Email newsletters allow you to build meaningful relationships, promote products, share company updates, and drive website traffic through regular communication with your subscribers. But where do you start when you‘re looking to send your first newsletter campaign? This comprehensive guide will walk you through the entire process.
Set Goals and Identify Your Target Audience
Before diving in, take the time to clearly define your goals and ideal subscriber. Do you want to drive sales? Generate leads? Build brand awareness? Knowing what you want to achieve will inform other decisions.
Next, get very specific about who you want to reach with your newsletter by creating subscriber personas. Consider demographics like age, gender, location, job title, industry, interests, pain points and more. For example, are you targeting small business owners or stay-at-home parents? The more precisely you can define your audience, the better you can tailor content to their needs.
Choose Your Newsletter Platform
With your goals and target audience in mind, it‘s time to choose a newsletter platform. Leading options like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, AWeber, and ConvertKit all have their pros and cons:
- Mailchimp is intuitive and budget-friendly, best for small lists. Features include templates, automation, and integration with e-commerce and CRM tools. However, advanced analytics are only available at higher price tiers.
- Constant Contact offers excellent analytics and survery features. But email deliverability rates lag behind some competitors. Pricing is on the higher end.
- AWeber has a user-friendly drag and drop designer and highly customizable templates. It lacks some automations though.
- ConvertKit specializes in creator and influencer newsletters with an emphasis on email course functionality. But it‘s light on e-commerce features.
Consider factors like your budget, size of list, and which features are most important to your goals when choosing a platform.
Build Your Subscriber List
Now it‘s time to start growing your mailing list! Some effective tactics include:
- Promote your newsletter sign up on your website, social media, and anywhere else you reach your target audience.
- Offer an incentive for signing up like a discount, exclusive content, or free ebook.
- Place signup forms or links on high-traffic pages of your website like the home, blog, contact, and checkout pages.
- Use website popups, sticky bars, and slide-ins to catch visitors‘ attention. But don‘t overdo it!
- Create dedicated landing pages for your newsletter that compel readers to subscribe.
No matter how you get signups, be sure you only email people who have actively given their consent. Buying email lists will land you in spam folders (or worse).
Segment Your Contacts
Audience segmentation allows you to group contacts together based on shared traits and send more targeted, relevant content to each group. Ways to segment subscribers include:
- Demographic data like age, gender, location
- Purchasing history and habits
- Interests and preferences
- Engagement level with your brand
- Customer status – potential, existing, past, etc.
Dividing your list into smaller subgroups means you can personalize your emails instead of sending the same blanket content to everyone. Segmented campaigns have significantly higher open and click-through rates.
Plan Your Content and Visuals
When it comes to crafting your actual newsletter, you‘ll need to plan out both content and design.
Content
Aim for a healthy mix of educational articles and promotional content. Here are some popular types of newsletter content to consider:
- Industry news and trends
- Q&As and interviews with experts
- Company announcements and updates
- New product features or releases
- Spotlights on customers or use cases
- Step-by-step tutorials and guides
- Discounts, coupons, sales promotions
- Event announcements and recaps
- Quizzes, polls, and surveys
- Photos and videos
Visuals
Treat your newsletter as an extension of your brand. Maintain visual consistency by using your brand colors, fonts, and logo. Images and graphics should further your content without distracting. Other design tips:
- Ensure mobile optimization by using a single column layout
- Leave plenty of white space for easy scanning
- Use subheads, lists, and other text formatting for quick reads
- Limit large images which are slow to load
- Make CTAs obvious through color contrast and placement
Craft Compelling Subject Lines
Your subscribers will decide whether to open your email based almost entirely on the subject line. Use these proven tactics to maximize open rates:
- Trigger urgency with words like "last chance" or "ends soon"
- Convey exclusivity with phrases like "for subscribers only"
- Appeal to curiosity and interest with questions and intriguing statements
- Highlight value with terms such as "New," "Tips," "Guide," etc.
- Implement a sense of fun and personality with emojis and wit
Just avoid spam trigger words like "free," "act now," "deal," etc. which will land you in the promotions tab or spam folder.
Mind Your Tone and Messaging
Adopt a tone and voice consistent with your brand identity. Speak directly to the reader using "you" frequently. Ensure messaging aligns with your audience – their interests, goals, and preferences. Avoid overwhelming subscribers with links and offers. Instead, direct them to one strategic CTA per email.
Analyze and Refine Your Strategy
Use key metrics like open, click-through, unsubscribe, and bounce rates to continuously assess and optimize your newsletters. Use insights from your analytics to determine optimal frequency, better segment your list, identify high-performing content types and subject lines, improve conversions, and more.
Follow Email and Anti-Spam Regulations
Make sure you comply with email regulations and laws including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. This includes:
- Only emailing subscribers who opted in
- Providing an unsubscribe option in each email
- Identifying your physical mailing address
Violating anti-spam laws can lead to blacklisting, fines, and even lawsuits. Stay compliant.
By following this comprehensive, step-by-step guide, you‘ll be equipped to create effective newsletters that engage your subscribers and accomplish your marketing objectives. With a targeted audience, thoughtful content, and consistent implementation, your newsletter is sure to be a success.
