The newsletter is your direct route to your target group’s inbox and, thereby, the ideal route to revenue, sales, or leads. But there are many pitfalls to the perfect newsletter that the recipient opens, reads, and interacts with.
As email users, we receive more emails than ever before, which makes it your noblest task to create value for the recipient – every time.
In other words, you can’t just send the same email every time to your entire email list and hope it gets results. It doesn’t. Your recipient will unsubscribe sooner or later if the spam filter doesn’t catch you before.
Pssst .. Want to read more about how to avoid the spam filter? Then read our complete email marketing guide, which takes you from A to Z in the email business. You can read it right here.
As we said in the beginning of the post, newsletters can be extremely valuable for most businesses. Here we give you 6 of the most important reasons why newsletters should be part of your digital strategy.
Six reasons to send newsletters/campaign emails
- Newsletters are your direct communication route to your target audience’s inbox, and you must take advantage of that.
- You have the option to adjust the frequency of your broadcasts, which also gives you the opportunity to influence your sales.
- Unlike other digital channels, you can personalize the content of your communication through newsletters, which strengthens your relationship with your target group.
- Through most email platforms, you can directly measure the return of your email efforts here and now, which gives you learning about your target audience and how you best influence them.
- Suppose you manage to maintain the relationship with your user. In that case, the user usually has a long lifetime value, as you rarely change your email address – this means that most people have their email addresses for years.
- Your newsletter can be read anywhere, regardless of whether you have a PC, phone or tablet.
An important aspect of getting your newsletter open
Your email does not matter if it is not opened
It sounds harsh, but the truth is that if your user doesn’t open your email, then your efforts are wasted. Therefore, it is essential that your user opens your email – otherwise, your efforts are wasted.
Here you get three elements to work with:
- subject line
- preheader
- Your sender
Why are a good subject line and preheader important?
To ensure that the reader is interested in opening your newsletter, it is important to have a good subject line, a good preheader, and, not least, the right sender name.
If your subject line is not exciting and catchy, your email will likely end up in the reader’s wastebasket or never be opened. Your subject line must fit the message you want to communicate with your newsletter.
Subject line
Above all, the subject line must not be too long. The number of words in the subject line affects the opening rate of your newsletter.
According to Mailchimp, The ideal length of your subject line is between 9-60 characters. If the subject line is longer, you may run the risk that the recipient will not read your entire subject line and, thus, not see the entire message.
It is, therefore, about making the subject line short and precise. The reader must be able to get an indication of your email’s message. The open rate drops if the subject line is longer than 60 characters.
Another idea is to personalize the subject line by including the recipient’s name or other personal information. This usually works well because we are more likely to open emails if our first name is included in the subject line.
The last consideration you should make is using emojis in the subject line. Emojis create an eye-catcher for the reader, which is advantageous in a full mailbox.
Preheader
The next step in the direction of a successful newsletter is to create a good preheader. When writing a good preheader, you need to focus on many of the same things as when writing your subject line.
You can use more words in your preheader to flesh out your subject line. The ideal length of a good preheader is between 40 and 100 characters – so you ensure that your preheader is neither too short nor too long. The purpose of your preheader is to deepen the subject line and reinforce the message that the recipient receives through the subject line.
Your sender
Another important aspect in getting your recipient to open your newsletter is the sender. The sender must represent where the newsletter comes from, and it is possible to test several types of sender names. For example: Involving people is something that can have a particularly positive impact on your open rates.
The email platform as a marketing channel may reinforce the emphasis on personalizing brands so that the user develops a personal tie to the brand.
The content of a good newsletter
Now you have done everything to get the user to open your newsletter. Now you need the user to interact with the content of your email. A good place to start is, therefore, in relation to the text of the newsletter.
When it comes to the text of the newsletter, you must always focus on the target group you want to address (we’ll get into that more under ‘Segmentation’) as well as the message you want to convey.
The purpose of the newsletter is also a decisive factor in being able to convey the right message. According to Statista, approximately 320 billion emails were sent.
And when you as a user receive many emails daily, it is of paramount importance that you send a newsletter that stands out.
