Sending email newsletters is one of the most cost-effective ways of building your small business customer base. These emails are sent to existing and potential customers to provide valuable content, such as how-to guides, blog posts, product reviews, announcements, and news.
You’ve come to the right place if you’re interested in creating email newsletters but don’t know where to start. Faviola Valencia has provided a comprehensive guide here!
Why You Need to Use Email Newsletters
Social media marketing gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Billions of people log in to their social media accounts each day, and it’s an excellent channel for promoting your brand. With that said, email marketing is also an incredibly popular strategy, and in many ways, just as impactful.
The majority of customers prefer companies to approach them via email compared to many other methods, such as phone calls, text messages, and junk mail. And email marketing is very budget-friendly; email newsletters, specifically, are one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you can use. Let’s talk about the benefits of using email newsletters in more detail:
More Traffic
Perhaps the most significant advantage of creating and sending out newsletters is that they can boost traffic to your website, and they can do so consistently. Marketing experts have noticed that organic engagement on social media platforms is dramatically declining. And with so many companies using effective ad blockers, banner advertising isn’t working very well either.
Moreover, if you try to send written press releases to online editors and journalists, they will probably be ignored. None of these problems persist with email newsletters. Most emails that reach an inbox are at least seen, and most of those will be opened. Of course, this assumes that you craft an attractive subject line and that the consumer recognizes the sender.
A well-designed, relevant newsletter with quality content can do wonders for engaging readers and encouraging them to click on your call-to-action (CTA). One way to make your newsletters more appealing is to include top-notch photos; working with a commercial photographer can help ensure your newsletters get the job done.
The Costs
If you’re like most small business owners, staying within your budget is of the utmost importance. Therefore, you prioritize anything that can save you money.
Email marketing can save you loads of money compared to other marketing tools and tactics. The cost of influencer marketing paid ads, and other tools are much more expensive than implementing newsletters and other email marketing strategies. And the costs quickly add up.
Easy Measuring
Another great benefit of email newsletters is that it’s really easy to measure their performance. Just review your email statistics, including the open rates, click rates, bounces, and unsubscribe rates. Then, track which types of devices consumers are using to open your newsletters, as well as the times of the day.
You can use free and affordable tools like Google Analytics to tailor your newsletter content to your target audience and accurately calculate the return on investment (ROI) of each campaign.
Seamless Syncing With Other Channels
Email newsletters can easily be connected to your social media campaigns and other marketing efforts. This means that you can reach consumers with your newsletters anywhere they are. If the consumer is at home on their smartphone, using their work computer in the office, or checking their emails on a tablet, you’ll be able to reach them.
Hiring Professionals to Help
Implementing email newsletters is quite simple compared to some other online marketing tactics. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire professionals to help you create and manage impactful newsletters that move your business in the right direction.
Think of any marketing professionals who can help your team strategize and accomplish your goals. Hiring a commercial photographer is a great start, but you might also consider working with a freelance website designer, content writer, and social media marketing agency. Considering how much experts can help you grow, it can be well worth the investment.
Exploring Tools
The better the tools you have, the easier and faster it will be to craft and manage your email newsletters. For instance, you’ll probably want to use PDFs when creating your newsletter because they’re the best option when it comes to securely uploading content and putting it in a magazine-style format.
The right online tool makes it easy to convert various file types into PDFs. All you have to do is drag and drop the files into the platform to convert PDFs.
Further, you might consider investing in email marketing software that helps you create quality content and manage your campaigns from start to finish. Here are some of the world’s best newsletter products:
- Mailchimp
- Moosend
- Constant Contact
- AWeber
- GetResponse
- Sendinblue
- HubSpot
How to Put Together a Stellar Email Newsletter
So, you have an idea of how email newsletters could benefit your business. Now, it’s time to discuss how to put together an impactful newsletter strategy. Here are some simple steps to consider:
Establish Your Goals
It’s essential for your team to understand precisely why you’re implementing email newsletters before you start designing your first template. Establishing clear goals will help you stay on point when crafting your messages.
