We are a leading web design and digital marketing company in the UK. We offer the best website design and development, and comprehensive funnel building services you can’t get anywhere else, encompassing exceptional quality, value, and giving you the exact solution you need for your growing business needs
Think of your audience as a real-life relationship. You must communicate with them routinely if you want the relationship to turn into something. After all, if someone reveals interest in your business and you don’t respond to them within days, weeks, or months, they’ll most likely move on quickly.
It is where email e-newsletters come in. Potential customers have shown interest in you and your business by subscribing to your email list. They want to receive news, updates, and updates from you. If you leave them out in the cold, it takes one click, and they’ll unsubscribe. So what need do you place in your newsletters to grab their attention and build a relationship? That’s what this post is about. In it, we explain:
- What exactly email newsletters are, and why they are so important.
- How to develop a newsletter that gets opened and read.
- Twenty-five specific web content suggestions for your next (or first) newsletter.
What exactly is an email newsletter?
As you would create a blog post to drive traffic to your website, a newsletter is a message you write for potential customers on your email list. It can consist of plain text and include links, audio or video files, images, and GIFs. A newsletter should be personal and tailored to each subscriber, as they have expressed interest in your business by joining your email list.
Why are email newsletters so important?
You’ve probably heard that prosperity is on the list, and there’s nothing wrong with that. A report from email shows that you can expect an ROI of up to 380% for your email list. So if you invest $1000 in list building and a worthwhile campaign, you can expect a return of $38,000.
Think about what that return would mean for your business.
You could grow your business, spend more time on new and creative ideas for your marketing, or have more time to spend with your family or take that vacation you’ve always wanted to take.
However, you will have to put in the work to make this dream a reality. You need to build a list (never purchase a checklist), nurture the leads on the list, and ultimately turn them right into repeat clients for your business.
Can you send any messages in your email newsletter?
No, you can’t. Your potential customers already have too much chaos in their inboxes. Every other company competes for their attention, sending them promotional emails and newsletters every day. For example, take a look at your inbox. What does it look like?
So, to stand out from the rest, you can’t just send any message in your newsletter. The letters will end up in the recipients’ inboxes, but you can’t be sure they will read them or open them.
As you can see, it’s easy to create a newsletter and get signups for your email list. But maintaining it and crafting a message to get prospects to open and read the letters? That’s the hard part.
So how can you create newsletters that get opened? Let’s find out. Then we’ll find ideas for newsletter content that you can use to expand your business.
How to compose a newsletter that gets opened and read
The average open rate of 21.73% tells you that not everyone on your list will open and read your newsletter. So how do you make sure that as many people as possible read the newsletter? These three tips will help you do that.
1. Start with a good subject line
What’s the first thing that makes you want to read a book or blog post? We’re guessing it’s the title or headline.
The correct headline is so important that David Ogilvy, a legend among copywriters, considers it 80 cents of a dollar. You’ve lost them if you fail to get people interested in your headline.
When it comes to newsletters, subject lines function as headlines.
Your newsletter subject line needs to be interesting, eye-catching, and pique your subscribers’ curiosity enough for them to click on your newsletter and start reading.
Remember, subscribers can only see a limited number of characters before their email app truncates the text. So make sure you put the part of your subject line that will pique their interest front and center. For more examples of subject lines, click here.
We all know what happens to emails in the spam folder. Your subscribers and potential customers can’t see those emails, and they won’t read them. To create a good subject line, you also need to avoid words and phrases that will trigger your subscribers’ spam filters.
2. Write good email texts
What does good email copy even mean? It means writing simply and clearly and asking people to take action.
You need a good copy because your customers aren’t interested in you. They are always looking for things that will benefit them. So if you want your potential customers to read your newsletter, you should write it about them.
Instead of writing about your company’s history or how you’re the best company in the world – even if that’s true – you should write your newsletter’s content from your customers’ point of view. What is worth it for them to read or click to learn more? What benefit can they get from it?
When writing, ask yourself, “Does this assist my prospects or potential clients ?” If the response is no, you should not include the text in your newsletter.
We’re all drawn to a good story. Good copywriting doesn’t focus on yourself but on your customers. That includes storytelling. Stories help create emotional connections that transcend a person’s background, skin color, or financial status.