Your email is one among many emails – Make it stand out!
If you want the reader to read your email, your newsletter must be addressed to the individual reader. Most recipients will not consider your newsletter a book or word-for-word.
On the other hand, the recipient will often read the newsletter in the form of an image, which is why the newsletter must also be catchy.
There is no ideal length for a good newsletter – it’s all about building a nice and clear newsletter that is easy to read and aimed at your target audience.
The guide to the ultimate newsletter!
1. The text of your newsletter
The text of the newsletter must be easy to understand and read. Therefore, ensuring that the text is not too long and compact is a good idea.
If the text is too long, it may mean that the reader leaves the newsletter without having finished reading it because it is unmanageable.
A good way to make the text clear and less compact is to break the text with images or CTA buttons. It is also important to keep a common thread in your newsletters so that they are recognizable to the reader.
In this way, the reader will never be in doubt that the newsletter comes from your company, and this also contributes to creating a better relationship between sender and recipient.
2. Create value for the recipient
The next step is that you must create value for the reader. Here you can advantageously use the 80/20 rule, which states that the newsletter must focus on creating 80% value for the customer and 20% sales. Think about the value you create for readers with what you send them.
When working with the 80/20 rule, it’s a good idea to highlight the most important USPs to get the reader interested in your company.
The more advantages the reader sees in your company, the greater the chance the reader will take action and thus click on the website through the newsletter.
3. The reader must be able to unsubscribe from your email list
Also, remember that the user must have easy access to unsubscribe from your email list, which is why you must have an unsubscribe button at the bottom of your newsletter.
The recipient must scroll through the entire email by placing the button at the bottom of the newsletter. This also increases the chance of arousing the reader’s interest and possibly retaining the reader as part of your email list.
Although few readers will want to unsubscribe from the newsletter, it must be easy for them to unsubscribe.
If the reader cannot unsubscribe from the newsletter, there is a high chance that your newsletter will end up in the spam folder.
If this happens too often, you may risk being blacklisted as a spam sender – and you would, of course, like to avoid this.
Having an unsubscribe button allows you to sort out the people who are no longer interested in receiving newsletters from you, and you can therefore spend your time on the readers who are interested in receiving the newsletters.
Things to avoid in your newsletters:
1. Using too many images
Images are good for breaking up the text but don’t use too many. Too many images can make it difficult to load all the images in the email, and you risk not hitting the mark with your message.
2. Don’t send the same message to all users every time
If you send too many emails with the same message, there is a high risk that your recipients will not read all of your newsletters – or will unsubscribe altogether. Few users want to have their inboxes bombarded with newsletters that have the same message every time, which is why your messages should have variety.
3. Don’t forget to test your newsletters
Once you have designed your newsletter, you must remember to test it. Are all links and CTA buttons working? Does your newsletter look right on mobile? These are important factors for the recipients of your newsletter.
4. Drop the bland subject lines
If your newsletter does not have an exciting subject line with a clear message, the chance of your newsletter being opened is very small.
Things to remember in your newsletters:
1. Remember a good and clear CTA button
If you don’t remember to include at least one CTA button in your newsletter, you can’t guide your reader to the desired destination. This can lead to fewer sales, less traffic on your website, and fewer conversions. Worse, it can also lead to unsubscribing from your newsletter. Therefore, you must include at least one CTA button in your newsletter.
2. Always use links and Alt texts on images
By using links on all images in your newsletter, you increase the chance of traffic to your website. It is easy for the reader to find the right product if they have to click on a picture in the newsletter to be taken directly to the product.
You can also insert an Alt text in the same place as your link to your image. Alt text should be the alternative if the image doesn’t load and the user sees your Alt text instead. All the text also indicates to various spam filters that there are considerations behind your content.
3. Personalize your newsletter!
If this was an email and your name was Bode, we would probably have written it like this. The more you personalize your newsletters, the better relationship you create with your users, so they don’t get the feeling that your content is just mass communication. Enter the things you know about the user: name, interests, birthday, etc.
