eNewsletters: The “e” stands for electronic but it could easily stand for effective
Are you a company that sends Email Newsletters on a regular basis? Or maybe you are interested in starting an Email Newsletter for your company. Either way, this blog post is for you!
In this post we’ll cover the basics of creating successful Email Newsletters (or eNewsletters for short).
Let’s start by answering some general eNewsletter related questions:
Why should you send an eNewsletter?
Email Newsletters feel more personal than websites because readers receive them to their email inboxes. Thus, readers have an ongoing relationship with an eNewsletter whereas a website is something that most people take a quick look at when they are looking to find specific information.
When is the Best Time to Send an Email Newsletter?
Believe it or not there are many formulas used to calculate the best time to send your newsletter, but typically we recommend sending newsletters on Wednesday mornings. The main reason for this is that statistically 80% of all emails are opened between 5am and 5pm (PST) and approximately 60% are opened between Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Also, keep in mind that when you send out an eNewsletter your subscribers will not receive the newsletter immediately. In our experience it’s good practice to send your newsletter about one hour before you wish your readers to have it in their inboxes (note that this time does vary).
Tips:
Now that you know why you should send eNewsletters and what the best time to send them is, let’s go over a few basic tips:
Personalization:
Personalization is a great way to grab a reader’s attention when sending an eNewsletter. There are two great ways to achieve this:
- Personalized Subject Lines: If you have your subscriber list segmented into different groups then each group should be delivered a newsletter with a title that will attract them to open it. This is good practice even if every group is receiving the same newsletter. It’s also a good idea to include your company name in the subject line of an email to reinforce that the newsletter is coming from a trusted source.
- Personalized Greetings: Another way to personalize your eNewsletter is to greet the reader with their name. This technique usually gets great results, although should only be used occasionally or it will lose its desired effect.
Content:
Writing good eNewsletter content is very similar to writing good website content. The most important thing to remember is to keep your content relevant, interesting and concise. In other words, write newsletter that people would actually want to read. Also be sure to inform your readers of any promotions, specials or events that you might have coming up.
For tips on writing good website content please see our “Content is King” blog posting.
Conclusion:
Well, we’ve given you a good starting point on eNewsletters, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of this vast topic. If you’re interested in finding out more about eNewsletters feel free to check out other articles online.