3. Make your newsletter accessible on cell phones
Gone are the days when most people examine their emails from their laptops or computers. Today, we all have smartphones that can help us with almost everything. People order rides, pay rent, buy groceries, and read email – all from their phones.
It would be best to adapt your newsletter to make it easy to read on a phone, tablet, or another mobile device.
Newsletter content ideas that will drive your business forward
Now you will understand what a newsletter is and exactly how to write a newsletter that people would read, and it’s time to learn what to write about. Below are 25 newsletter content ideas you can use:
1. Welcome series
Welcome series work well because they help potential customers learn more about your business and how you can help them. Plus, it is a simple but effective way to get your business on the minds of your potential customers. You could send out your welcome series over three days and then newsletters once or twice a week.
2. Company news
Familiarize your subscribers with your company by including up-to-date company information in your email newsletters. These updates can cover various topics, from new product or service launches to a behind-the-scenes look at company renovations or employee information. Again, put yourself in your readers’ shoes to make it interesting and valuable to them.
Also, remember to keep it light – your email newsletter doesn’t have to be the literary masterpiece of the year. A simple email format makes it easier for you to write your newsletter and makes it easier for your email subscribers to skim the content and absorb the information quickly. One way to format company messages is to use bullet points.
3. Industry news
Keep your clients informed about the latest trends in your industry. Keep it short and simple and leave out overly technical terms. Remember who you are writing for, so adapt to your customer’s level of knowledge and write for them.
4. Holidays and occasions
Many monthly occasions, national holidays, and commemorations can serve as topics for your newsletters. You can aid your readers in finding the gift for the holidays or provide them with fun anecdotes and jokes about the events. Even highlighting an inspirational quote about a holiday like Martin Luther King Day can help you connect with your customers by communicating the values your company is founded on. With this type of newsletter, you should focus on entertaining, informing, and inspiring.
Vacation newsletters pair well with a promotional campaign. And don’t worry, we’ll help you with vacation email subject lines.
Of course, if your company is hosting an event such as a particular class or open house, an email newsletter with a description and link to the event invitation would be a quick way to publicize the event and encourage attendance.
5. Spotlight employees or customers
As company newsletters are a great way to maintain a relationship with your customers, writing an employee profile is a way to build a more personal relationship with your potential and existing customers. People love to get a behind-the-curtain look at their favorite company, and an employee profile is an easy way to create a connection between your company and your community.
Spotlights not only help humanize your brand but also require very little text. For instance, if you’re an interior designer or landscaper, write an article about your recent work for a client and include visuals (perhaps before and after pictures). For example, if you run a martial arts or driving school, write a short article about one of your students. The same goes for customer or client portraits. Upload an image, and post the spotlight in a question-and-answer format.
6. Guest or influencer highlights
If you don’t have an idea, go through your contacts and see if any of them would like to publish a guest post in your newsletter. Perhaps one of your contacts is in an industry that complements yours. For instance, if you run a flower store, invite someone who owns a local greenhouse to give expert advice on caring for houseplants. Guest posts are ideal for generating new ideas and making valuable contacts in your niche.
7. Open positions to fill
Do you have new job openings in your company? You can write about them in a newsletter. That will help you find potential employees who are already interested in your company.
8. Product or service guide
You can send a letter to your list with helpful info about using your products or services. Of course, this type of guide depends on your business. If you are a software company, your guide could take the kind of a video. If you make handmade items, you could include images in your guide.
You might also send out an email newsletter with unique and unconventional ways people can use your products or services.
9. Special offers and discounts
Offering an occasional special sale to your email subscribers can help you re-engage customers who haven’t visited your business in a while. You can also incentivize word-of-mouth referrals by reminding your subscribers to forward the email and share the special offer with their family and friends. Subscriber-only “exclusive” promotions also help increase newsletter subscribers and give them a reason to open your newsletter instead of moving it to the trash.
10. Product reviews
Product reviews are a great way to showcase your expertise. What better way to market and sell the products and services you offer than to review them and inform your audience about the pros and cons of each product?