4. Mobile first: Every time
The vast majority open their emails on their mobile phone. Therefore, it is extremely important that your newsletter looks right on mobile – always remember to double-check that it works on both computer and mobile. Why is using CTA buttons a good idea?
When you write a newsletter or campaign email, it will usually be to get the recipient to perform a specific action. Using CTA buttons in your newsletter makes it easy for the reader to perform a specific action – namely, to click on your site.
CTA buttons in your newsletter
When using CTA buttons, it is important to use the right text to get the right message across, and the reader wants to click the CTA button.
It must be clear to the recipients what they will get out of clicking your CTA button. The vast majority will not click the button if your message is unclear. Therefore, readers must clearly see what benefit they get from clicking on your CTA. Do not use wording such as:
- Purchase
- Order
- Register
- Download
Instead, use formulations that create value for the customer, where sales are less of a focus. Some examples could be:
- Few
- Experience
- Stay
- learn
By using wording like this, you convince the reader that the CTA button is for the reader’s benefit, and the reader will thus want to click on your CTA and thus the site that they are intended to visit through your newsletter. The ideal length of words for your CTA button is, according to Wordstream, between 2-5 words.
Why is it important that your newsletter is mobile-friendly?
The reason is simple: the vast majority open their emails on a phone or tablet, and, according to campaign monitor, 70% of all readers opened their emails on a phone or tablet in 2020.
The layout of your newsletter must be adapted to the mobile so that you ensure that the newsletter looks right when it is opened.
If the layout is not mobile-friendly, your newsletter will look messy to the reader, and there is a risk that the recipient will not finish reading the newsletter. Therefore, it is important that the newsletter is set up correctly to reduce the risk of it ending up in the spam folder or the wastebasket.
A/B tests – The closest you get to a conclusion!
Just like with many other digital channels, there is also no conclusion in email generation for when your performance and your key figures are good.
Therefore, you should regularly set up A/B tests to investigate what works best for your newsletter recipients. When you test your newsletters, you can optimize your future newsletters and thus increase your performance.
To do an A/B test on your newsletter or campaign email, you need to have a variable to test on – possibly two different subject lines.
You then divide the recipients into two groups, which the vast majority of email platforms can handle for you. The two different groups will be sent two variations of your email.
In the above case, where the variable is your subject line, the two groups will receive identical emails – except for the subject line, which differs between the two.
Analyze your test
When you then have to analyze your test, you must look at the key figures for which your test is important.
For example, you should not measure your click-through rate if you are testing your subject line, as these have nothing to do with each other.
If, on the other hand, you measure click-through rate, then a test of your CTA button will make more sense and shed light on which CTA button your target audience reacts best to.
It is important to remember to only test one thing at a time when doing these split tests. If you test more than one thing at a time, you won’t know which of your variables produced the best results.
Here are some suggestions for what you can test:
- The subject line and preheader
- The amount of text
- Sender
- CTA buttons
- The sending time
- Use of recipient’s name vs no use of recipient’s name
- Formulation of the desired message
Now you have written a newsletter and are left with the question: Who should I send it to?
An all-important element in a good newsletter is also who the recipient is. As we’ve already covered before, we rarely recommend sending out your entire email list at once.
But who should you send a newsletter to?
Segmentation is the key to a good newsletter!
It would be best if you considered how your content in the newsletters could become even sharper and more personal and create the greatest possible value for the individual recipient. The key to these things is very simple – it’s all about segmenting your newsletters.
Use your data
When you use email segmentation, you divide your recipient list into segments based on your user data. By starting from these segments, you can more easily send more targeted newsletters based on your recipients’ actions and behaviour.
Your recipient list comprises a group of people with different interests – and therefore have different ways of interacting with your newsletters. With email segmentation, you can adapt to their behaviour easily.
In 2017, Mailchimp studied how much better-segmented campaigns perform than traditional newsletters. The result of the study was that, across 11,000 campaigns, the following was experienced:
- 9% fewer cancellations
- 101% more clicks
- 14% higher open rate
We can therefore conclude that segmented newsletters work better than traditional newsletters. The competition in the recipient’s inbox is getting bigger and bigger, which is why it is important to be relevant to the individual recipient.
