Email Marketing : Writing a Newsletter
There are two things that you need to remember in order to make
a successful newsletter campaign. According to Tamara Gielen, an independent
email marketing consultant, the success of a newsletter campaign lies in making
newsletters that are relevant in content, and sending them to people with their
permission. If you keep sending irrelevant newsletters to people without their
permission, then you may just find yourself blocked from their email addresses
or branded as a spammer, which could hurt your business terribly.
Getting Permission
Getting permission is the first step in making a successful
newsletter campaign, and you can do this by asking people for their email
addresses. If you are having trouble doing so, refer to the earlier parts of
this eBook about the tips on how to successfully gather email addresses.
When people give you their email addresses, they are already
giving you permission to send them your newsletters. Thus, be sure not to
disappoint them - be sure to send newsletters that have great content and free of
charge. You have to be careful though, of the so-called "rented
lists." Some companies will offer to provide you with a list of email
addresses that you can use in your newsletter campaign. But be wary. Most of
the list they provide are old, unused and contains spam traps.
Create Valuable Content
After you get their permission, it's time to send them the
newsletter. But what should your newsletter contain? Obviously, it should
contain something relevant and useful for the reader. A subscriber receives tons
of emails nowadays, and they don't have time to read all of them. Thus, they
tend to ignore those that do not interest them.
Getting to know what your subscribers want in terms of
newsletters can be a tricky task at most, but there are ways to do it. One is
by asking them about it whenever they sign up through a checklist. Provide a
checklist in the sign up page with a lot of choices. For example, you can make
a "what interests you?" box with a couple of choices like arts, tips,
events, and so on. Here, they get to tick the boxes of the things that interest
them, which serve as your basis for sending them the things that they want.
Another way is to analyze your clients' behavior. Since your list manager has a
tracker, you can review the pages and links that your client has opened and
viewed. This way, you can see what they are interested and what topics appeal
to them the most, thus giving you an insight as to what newsletter to send
them.
A Preview Pane
A preview pane allows your subscribers to view parts of your
newsletter. Thus, it is important that you make your preview pane as
interesting as possible.
One thing you should remember is not to add too many images in
the upper part of your preview pane because it may take a while to load,
putting off your customers at the very beginning. Instead, write only your
company's name as the header followed immediately by the newsletter. Most of
the time, the preview pane will only show the first few paragraphs of the
newsletters in order to get your subscribers interested. If they download the
newsletter, that is the only time that they can view the whole thing.
Write Interesting Subject Lines
Do away with the normal and boring subject lines for your
newsletters. The subject lines refer to the titles that appear on their list of
emails received. If your subject line does not interest them, then you may find
your newsletters deleted without being read. When writing subject lines, you
have to make sure that they sound interesting. A subject line that goes,
"Christmas Dinners" is not likely to attract any subscribers, unlike
a subject line like: "Great and Easy Christmas Recipes." Also, you
may want to keep your subject lines short. The subject line is supposed to tell
your subscribers what the newsletter is about without giving away too much
information. Furthermore, most of your subscribers will not even finish reading
the whole subject line before they decide whether or not to download your
newsletter. Thus, make the first few words of your subject line as interesting
as possible. Use a lot of adjectives and adverbs if possible, as this these
easily catches a reader's attention.
Researching on Your Topic
Before you even get to write your newsletter, make sure that
you've done your research thoroughly. Remember that nobody loves a half-baked
potato - that is nobody wants to read a newsletter that isn't well-written and
well thought of. In order to help make your research easier, you should have
planned about the format and layout of your newsletter.
Choose the Right Title
The title is one of the most important aspects of a good
newsletter. Your title should be catchy and interesting; otherwise, your
subscribers won't even bother reading the whole content of your newsletter, no
matter how good it is.
Be Brief and Concise
Avoid too many unwanted fillers in your newsletters. Don't start
by telling your subscribers something that they already know. Instead, keep
your newsletter brief and concise. Go straight to the point and drive home
towards the topic. You can, of course, play with words and get a little
creative with your phrases and sentences to spice up your newsletter, but be
sure to stay focused and on track.
Impress your Subscribers with Facts
Adding a bit of statistics and other interesting facts to back
up your claims is one way of impressing your readers. This helps to build their
trust on you and your newsletter because they know that you did your research
well.
Polish Your Newsletter
Proofread your newsletter. Make sure that every detail is
thoroughly covered, from spelling, grammar and even punctuation. Your
subscribers will almost certainly lose faith in a business who can't even write
in straight English. These are some of the things you should consider when
writing your newsletters. Remember that your newsletters reflect what you can
give your clients, and if you don't give them something good, then chances are
you won't have any subscribers left to send your newsletters to in the future.
Check out this amazing product
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Thomas_Howland/2319329
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9504427
No comments:
Post a Comment