Pick a product to write about as “Product of the Week/Month,” give some background information about the manufacturer, talk about its pros and cons, and how it compares to other products. And just because you don’t carry a particular product doesn’t mean you can’t review it. What’s your opinion on a product that just hit the market or another product in your industry? Product reviews are not only another way to showcase products in your line but also a way to build trust with your potential or current customers by informing them and providing resources that are of value to them.
11. FAQ/advice column
Asking your customers to ask you questions encourages engagement and helps you better understand them and their problems. Ask your subscribers or fans on social media to ask you questions, and publish the questions and answers in an advice column in your newsletter. This way, you can not only demonstrate your knowledge of industry topics but also open up another channel for communicating with your customers.
Do you get a lot of questions about your product or service? You can create a blog post about frequently asked questions and publish it in your newsletter.
12. Surveys, polls, or feedback
Being responsive to your customers is essential to the success of your business, and an advantage small businesses have over giant corporations. Most business owners who write the newsletters are also involved in the business’s day-to-day operations, so they can feel what topics to ask for feedback or comments on. Then, in your following newsletter or even on social media, you can address the feedback, answer frequently asked questions, and post positive testimonials or reviews.
An easy way to solicit feedback is to embed a survey in your newsletter – whether it’s a short, one-question survey that’s just fun to take or a more comprehensive survey to get specific advice for your business.
13. Blog posts
If you published a new blog post, you could share it with your list or share links to your top three blog posts of the month in your e-newsletter, with a one- or two-sentence recap for each blog post. You can do the same with older blog posts.
14. Resource roundup
Each week you can send out a list of resources or top finds of the week. It can include books, articles, videos, tweets, or, as mentioned above, your articles.
15. Behind-the-scenes web content
Not only can you curate web content from your company’s events, talks, and programs, but you can also post pictures of employees at work or on projects or fun celebrations at the office to share exclusively with potential customers on your email list.
16. A message from the chief executive officer, owner, or president
A few things make your subscribers feel like you care about them, like a message from the CEO, owner, or president. That will set your company apart from faceless brands and corporations.
17. Testimonials and case studies
Testimonials and case studies are a powerful way to show people that you can help them fix their issues. You can share reviews with prospects on your list who have not yet purchased from you. You can easily target these people using email segmentation.
18. User-generated content
You do not always have to come up with new ideas yourself. One easy method to collect user-generated content is to ask customers to share their experiences with your company on social media with custom hashtags. You can collect content created by your product individuals and share it with your email list.
19. Thankyou to clients
A small thank you can go a long way, especially when showing appreciation for your customers.
20. Share new versions and product updates
Use videos clips of your product or service to show how the new offering will be used and explain its benefits. It will aid in reinforcing the value of your product and service and drive traffic to your YouTube channel. Let your customers know via your email newsletter when you introduce a new service or feature.
21. Thought leadership
Are there opinions or updates in the industry that you have a unique perspective on? Are there common misconceptions that require to be debunked? You can either share these straight in your email newsletter or provide a link to the content if you can find it elsewhere, such as on LinkedIn or in a blog post. That is a great way to educate your audience while standing out from the competition.
22. Send birthday wishes
Surprise your clients by sending them personalized messages and even special offers on their birthdays.
23. Share your favorite books/movies/songs
You do not have to talk business in your newsletter. Inject some fun into it by featuring your favorite show on Netflix, a song on Spotify, or a book on Amazon. You can give your recommendations or share them with your readers if you’ve done a survey.
24. Vacation greetings
Send your customers and subscribers a simple greeting during the vacation season or other major holidays like the 4th of July, wishing them well and thanking them for their loyalty to your business.
25. Year in review emails
These emails are meant to recognize your company’s and your customers’ accomplishments throughout the year. They’re meant to keep your customers confident in your business (if you are expanding, you must be doing something correctly, right?), show them how much you appreciate their support (share what you’ve accomplished together), and maintain them returning(you read 22 books with Readable this year – up to 42 next year?!) it is a great way to engage your customers and meet your year-end objectives.
These newsletter ideas will help you craft emails that convey messages your subscribers will enjoy reading and look forward to. Which of these suggestions will you try first?
We’re here to help you build a successful business online peacefully. By providing you with the tools, systems, templates, support, and training needed to automate, succeed and scale without complexity, chaos, or stress. Contact us at Appledew today.
Read More: The 12 most common mistakes young entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them