After playing with both Campaign Monitor and MailBuild, I have to say you guys have, hands down, the best user experience of any newsletter service out there.
Gilbert Wilson , Council for a Livable World
How a newsletter can boost business
A regularly scheduled newsletter can have an incredible impact on your overall email marketing strategy, keeping your audience engaged and providing a powerful channel for back-and-forth communication.
Traditional newsletters were sporadic emails sent to subscribers with new updates on the brand, new products, etc. But brands have become far more sophisticated with their approach to newsletters, and users have become more sophisticated in their expectations for communications. As a result, email newsletters are now sent out for a variety of purposes and come in several formats.
Take these examples from Campaign Monitor’s client, Girlboss:
Source: Campaign Monitor
In the top example, Girlboss used a very traditional newsletter that is announcing a new addition to their community. Instead of a single group, they are announcing their new “collectives,” which are a selection of various communities catering to the needs of different subscriber segments.
In the bottom newsletter, they are introducing readers to their new 12-week guide on investing. However, instead of a single email, they are sending out weekly messages on the topics of the week and what their subscribers can expect from the e-course.
Both examples are creative uses of email newsletters—and both are incredibly effective when sent to the right subscribers.
Why your brand needs to start using email newsletters
Thanks to the diverse nature of email newsletters, they make for excellent forms of communication between you and your subscribers. Need some convincing? Here are just a few reasons email newsletters are worth adding to your email marketing strategy:
- When adequately segmented, they provide a deeper level of personalization to your communications with readers. Remember, 70% of millennials prefer personalized emails over blast communications.
- Email newsletters drive traffic to your website with an average click-through rate of approximately 7%.
- 83% of B2B marketers use email newsletters as a part of their content marketing strategy.
- 40% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the most critical aspect of their content marketing success.
What makes for a good quality email newsletter?
Looking for a few quick tips on how to create a quality email newsletter for your subscribers? Then consider these key points:
Your consumers only want information they find relevant.
Make sure to check with them regarding their email preferences or consider including an email preference center for them to give you the detail you need. This allows you to send them only the best, most valuable messages.
Design for the reader.
Since many newsletters include updates on products, new launches, or brand updates, you want to make sure you are designing for your readers. This means making it easy to skim through so they can find the information they want without “wasting time” on information they don’t care about.
Personalize content as much as possible.
Once you’ve collected valuable subscriber data, such as their name, location, and interests, make sure you are using that information to personalize each piece to the reader. This will increase the likelihood of them clicking on a link or taking some other form of action.
Scaling up with branded email newsletter templates
Establishing a regular cadence for an ongoing newsletter series can feel like a lot of work. You can make the job more manageable by starting with a flexible newsletter email template that you can easily adjust and adapt as needed.
A good template will save time and resources, so you can stay focused on crafting a great message instead of worrying about technical and design details. Creating a newsletter with Campaign Monitor takes it even further, making it easier than ever to adapt a template to your brand’s colors and art to create something unique, special, and representative of your organization.
Then it’s up to you to decide what kind of content and updates you want to include—a note from company leadership, product news, blog articles, and so on. Get creative! It’s what will get subscribers to keep opening and look forward to getting your newsletter.
Wrap up
Email newsletters aren’t the one-off messaging they used to be. With so many ways to spin a newsletter, they can help you boost user activity and help drive traffic to your website. A few quick tips to keep in mind when designing an email newsletter include:
- Prioritizing personalization
- Designing for your readers
- Sending only the most relevant information to each of your subscribers
- Using a branded template to easily scale up your messaging
Looking for more tips on getting started with email marketing? Then make sure to check out our collection of excellent get-started resources today!