1. Send Relevant Targeted Newsletters: If you sell only one kind of product or service, it is okay to send the same newsletters to everyone in your database. But, if you have a bouquet of products or services on sale, you would do well to segment your database into different categories and send only relevant newsletters. That way, you are not constantly bombarding people who have signed up for your newsletters with irrelevant e-mails. Remember that when you do have something relevant to offer a specific segment, you need their minds to be tuned-in enough to want to open and read your e-mail newsletter.
2. Your E-mailer Subject Line Needs to Have One Focus – To Get the Reader to Open Your E-mail Newsletter: Your subject line is perhaps the most important part of your newsletter – It will determine whether your e-mail newsletter will even be read! It is important to remember that the average person receives hundreds of e-mails every day. Your subject needs to quickly communicate the value the reader will gain by sparing his precious time to read your e-mailer.
3. The Purpose of Your Newsletter’s Headline Should Be to Get the Reader to Read Your Entire Newsletter, and Not to Sell Your Products: Remember that in opening your e-mail newsletter, in his mind, the recipient has just about resigned himself to set aside a little time to read your e-mail – Chances are that he will not appreciate you selling him anything in your newsletter, and that his cursor is literally hovering over the dreaded ‘back’ button! Your headline should merely coax him to read on.
4. Address the Reader by his Name, if Possible: It may take a little more effort, but you’ll be surprised at how easy this is for your technical team to implement. Chances are that you have already captured your reader’s personal information when he / she opted-in for your newsletter. Now, when you address the reader by name, e.g. when you say “Hi Lucy”, it adds a very personal touch – Lucy literally loses a lot of her inhibitions and feels compelled to read your newsletter.
5. Be Honest And Create Trust: “Talk” to your reader, like he is sitting across from you. Once you have created trust, you have won half the battle. E-mail newsletters that are from an actual person, written in first person, are extremely effective. See how personal your newsletter’s tone will be if its reads: “Hi Lucy, I am Bill, Consumer Relations Manager at xyz…” Bill has almost become Lucy’s friend now, and Lucy is likely to be very open to suggestions Bill has for her!
6. Your Newsletter’s Body Copy Should Build a Story that Makes the Reader Want to Visit Your Site, It Should Not Hard-Sell Any More Than the Headline: Many marketers make the mistake of trying to hard-sell their products in their newsletters. ‘Selling’ is best left for your website. Remember, once the reader has made the decision to visit your website, he is in a relatively more receptive frame of mind. That’s when you should make suggestions that involve some kind of purchase. Let the body copy of your e-mail newsletter build a brief, relevant and interesting story. Then, leave the story a bit incomplete. Compel the reader to visit your website!
7. Don’t Use Negative Reinforcement – Use Only Positive Reinforcement: Don’t create any guilt or anxiety for the reader with respect to not clicking where you would like him to! Offering an incentive for clicking on the other hand is absolutely acceptable. After all, there’s no harm telling the reader that this e-mail newsletter come with a special discount and offering a discount code, or letting him know that the products are currently on sale. Remember, positive incentives of this sort are most effective next to the ‘click to visit’ button. Offering some sort of “call to action” is usually quite effective.
8. Test Your E-mail Newsletter to Ascertain Whether Its Specific Purpose Is Being Met: Test marketing is always a good idea. Bounce your e-mail off a small test group that represents your target audience, and see how they respond.
9. Do a Spam Check: Lastly, once you are done finalizing the content for your e-mail newsletter, do a spam-check to see that it does not have words or phrases that would get it categorized as spam. If your newsletter doesn’t pass through spam filters, no one will ever get to read it!
– by Binifer Paymaster