As for their frequency, that’s for you to decide. Personally, I send mine out monthly. Whichever frequency you decide on make sure you stick to it.
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Stop selling
The biggest mistake made by companies is to make their newsletter a sales pitch.
Yes, it is the right place to talk about new products and offers, but your newsletter should be about more than that. It is your chance to build and strengthen your relationship with your customers and that means using it to provide help and advice.
Offering free information will show your expertise and instil trust with your customers – a valuable commodity if you want them to buy from you in the future.
Bonus tip
At the top of this article I mentioned a bonus tip – here it is: segmentation.
If your newsletter software allows it, divide your mailing list into common groups. That way you can tailor the content of your newsletter to specific elements of your audience to ensure the content is relevant to them.
Why is that important?
Well, it makes sure the information you offer is completely focused on that segment’s needs. There’s nothing worse than getting a newsletter that has no bearing on what’s important to you. This way, you’ll keep everyone happy and reduce your number of opt-outs.
Understand your audience
The key to delivering relevant, interest newsletters month after month is knowing your audience.
By delivering useful content to them you’ll drive engagement and maintain the relationship you’ve started to build with them.
Regular newsletters are essential for any business, regardless of industry. By following these tips your newsletter will hit the spot every time.