In my last post, I discussed the basic rules of effective email marketing. While you may be tempted to look at email marketing as another word for spam, many of your customers will truly appreciate informative, creative content delivered by email. What goes into creating effective email newsletters and how can they help your business?
Effective email newsletters versus spam – a big difference
What’s the major difference between effective email newsletters and spam? First, users welcome content they’ve agreed to accept, so the first and most effective email newsletter tactic you’ll want to employ is an opt-in list. Only send your email newsletter to those customers and potential customers who ask to receive your content. Create plenty of opportunities for them to receive your newsletter. Consider using banners or other display ads placed prominently on your website to help generate email newsletter leads.
Once you have these leads, take good care of them! Provide your customers with useful content on a regular basis, but don’t feel like you need to contact your list members every day. Monthly email newsletters containing information about promotions, changes to your business, important changes related to your industry and new products or services are always welcome for your most interested (and invested) clients.
An effective email newsletter is short! Having a target size for your newsletter will also help you to limit yourself to sending only the best, most interesting content.
Make an effective email newsletter with well-designed graphics and color, but always provide a text-only option. Also, be careful about embedding video or audio files into your email. These tools can be very handy and they can enhance your readers’ experiences, but auto-play controls in the user’s mail reader can cause problems in an office setting.
The effective email newsletter takes into account the reader’s platform. If your customer normally receives his email on a mobile device, sending a graphics-heavy, content-rich file may not have the same impact it would if it were received on a desktop computer. Being able to customize your content for your user’s comfort will earn extra points all the way. If you’re not sure how to differentiate, be conservative and optimize your newsletter for mobile readers.
Collect feedback by using special offers, coupons, surveys, links and other response-oriented mechanisms. Tracking the customer response to these can help you gauge whether you’re producing an effective email newsletter, and improve the quality of your content over time.
If you would like more information about creating effective email newsletters, please contact our Creative Director, Dave Ramsell or give Dave a call at (330) 243-0651 to set up a consultation.
Photo Credit: soopahtoe, via FreeImages.com
