Elements of an Effective Newsletter

E-newsletters are a great way keep in front of your customers. They are an excellent tool for communicating the latest news about your business or industry - a way to share tips, tricks, information, make product announcements or share special offers.

If done right, email marketing can help you target an interested audience almost immediately, and for very little cost.

You have all the tools you need to be successful, so how do you make it so your customers will read and get everything out of the newsletter that you’re hoping for?

Keys to Remember

Include an identifying header.
Every newsletter or email campaign your business distributes should have a clear and consistent header image to help identify you. Particularly for branding purposes, it’s a good idea to demonstrate consistency across all marketing platforms. Having a header and email template design that reflects the general look and feel of your company website is always a good move.

Make use of prime real estate.
Studies show that a lot of online readers don’t want to have to search around for answers. When your customers open your email, make sure the content you want them to have is right there – front and center. In the printed newsletter world it’s called “above the fold.” So, if you have important calls to action (like buttons or forms to volunteer, donate, register, etc.) that information needs to come first. Pretend the top four inches is all the reader will see, and decide what needs to go there.

Use white space.
White space is a powerful tool. Many people feel they need to cram as much content into a newsletter as possible. Often, doing so can have an adverse effect on your readers. With e-newsletters, less is more.

White space helps create more scannable copy. Use it to break up chunks of text into shorter paragraphs and link to more in-depth content as necessary. It can be very effective when used in conjunction with varied leading and bold type.  

Don’t forget imagery.
When combined with your copy, photos and other images can enhance your newsletter aesthetically, and if done correctly, can help with readability by breaking up text and adding balance to the layout. There is a fine line between just right and way too much, so do keep that in mind.

Avoid display discrepancies and blunders.
Be sure to test your email in several different email clients. Just because everything looks great in your inbox doesn’t mean it will in others. It’s good practice to give your readers a link to view the email newsletter in a browser as well as a text only option for those getting your email on a mobile device.

With a little patience and hard work, you can craft exceptionally effective email newsletters. However, it’s still pretty easy to tell the difference between the DIY route and professionally crafted campaigns. If you want to make sure your campaign produces the results you’re looking for, consider hiring someone to help.

ROCKET MEDIA offers several email marketing options for your business from custom template design to campaign management. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your email deliver!