Did you know that just of small businesses make it past their fifth year? With such a high level of competition, you need to invest in regular and effective communication to engage customers. One of the best ways to do this is through a newsletter.
If you’re wondering how to get started designing a newsletter that will turn heads, you’ve come to the right place. Stick around to learn the steps to get started!
Know Your Newsletter Goals
Before you can make a newsletter, you need to know what the outcomes are that you hope to achieve. For instance, you may want to boost sales by highlighting your latest products and including links that take readers to your shop.
Or you may want to help potential customers see you as a more relatable brand. Achieving this goal might mean focusing on behind-the-scenes glimpses of your company or customer testimonials. As another option, you might want to get more traffic to your website by linking to blog posts.
You also should determine the focus of your content. What audience will you be targeting? And are you hoping to focus on blog content, unique offers, or company updates?
You can consider moving your newsletter to a subscription format over time, too. And if you do that, offer incentives that make the subscription appealing!
Craft Memorable Content
When you write a newsletter, content is king. Sending out bland newsletters that rehash generic content won’t set your brand apart from the rest of the crowd. You need to craft content that establishes your brand’s voice and builds credibility.
If you run a home remodeling company, include simple tips for a minor bathroom renovation. How-to articles are a great way to show your interest in serving others by sharing your knowledge. And they reward a reader for spending time with your newsletter.
You could consider going a step further and providing access to some content beyond a paywall. For example, give paying customers access to longer tutorials or well-produced instructional videos.
Use a Template to Provide Structure
And don’t forget that design quality matters. If you send a visually unappealing newsletter, no one will want to read it! Stay away from dense blocks of text that become tiring to read.
As a better alternative, use high-quality images to break up the text. Use a bigger font to draw attention to headlines. And incorporate a color scheme that aligns with the colors of your logo and brand.
Use a template to give structure and consistency to your newsletter. Keep in mind that have smartphones, too. This means you need to optimize your content for readability on a smaller phone screen.
Develop a Newsletter Email List
To start sending newsletters, you need an email list first. Set up a sign-up form on your website where interested parties can enter their contact info. Do the same on social media platforms where you have a presence.
Ultimately, just be sure that you’re sending emails only to those who’ve consented. Ambushing unsuspecting people with an email newsletter each week will only turn them away from your brand.
While you’re at it, look into email targeting to offer a more personalized experience. With this strategy, you won’t send the same generic email newsletter to everyone on your list. Instead, you’ll send modified versions of your newsletter to different demographic swaths.
Doing this helps ensure that your customers are seeing the most relevant content. And it can help them feel like you, as the business owner, understand their interests.
Stay Organized with a Schedule
After you’re done writing a newsletter, it’s time to send it out into the world. But rather than sending newsletters randomly, you’re better off using a schedule. Doing this makes your brand look more professional and helps prevent you from reusing old content.
You could decide to send out your newsletter once a month. But if you’re constantly updating your inventory or offering sales, you could want to send out a newsletter weekly.
Consider using software to automate the process so you can focus on crafting content that shows off your expertise. And before you launch your first newsletter campaign, send out a test email. You’ll want to make sure that your newsletter reaches your inbox and is free of grammatical errors and broken links.
Evaluate the Analytics
Don’t just assume that sending regular emails will result in higher sales or engagement. You’ll want to check how well your newsletter is doing by looking at metrics.
For example, look at the open rate, which indicates how many people are actually opening the email. If you’re not seeing a high percentage, you may need to spice up your headlines or incentives. You also might want to use graphics that call more attention to the content to follow.
Additionally, you can look at how many people are clicking links in your newsletter. And you can see how many people you’ve emailed opt out of receiving future emails. You may need to adjust the frequency of your newsletters or your target audience.
Make Designing a Newsletter a Priority
If you’re designing a newsletter, determine your goals and stay organized with a calendar. Keep content consistent with your brand voice and use a template to organize your graphics and text. And, of course, make a point of reviewing analytics to ensure that your newsletter is making an impact.
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