If your newsletter’s content is not relevant to the recipient, your newsletter will most likely drown in all the noise in your recipient’s inbox.
Only the imagination sets limits in segmentation.
You can use email segmentation in many ways. It’s about being creative with your available data and using it to send out more targeted content.
You typically already have some of the data you need to segment on your email platform. You must collect the rest of the data yourself.
Your segments must be neither too large nor too small. Otherwise, you risk that your efforts will not yield the optimal return. If your segments are too small, you risk that your newsletters will not reach enough recipients.
This will result in you spending too much time sending too few emails. If, on the other hand, you have too large segments, you run the risk of your messages being too broad.
Before jumping into segments, it is advantageous to consider how to best segment your specific recipient list. Among other things, you can consider the following:
- What products or services do you offer your customers?
- What interests do your customers have?
- Do your customers have specific preferences?
- What data do you have access to regarding your customers’ behaviour?
When you have to collect your recipients’ data, there are many different ways to do it. The most efficient way is to ask about it in connection with a sign-up. This could be, for example, through a registration form on your website.
Be cautious not to request too much information while registering. This can make your registration form too complex and result in a low sign-up rate.
If you want to collect more data, you can ask about this in your welcome email – or run a lead campaign where you get the recipients to give you more information about them.
Here are four examples of how you can segment your email marketing:
1. Your recipients’ interest
The recipients’ interest in your company’s products or services is one of the key areas where you can make a big difference with segmentation.
An example of this is if you have a website that sells shoes. Here it is important to know whether your recipient is interested in women’s, men’s, or children’s shoes.
Once you have built up large segments based on your customer’s interests, you can start sending out segmented campaigns. Here you can use the topics that interest your recipient groups – if we start from the example above, it could be children’s shoes.
2. Geography and demography
Location can play an important role in your marketing if you market various events, shops or other business areas. It can therefore be a good idea to build good segments around geography.
In addition, it may be obvious for some companies to segment based on, for example, age, gender or profession. This is all data that you can ask your recipients to give you in connection with their sign-up.
3. The campaign activity
Based on the interaction of your recipients, you can send targeted newsletter campaigns in several ways. Here are a few examples:
- Give special offers to the most loyal customers
- Attempt to reactivate the inactive users
- Send out campaigns to recipients who have opened previous newsletters
- Send out campaigns to the recipients who have completed your mail flow
Depending on which email marketing program you use, you can set according to who has or has not opened your newsletters. If you work in Mailchimp, you have the option to classify your recipients – to find out who is most or least loyal. That way, you can better target your newsletters.
4. E-commerce
If you have a webshop, there is a good chance that you have a lot of useful data in your system. This data allows you to target your email marketing.
Among other things, you can base or automate your newsletters on purchase history – and thus try to develop relevant product recommendations. Another thing you can use purchase history for is reselling.
Conversely, you can also sort out the buyers who have already bought one of the products you market in your next campaign. If you do not get these buyers sorted out, you risk sending emails that do not create value for the recipient.
Before you can start segmenting your list, you need to collect permissions that can form the basis of your segments.
There are several different methods for collecting permissions and additional information about your permissions. How and where you should collect permissions depends greatly on your target audience.
At FINANCEBODE, we have collected countless permissions for companies across many different industries. We, therefore, have a good amount of experience when it comes to putting together the strategy that gives your company the most profitable and committed permits.
33 ideas for your next newsletter
As an email marketing specialist, I often have asked: “But what should I send out to my email list?” It can also be difficult to come up with new content every time.
Precisely because of the above question, we have prepared 33 ideas with a primary focus on eCommerce companies, which you can use when you send out your next newsletter.
Before you dive into the ideas, the segmentation must, of course, be mentioned. We rarely recommend that you send out all content to your entire email list, but instead, send out your content to the permissions to which the content is relevant.
1. Brand & public holidays
Do you know when the next anniversary is?
Brand holidays and holidays are an obvious opportunity to make use of in your campaign emails. One of the most used anniversaries is Mother’s Day, but there are many more!
