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How to make and improve your email newsletter

Guest post by: Linda Mentzer

Article Overview: Beginning in the early-1970s, email has progressively developed from a niche communication implement into a major marketing tool with the potential to reach hundreds of millions of prospective consumers. With the global expansion of the internet during the 1990s, the popularity of email marketing soared with the medium proving to be a highly effective at generating sales. Today, email remains one of the most widely used marketing platforms in the world mainly due to the massive scope and relative ease of distribution.

How to make and improve your email newsletter

Beginning in the early-1970s, email has progressively developed from a niche communication implement into a major marketing tool with the potential to reach hundreds of millions of prospective consumers. With the global expansion of the internet during the 1990s, the popularity of email marketing soared with the medium proving to be a highly effective at generating sales. Today, email remains one of the most widely used marketing platforms in the world mainly due to the massive scope and relative ease of distribution.

Here are 9 of the best practices to keep in mind while designing and distributing an email newsletter.

1. Look around and establish what you are trying to achieve?

Clearly define your goals and strategy. Whether you’re trying to sell a particular product, promote a service, garner subscriptions or just disseminate information, your agenda will critically influence your approach to building and distributing your newsletter. Whatever your aims, always make sure you compile a thorough survey of your immediate competitors, so you know what your target audience is already receiving. If you’re new to internet marketing, will help you get the ball rolling and will also allow you to distribute genuinely innovative content.

2. Hire the right Email Service Provider (ESP).

The ESP sector is hugely complicated with mountains of data constantly being authenticated, organized and reorganized. Many providers source their lists from third-party sources and this sometimes results in obsolete or incorrect data. The ideal ESP should have permission-based list that are updated every quarter. Make sure the one you choose has been personally referred, or find previous users who will give you an honest, unbiased assessment.

3. Use short, emphatic, well-structured sentences.

The average person will most definitely not read your email word for word, so try to put things across in an expressive nutshell. Your subject lines should be intriguing and consistent since the idea is to place the contents of your newsletter in an easy-to-read format.

Never mail the full text of an issue or even of a single article – use attractive, stand-alone headers, or at the most, partial leads that are linked to your newsletter’s main viewing page. This will not only entice readers to your website (and generate more ad revenue), but may also inculcate a genuine interest in your copy.

4. Minimize graphical content.

Most spam filters are highly suspicious of heavy graphical content, so if you don’t want your newsletter to be inadvertently blacklisted, you’re going to have to tone down the images and HTML graphics. While splashes of color and the odd picture or two won’t pose a problem, you don’t want to base the crux of your design on graphic elements. In any case, many mail clients disable support for images by default.

5. Spam test. Whatever you do, ALWAYS spam test.

Using keywords that are often bandied about by spammers is a sure-fire way to put you on the spam radar. You can test your mails against SPAM filters by using applications like Spam Assassin Tests, Spam Check, Delivery Monitor, etc. Also, make sure you have a rapid response system in place to deal with subscriber feedback and spam complaints.

6. Follow double opt-in standards.

This essentially means that subscribers will be asked to confirm their subscriptions before they receive any content. In case your lists aren’t entirely current, ask users to reconfirm their subscriptions. This is extra-effective when used in conjunction with a welcome or a thank you message because it also serves as a subscription reminder (you wouldn’t believe how many users simply forget). Double opt-in is a useful standard to follow since you build a list of dedicated users, which in turn helps you avoid spam filters, almost entirely.

7. Evaluate your advertisers.

If your newsletter or website hosts to ads that stem from spammers, there’s a good chance that it’ll be blacklisted as a spam source. There are plenty of advertisers and in this regard, you cannot err on the side of caution.

8. Be consistent

Elements of uniformity and consistency are essential to developing a a powerful brand and with it, a strong readership. Colors, layouts, fonts, etc., all contribute to creating your brand image and if you are haphazard and inconsistent, brand retention and user loyalty will suffer.

9. And finally, the privacy policy.

One of the major concerns a most users have is the unauthorized distribution of their personal data to third parties. Your privacy policy should contain your information acquisition methods and contact details in case of user queries.

Like every experienced marketer knows, the core value of email marketing is the massive outreach potential of the internet. Minimizing spam scores and optimizing your delivery, click through and open rates will allow you to fully utilize the marketing potential of the world’s largest communications and information network.

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Article Tags: Business email lists, Email Addresses, Email Lists, Email Marketing, Email Newsletter, Mailing Lists



Related Forum Posts
Technology Question: Newsletters in email - Hi, all As most of you probably know, I get the Ladies Who Launch newsletter. It comes as an email, you open up the email and there's this professional -looking newsletter - their logo and hotlinks at the top, two columsn of text, etc. looks very nice. Does anybody know what kind of software it takes to generate such a spiffy looking newsletter in one's email?
Re: What is Email marketing? - You can use something like constant contact to keep in touch with your clients or customers. I find it's a better tool for providing knowledge and staying connected, versus selling -- though a small ad at the bottom of your newsletter doesn't hurt. I wrote email marketing campaigns for companies in a past career life (before becoming a coach), and the response rates were much better when the newsletter was more like news and less like a sales pitch. For instance, write an article about a new study showing how healthy running is, and then offer a discount coupon for running shoes on the bottom of the email. People are bombarded with ads and they are usually boring. Make your email more interesting and you'll improve response rates, which are typically quite low for email. You can build an opt-in list by providing some value first. For instance, get a free (fill in the blank) when you subscribe to this newsletter. Make sure it's something fairly small and easy for you to deliver. Or attend events, offer a contest, etc. "win a ___ and get a free newsletter." That's a great way to capture a lot of emails. Also make sure your subscribers can easily opt out, as nothing is more annoying than being caught on someone's list who has made it impossible to opt out.
Re: Email Marketing, Permission Based - As a financial advisor myself, I've harnessed technology through my business dealings as best I can. Email marekting has been an essential service for sales, lead generation, and networking. As some of you have already mentioned, we use an opt-in system where our clients agree to sign up for a monthly newsletter. We use this newsletter to market new products, new investment considerations, and general information about policies or functions our office is holding. I've had many clients tell me they've forwarded the emails off to their familes and friends. This can only mean good things for our business development, so I can say I've been quite pleased with email marketing. Unfortunately as the original poster has mentioned, it is so easy to get signed up for spam or unsolicited email. Many of our clients still have hesitation in opting in to our newsletter because they feel we may sell or otherwise distribute their information. We work hard to ensure our reputability as an email marketer. I think building that trust and reputation is essential to a successful email marketing campaign.
Re: Email Marketing, Permission Based - I agree that a double-opt-in (i.e. confirmed opt-in) system of email marketing is the best method. Of course, having people confirm their subscription is no guarantee that they will read your email! Signing up subscribers is only the FIRST stage. The next thing you need to get is their TRUST, and the best way to "get" is not to "sell" but to "give"... - give freebies - give useful, valuable tips - get the subscribers to feel that opening your mail is something WORTH SPENDING TIME ON. Entertain them, make them laugh, but always give them something of value connected to the niche market that your newsletter deals with. - invite feedback - use the [[firstname]] tag, and don't be afraid to use it in the newsletter title field either! Cheers, David H
What newsletter program to use? - Hi Forum members, I know there have been a few discussions out there about newsletter programs. I am wondering which newsletter program you are using, why you chose it and what the best features are. I am considering launching a monthly newsletter for our members and want to pick the best one to use. Thanks for your help!


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