I have the tendency to subscribe to a lot of newsletters, sometimes because I like the design or because I like the content or who knows why… As expected, I do get a busy inbox. So I tackle it by checking for important emails from clients or colleagues and then sorting marketing emails. Most of the time they end up in the bin, but there are a few that I will open. Why? Those successful newsletters inspired me to write about what make them get through to the next stage.
The successful newsletter comes from someone, not from an impersonal company. It could be just your full name or something like ‘Kevan from Buffer’, but in any case it should be something that feels human.
The successful newsletter has an inviting subject line. Don’t send newsletters with subject lines like ‘Newsletter 323’ or ‘Quarterly newsletter’. If your readers have a busy inbox like mine, these will go straight into the bin. Your subject lines should be intriguing or very clear.
These are the subject lines of the marketing email that I opened today:
- ‘Introducing the Social Media Calendar’
- ‘Your 8 favourite posts this week’
- ‘You may not want to hear the truth’
The successful newsletter has a preview message. Most devices will show a preview of your email body. This is a great opportunity to convince your user to open the newsletter. If the preview message shows ‘View email on browser’ it will reveal that your email is a marketing newsletter, which can decrease the chances of it being opened.
The successful newsletter will have interesting content, at least as good as all of the above. You have managed to get your readers as far as opening your email, now give them the content you promised. First tell them what it is that they need before you drive them to your site to close the sell. Or give them a snippet of the content which they can finish reading on your site. Visual newsletters have very good clicking rates. If you are promoting your product use images of it and be clever with the message. Make sure all images are clickable.
The successful newsletter will have at least a call to action. Don’t let your readers wonder what do they need to do next. Make sure you give them clear instructions. What do you want them to do? Read more? Shop now?
The successful newsletter will only be successful if it accomplishes its mission. Be clever and achieve your goal creatively whether it is to sell a product or to get traffic to your site.
The successful newsletter is waiting to be sent 😉