Have you heard of National Chocolate Day or Talk Like A Pirate Day? You must, of course, find days that suit your brand. Check out the National
Day Calendar for more anniversaries right here.
2. Gated content, Whitepapers or guides
Even if you run a webshop, you can easily give your permissions a form of gated content, which adds value to your product.
It can be a jeans guide, a guide to washing your clothes correctly or a maintenance guide.
If you use it the right way, your permissions will love to get the extra value and knowledge that you give them.
3. Before and after stories
Your product creates value for your permission (hopefully!), and you must utilize that value in your storytelling. Tell your permissions how Marlene got better skin from using your cream or how Ryan has had more confidence since he started using your shirts.
Your permissions will be able to identify with your storytelling, strengthening the relationship between them and your brand.
4. Loyalty program & VIP benefits
Many companies have some form of the loyalty program. Perhaps you have a customer club, a bonus or just a simple benefit that you would like to offer to those who are loyal to your company.
Use the initiative to tell your permissions about the benefits they can get from your shop. It may not create a purchase in the first place, but your permissions will have that knowledge when they later stop by your webshop.
5. Photos your customers have shared
Your customers are your best ambassadors and content creators, and you should take advantage of that. Send the customers who have shared a nice picture of your product a message and ask if you can share the picture. Most of your customers will be flattered and guaranteed to be positive about it.
6. Interview with an employee in your company
With a great advantage, you can focus more on your employees and use them in your campaign emails.
For example, it could be an employee who explains how they use your product or why they work with what they do. People and faces behind will always form better relationships than webshops where you know nothing about the backcountry.
7. Your most popular blog post
Many web shops are more than just product pages. More and more webshops create a universe that inspires and educates their permission – often via a blog (or similar).
Your permissions will love to become part of the universe or be sent new knowledge within a subject they are passionate about.
For example, you can share the most popular blog post of the month, which can create a strong synergy for the products in your shop if your blog post has an angle that deals with your products.
8. Updates on your social channels
You spend blood, sweat and tears on your social channels. Why not share the effort with your permissions?
Example: “Hey Karl, have you seen the six latest trends you can style your shirt with? We have written more about it in the post, which you can read right here.”
You can also inform about new competitions on social media.
Example: “Keep an eye on our story on Instagram and get the chance to win a pair of …”
It provides a good synergy and can help to increase your engagement rate across your channels
9. Back to Business
The end of a vacation can be the perfect way to push the products your permits may need when everyday life hits. With the right angle, you can push the perfect outfit and sneak for a day at the office.
10. Surveys
An ideal way to include your permissions is through questionnaires. Your permissions will love to give their opinion on products, styles or the like, and in return, you can entice with a little extra for those who send an answer through – win-win!
11. Simple tip about your product
You are an expert in your product and may have a tip or two that your permissions could benefit from. It could be, for example, how you can protect your shoes from wind and weather to extend their lifespan.
12. Discounts and offers
Your permissions have already signed up for your newsletter. If you engage them in your product – they will also respond positively to discounts and offers from your company.
However, we do not recommend that discounts and offers be a fixed part of your campaign plan, as they can be brand-devaluing if used too often.
13. That’s what our customers say
You are sure to collect happy customers. Why not share their good experiences with others and make other customers happy?
Your permission’s good experiences can help to inspire others and give new permissions the final push to purchase from you – due to the positive response from others.
14. Hidden gems in your shop
Do you have any products in stock that are sitting a little too quiet on the shelves? Please bring them to light and show what cool products you have in stock.
15. Updates on New Product Launches
It has been seen many times that hype has arisen around a new product launch. You can boost your upcoming products by creating a pre-order sign-up so that they are the first to be notified.
You can usefully spice up your campaign email with a countdown to the release date, which helps keep your permissions engaged.
16. This is how you can also use our product
Can your products be used in several ways? Create more value around your product by showing your permissions and how your product can also be used.
