3 Tips to Get Your Email Newsletter Read

A newsletter is a staple of an email marketing campaign, and if you get it right, people do want to read them.  But what is right? What is it that actually gets people to open that email and read that newsletter?

All inbound marketing works on the same principle.  You give people information they want and value. Your newsletter needs to deliver the information your audience wants, such as promotional codes for discounts, previews of coming products or events, how-to tips related to your product, interesting background to your product including history, what inspires you or an explanation of some aspect of the problem or need your product addresses.  But beyond that, what will motivate your audience to click?

Top Three Email Newsletter Essentials

Three things distinguish a successful newsletter and inspire people to read it.

1. You must have a catchy subject line. If the email subject line does not pique their interest, they will just delete it. Tell them what is inside – coming events, sales, new products.  Be specific, and try to use the recipient’s name in the subject line.  “Great deals inside” isn’t bad, but “20% off widgets for Joe Doe this week” is much better.
2. Keep it short and sweet. The lists are great. How to do something in four easy steps.  Top five uses for your product.  People spend on average less than a minute scanning your email, so it isn’t the place for in-depth articles.  (Those are for your blog.) Just let them know what’s happening with your brand and direct them back to your website for more details.
3. Include plenty of pictures. Because people are scanning, photos are a powerful and efficient way to convey information. They catch the eye.  Make sure that the images don’t take long to load and that they are linked back to the relevant product on your website.

Crafting a newsletter takes a bit of trial and error.  Include plenty of links back to your website, and you can easily see how successful your newsletter is by monitoring what motivates people to click and what gets ignored. You will probably notice that different things work for different segments of your audience, and you can use that information to segment your email list and tailor versions of your newsletter to suit specific segments of your target market.