Do you have an email list and, more importantly, do you send email newsletters to your subscribers?
Here’s a quick roundup of what you absolutely need to include in your email newsletters. Some may seem a bit obvious but we hope they will give you some new ideas.
Write A Catchy Subject Line
This is the first thing that the reader will see when your newsletter hits their inbox. Your subject line should catch their attention and give them a reason to open it up.
You also need to make sure you aren’t giving too much away in the subject line unless it’s something vitally important. Pique the reader’s curiosity and get that click!
If you want to learn more about how to write a catchy subject line, read our 5 Great Resources For Writing Catchy Newsletter Subject Lines article.
Name Your Email Newsletter
“Well of course you need a title,” you might be thinking. When we say that your email newsletters should have a title, we don’t just mean something like “Business A’s newsletter.”
The title is the first thing a reader sees when they open your email newsletter, so make sure to give it some pow!
It should be directly relevant to the content and make sure that they keep reading past the subtitle and header image.
Give the reader a small overview of what they’re about to get into.
Include A Strong Header Image
This should be a “hero” image of your newsletter. This is an image that’s big, bold, and lives up to the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
It should also ideally be placed right after the title or subtitle.
There are a lot of studies out there that say images placed within text make the reader more engaged with the content.
If the readers don’t keep reading, then there’s probably something that’s burning them out.
Good images will help them stay in the newsletter.
Content That Cares
Always have, at minimum, a line of content that can relate directly to your reader.
This can be a topic sentence at the beginning of the newsletter, or it can be an anecdote you throw somewhere in the middle.
It’s always good to let your readers know that you’ve been in their shoes in some capacity. It will also help them resonate with your content a bit more.
Another idea for content is to re-use your social media, blog posts, or YouTube content. This is a great way to work smarter as you talk about your products or services in a way that your readers may or may not have seen before.
In addition to sharing your own content, balance it with resources you’ve found around the website that you know your audience would love to read.
This article, How to Create an Email Newsletter People Actually Read, HubSpot has some good examples of newsletters that work and it’s worth checking out.
Get Your Readers To Engage
Calls to action are an absolute staple of any piece of online content, especially for email newsletters.
They encourage the reader to consider your content and to further interact with your business.
Having readers reply to your email or click on your links is also good for ensuring it doesn’t get marked as spam and go to their junk mail folder.
You can also include teasers of future posts to keep their interests piqued. Maybe hype up a new product you’ve designed, or give a plug for your next series of blog posts.
Tell The Reader Where To Find You
At the bottom of your newsletter, you should include your website, social media links, and a direct link to your blog or a piece of keystone content.
This encourages the reader to interact with your other content outside of opening their email.
Let them know what else they can find on your socials or blog and show them a new area of interest they could read up on.
Conclusion
In summary, our short list of must-haves for your email newsletters is as follows:
- Write A Catchy Subject Line
- Name Your Email Newsletter
- Include A Strong Header Image
- Content That Cares
- Get Your Readers To Engage
- Tell The Reader Where To Find You
Do you want to discuss strategy around your email or newsletter and how you can send one out regularly? Contact us and we can discuss how we can best help you.
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