17. “How to” of how your product is used
Maybe your product is right for you – but it might not be for everyone. Show your permissions for how they should use your product. This is especially helpful for goods with many uses, for example, those that are part of a skincare regimen or that need instructions on how to use them.
You can give this information your permission – even before they buy your product, as that way, they are even better prepared and perhaps also see the value in your product to a greater extent.
18. Designer’s Choice
If you have a designer or someone who is behind your product, you can advantageously include them in your campaign email.
Incorporate the designer’s thoughts behind the products and let your email inspire the recipient. Your permissions will find the content valuable and inspiring, and collaboration with a designer can also strengthen the building of your brand.
19. The story behind your company
When you share your company’s history, you help create a deeper relationship with your permissions. This can ultimately make a licensee loyal to your brand as they feel they know your brand inside and out. So go ahead with the storybook and tell about your brand.
20. Personal greetings from your CEO
It is usually not your CEO who sits with the actual customer contact. However, using your CEO as part of your communication can be very powerful and rewarding.
A CEO can be used both to communicate about more strategic areas, e.g. CSR activities, and the softer values, such as why you do what you do and what it means that your permissions come with it.
21. Birthdays or anniversaries
The whole office celebrates the company’s birthdays and anniversaries – let your employees celebrate with you! Birthdays and anniversaries are obvious opportunities to send campaign emails with your permission. Whether it’s your company’s birthday or an employee’s anniversary – users will get a relationship with your company, which is always positive.
22. Bestsellers in your shop
There’s a reason these are your bestsellers. Introduce them to your permissions and tell them why exactly these are the most popular in your shop.
23. How to style
Sometimes it can be not easy to imagine how best to style your new sweater, the new chair for the living room or something else entirely. Use your newsletter to inspire your permissions and show them how the products can be used. A good idea might be to display the product with other products, which can lead to additional purchases.
24. News on your shop
How wonderful – you have new items in stock! It is one of the most used topics in campaign emails, and for a good reason – because your products are new and have great news value. So get them displayed for your permission right away!
25. New season – new styles
Many industries are seasonal, and it is an obvious opportunity to use the seasons.
Example:
Talk about the many new jackets you got for the winter season, or create a cool campaign email with sandals for the summer.
26. Frequently asked questions
You have probably received several of the same questions about one or more of your products:
- How does the product work?
- How long does it last?
- What is it made of?
Use the questions to form an informative email about your product that can clear up any doubts your permissions may have.
27. Payday
Focus on the fact that it is payday, and although it tends to become aggressive, you must remember to continue to provide value and inspire without pushing. However, it can be straightforward and aggressive.
28. Gift ideas
We all know we must go out and buy a present for our father, mother, friend or someone else – but what should they get?
Help your permissions make the decision easy. Inspire them and get them to buy their next gift from you.
29. The team behind your company
Either it’s just you or others in the team who work hard every day to create a good buying experience for your customers.
As a subscriber to your newsletter, you are not always aware who is behind the email in customer service or who prepares the many campaign emails you send out.
However, you can easily create a deeper relationship with your email list by sending out a campaign email focusing on you and your team.
You can either make an overall presentation of your team or run it as a series of campaign emails, where each email is about a person in the team or where it is divided into departments.
An example of what you can show about an employee in your company could be:
“Have you met Julie? She sits every day and creates content for our social media. Julie’s three favourite products are: ….”
30. Explore our categories
Many web shops have several product categories, and it is certainly not a matter of course that your permissions have visited them all.
Give your permissions (especially newer permissions) a taste of what your shop has to offer. That way, your permissions will also remember you the day they are looking for a new television. (Psst. Assuming you have the television on your webshop)
31. The biggest trends right now
Every single day, month and year, there are new trends that hit. You certainly have some products in your range that fit right into a trend that your permissions have to get on board with. Tell about the trend and use it as an obvious opportunity to inspire your permissions with your products.
32. The year that passed. Wrap it up!
Okay, you can only use this once – but on the other hand, it’s also extremely current!
Share how many orders you’ve sent through, how many satisfied customers you’ve had or just a New Year’s greeting from your company. Your permission is guaranteed to put a smile on their face when they open the email.
