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Producing an email newsletter: A basic overview

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Email Newsletter

When it comes to customer retention, email newsletters are an effective tool to have in your marketing toolkit. They allow you to test and improve your marketing message based on facts. You don’t need to guess who is seeing your message. You can measure who opens and clicks on your email (and what exactly they are focusing on). Through your email newsletter, you will find out what is of interest and value to your customers.

Content: The information you provide, or your content, will determine if your email newsletter is successful. After signing up, you have about two or three emails for your subscriber to decide if they will continue reading or unsubscribe. Avoid a piece full of sales jargon and pushy marketing pitches. Readers prefer helpful and thoughtful information. This will help to build a relationship of trust so your customer becomes interested in your service line and investing money with your business.

Content should be to-the-point, focusing on keywords. Your readers will most likely be scanning your newsletter so you have to capture their interest quickly. Keep your articles short – small chunks are better for quick digestion! If you have more you want to say, link to a longer, more in-depth feature.

Frequency: A good rule of thumb is to be regular enough that you keep your name in front of your customer but not too much so that they feel spammed. You may feel that a monthly newsletter will accomplish this or you may you need something a little more frequent, like every two weeks. The key is to be consistent. Create a schedule and stick to it. Don’t send out one newsletter and then your readership hear nothing from you for months.

Metrics: When it comes to figuring your return on investment (ROI), it’s all about delivery, open and unique click rates. Delivery is the ratio of the number of emails that didn’t bounce to the number of emails sent. Open rate is the ratio of number of people opening to the number of emails delivered. Unique click rate is the ratio of people who clicked the number of emails delivered. Here’s where quality and value of your content really factors in. If people like what your newsletter is saying, your numbers will reveal that.

Timing: Studies have shown that the prime time for sending out an email newsletter is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. What time zone you are in and where the bulk of your readership is should factor into when you hit the send button. You want to try to find that ideal time when your customer is going through their emails but they aren’t so busy they won’t stop to read your piece.

Subject line: You have about 20 seconds of your customer’s attention to convince them to open and read your newsletter. Make each word count! Let them know what to expect and why they should be interested.

Layout: Being thoughtful about how you layout your newsletter is as important as what content you put into it. You want to put the most important items up at the top with eye-catching artwork and headlines to draw in your readers. As most people are visual, you can often lead your customers where you want with photography, so make the most of this media.

Necessary items: What must you include in your email newsletter? You need to obey the laws relevant to your country. Keys things to remember is inclusion of an unsubscribe link and your business contact information.

Whether you’re just starting out creating your email newsletter or want to discuss a redesign, the team at West Press is here to help. Contact West Press or your Account Executive at 520-624-4939 today.