First, define your target audience. What do your potential readers need and want? Answering that question will help you craft newsletters that appeal to and provide value to your audience. Moreover, you’ll need to list out your focus topics and determine the basic objectives of your newsletters. Are you trying to drive traffic to your site, invite local residents to upcoming events, or boost your ecommerce sales?
Use the Right Platform
If you want your email newsletter creating process to be as simple and effective as possible, it’s crucial to use an inappropriate platform. Any of the newsletter solutions above are excellent choices for crafting, sending, and analyzing your email campaigns.
Here are a few functionalities to look for in your email platform:
- An extensive newsletter template gallery
- Comprehensive email personalization and segmentation features
- Subscriber list management options
- A/B testing for your campaigns
- Detailed newsletter statistics for analyzing and optimizing your campaigns
- Superior deliverability
- Syncing with social media accounts, eCommerce systems, website platforms, and other online marketing channels
- Easy team collaboration features
Start Attracting Subscribers
No matter how well-crafted your email newsletters are, they won’t do you much good if you don’t have any recipients. Fortunately, it’s relatively simple to establish a high-interaction email contact list as long as you consider a few things.
First, make sure all your online content is top-notch, and work with a commercial photographer to boost the visual aesthetics of your website and social media posts. Also, incorporate a subscription sign-up form throughout your website, and make sure the form includes a responsive widget. The widget should provide a double opt-in process that prevents fake email addresses from entering your database, which can hinder deliverability and significantly damage your brand’s reputation.
Lastly, develop landing pages dedicated specifically to your email newsletters. You can apply a range of optimization opportunities to these pages, and users won’t be distracted from any other components found on your other web pages. They’ll be able to concentrate on the special coupons, product releases, company news and announcements, invitations to upcoming events, how-to guides, and any other value your newsletters offer.
Target Your Contacts
You don’t want to send the same exact message to your entire customer base. Instead, segment your contacts to target your customers more effectively. Use your current information and data to strategize and tailor your email campaigns to speak to specific groups. This will increase the clicks and conversions from your newsletters.
Create Engaging Templates
When it comes to creating the actual email newsletter, you’ll first want to set up a template. Find an online template that you can easily customize to fit your brand and goals. You also need to ensure the newsletter layout is responsive so your campaigns appear perfect on computers, tablets, and smartphones.
Define and Craft Your Content
Finally, it’s time to clearly define your content and craft a simple message that accomplishes the primary objectives of your email newsletter campaign. While many factors go into developing an attractive and compelling newsletter, here are some essential characteristics each newsletter should contain:
- Plenty of white space
- A clear structure
- Valuable information relevant to your audience
- Well-placed brand colors
- Tasteful, straightforward CTAs
- A message tailored to your target audience or segment
- A brief, descriptive subject line that grabs the readers’ attention
Further, remember to use images and other visual content in your email newsletters. But understand that including too many graphical elements can hinder deliverability. The key is to use high-quality images sparingly. Work with a commercial photographer to boost your chances of engaging customers!
Add GIFs for Visual Interest
While it’s easy to envision a newsletter as a static medium of text and pictures, there are ways to add more interesting visual elements. One popular method is to use animated GIFs to add movement without sound. It’s easy to create your own GIFs online with a video to GIF converter. You can upload a video clip you’d like to use, then edit the length, aspect ratio, and file size to your preferences. Once complete you’ll have a downloadable GIF that you can add to your newsletter.
Wrapping Up
If you want to acquire and retain customers, using email newsletters is one of the best overall strategies to implement. It’s cost-effective, easy to measure, provides seamless integration, and will drive major traffic to your website.
Remember to hire the right professionals, use top-notch tools like a GIF maker, and follow the tips above to create and manage impactful email newsletter campaigns. Your team will see big results in no time!If your business needs help growing across a language barrier, cont
