23 Things to Consider When Creating a Business Newsletter
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Transcript of 23 Things to Consider When Creating a Business Newsletter
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There are any number of reasons why a newsle1er is a good idea,
but chief among them is the opportunity for added engagement they provide.
Read on to learn 27 =ps to make current clients and
prospects alike want to read your business newsle1er.
When done correctly, a newsle1er can be a huge asset to your marke=ng efforts.
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Can you do it on your own? Sure. However, too much can go wrong and if you violate certain laws of the CAN-‐SPAM act, you’re up a creek without a paddle (and your wallet will likely be feeling very light).
Seek out a reputable email service provider.
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For example, if your site requires an account to use it, will you automa=cally enroll your users in your newsle1er subscrip=on? Or will you tell them about it and let them make the decision from the start?
Decide whether your newsletter will be opt-in or opt-out.
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If people don’t even know that you offer a newsle1er, then you’ll find yourself having a hard =me geRng subscribers.
Make sure subscription options are easily seen on your website.
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Make sure these are people who want to hear from you. If you’ve built your list in-‐house, fabulous! If you pay for email lists, make sure you’re up to speed on who you can and can’t contact.
Build your subscriber list.
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A newsle1er is just a piece of your overall content strategy. Just as you likely have an editorial calendar for your blog content, you should also have a plan in place for your newsle1er.
Have an editorial calendar.
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As with anything, goals are important. Maybe your end-‐goal is to get 25 people to sign up for your webinar or 100 people to register for a conference you’re co-‐sponsoring. Maybe your goal is just to get more subscribers. When your goals are less specific, know how you will define success. Whatever those goals are, iden=fy them at the beginning so that you can align your content strategy to suit.
Know what you want to accomplish with your newsletter.
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When doing this, have your goals in mind. If you’re a1emp=ng to use your newsle1er to get your audience to register for your conference or a monthly webinar you hold, you need to keep those registra=on deadlines in mind. If you’re not using the newsle1er to promote something =mely, consider any other correspondence that your community might be receiving from you. If they start to hear from you too oZen, you become noise and they start to ignore you. That’s definitely not what you want.
Decide how frequently you will send the newsletter.
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As with anything, goals are important. Maybe your end-‐goal is to get 25 people to sign up for your webinar or 100 people to register for a conference you’re co-‐sponsoring. Maybe your goal is just to get more subscribers. When your goals are less specific, know how you will define success. Whatever those goals are, iden=fy them at the beginning so that you can align your content strategy to suit.
Know your audience.
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In other words, will readers know that in every issue of your newsle1er, they can expect a video interview with an industry professional, seven pieces of original content wri1en just for the newsle1er, three of your most popular blog posts from the month, and a message from your CEO at the end? Or will your publica=on depend more upon what you think is more important to include at that par=cular =me?
Decide if you will follow a regular template or not.
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No one wants to look at an ugly email. It’s just a cruel fact of the world. If your newsle1er is both aesthe=cally pleasing and func=onal, you’ll already be ahead of the curve.
Consult with your creative department or a third party in order to create a design for your email.
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You want readers to open your email and be drawn in. Maybe you want the color to pop or you’ve got some kind of graphic or logo to use in the header. Ask yourself if that image will be appealing to visitors. If the color is too light or bright against the background, you risk turning your readers away before they even get to the content!
Use a heading that is eye-catching without being overwhelming.
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The F-‐Layout is popular in website design because it uses content to draw the eye across and down the page in the shape of an F. Try this layout technique to give your readers a very natural flow.
Use the F-layout for visual appeal and readability.
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While it’s okay to include video or images, keep a balance. If you’ve got too much going on, you’ll over s=mulate your readers and cause them to close the email as soon as they feel overwhelmed. Design will play a big part here in keeping assets organized and balanced.
Enhance your content, but make sure you don’t have too much going on.
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• A video message from the CEO • A video interview • A podcast • An ar=cle that follows up on your most popular blog post
Ideas for newsletters with original content:
And why use original content? This is probably for you if you have a highly-‐engaged following that loves to interact. They consume lots of content on your site and want something fresh in a newsle1er.
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You will hand-‐pick content from around the web and arrange it to share with your subscribers. When choosing this content, look at what does well on your site and try to find material from others that runs in the same vein.
Ideas for newsletters with curated content:
Why use cura=on? This style is for you if you want to shine the spotlight on some of your peers who are either thought leaders in their fields or are crea=ng the kinds of content that your audience will enjoy.
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You will use previously created content and do a round-‐up or best-‐of kind of email newsle1er. If you only publish 3-‐5 blog posts a week, you might include all of them in one place. If you publish more than that, you might use the newsle1er as a best-‐of list or to highlight posts you thought were par=cularly good.
Ideas for newsletters with recapped content:
Why use recapped content? Recapping your content is a good solu=on for a busy audience who prefers to see the highlights all in one place.
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It’s no longer safe to assume that your newsle1er will be read on a computer. It could very well be consumed on a smart phone or tablet, so make sure it’s s=ll easy to view and navigate for those on-‐the-‐go readers.
Optimize your email for mobile devices.
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Just because your readers are looking at an email newsle1er doesn’t mean that there can’t be some interac=on involved. If you’re featuring some of your own blog content, link them to the comments sec=on on each of those posts. Include an email address where they can contact you to provide feedback. Link them to a poll or survey so that they can let you know what they thought and what they’d like to see in the future.
Invite interaction.
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Here are a few examples: free, money, bargain, reduced, slash, credit, credit card, and so forth. Look at what shows up in your spam filter. You’ll see a host of words that you should avoid using. Along those same lines, don’t use all caps. That’s another red flag for spam filters.
Avoid spammy words in the subject of your email.
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You might have a fantas=c editor, but even the best editors are fallible. Have a great proofreader on hand to look over the final product before it goes out to your readers. This will save you the embarrassment of knowing that everyone is going to see that glaring typo or misspelling that the editor missed at 3am when she was =red and trying to finish up. Make sure your newsle1er is as smooth as possible.
Have a good proofreader on hand.
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AZer the newsle1er has had a significant amount of =me to marinate with readers, you’ll want to look at your analy=cs to find out how many people opened it, how many clicks through it saw, how many deleted it, how many emails bounced back, and so forth. These are all things that will help you to decide adjustments to be made to the content, schedule, or other details in the future.
Have a plan for measuring your success.
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Perhaps you have a specific page on your site that houses the .pdf versions of all of your newsle1ers. If, when crea=ng your content strategy, you envisioned that the newsle1er would serve as a reference for readers, you certainly want to make sure they can access that content when they need or want it.
Create an archive for your newsletters.
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Once you’ve finished your newsle1er, it’s =me to start again. Keep in mind what you learned from the analy=cs, as well as from reader feedback and interac=on. Use that knowledge to help you shape the next newsle1er.
Do it all again.
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