Not all email newsletters are opened and read. Out of an influx of emails that lands into an average person’s inbox every day, only a few are paid attention to. So, what is it that makes a newsletter hook readers? 

It’s important for customers and prospects to receive information, updates and practical tips and guidelines related to what products or services you deal in. It is through high-value email newsletter content that you can give your list a look into who you are, establish your expertise, build trust – and grow your business as a result. But all of this will turn into reality only when you know how to write a great newsletter that people can’t simply wait to open and read – each time they receive it.  

Here are eight useful tips that you should use to write highly effective email newsletters that stir the interest of subscribers and help businesses, agencies and entrepreneurs achieve their primary objective.  

#1. Have a Clear Purpose

You shouldn’t start writing an email newsletter until you are sure about what exactly you want to say. Not having a clear purpose will get you stuck in the writing process, leaving the newsletter content unfinished.

Do you want to educate your customers?
Do you want to share company news and updates?
Do you want to build brand awareness?
Do you want to generate leads?
Do you want to drive traffic to your website?

When you know exactly what you want out of a newsletter, it will be easy to gather any information needed for it. Adding flow and cohesiveness to the content of the newsletter will provide for an enriching reading experience. This will pave the path for your email newsletter to succeed in the long run.

#2. Make it About the Audience, for the Audience

When people sign up for a company’s newsletter, they expect to receive informative and educational content in the first place. They want to see in their inbox messages that contain valuable information, industry insights relating to their likes and interests. They want to remain up-to-date with the latest news and events. But they become frustrated when all they receive is promotional emails. Therefore, it is important to understand the exact needs of your target audience and serve interesting and exclusive content that aligns with those specific needs. 

If you plan to create a highly effective newsletter, you need to keep it in mind that it is actually about the reader, for the reader. If all you do is sell, sell and sell, you will hardly sell anything. Your readers will only grow weary of your email newsletters and will finally unsubscribe from the list.

Making it about the audience and for the audience means serving the audience in order to make their lives easier. Share with them useful tips, tricks, tools and resources that they have always looked for.  

#3. Show Yourself as You Are

Email newsletters provide an excellent way to build relationships with your audience. And you’ll only fail in this endeavor, if you present yourself differently from what you actually are. Any kind of pretense will soon be discovered. If you want to build trust, you should make it a point to be real and truthful.

Continue to remain human in business. Talk in your newsletter about the key strengths of your brand and the milestones you have achieved so far through consistent hard work and dedication. It is OK to not relate to everyone. Act like a human and add content that brings genuine value to the lives of your customers and prospects. Making an attempt to please everyone will only result in disappointment. Instead of trying to mold yourself into something inauthentic, you should stay real and show yourself exactly as you are. This is how you can build trust, establish long-term relationships and achieve your business goals as a result.

#4. Have Clearly Defined Sections

It’s important for your email newsletter to have a proper structure. In fact, your readers should be aware of what to expect in your company newsletter. Since it is a document that is distributed regularly, you need to include all the necessary information that your subscribers feel excited about.

Think of an email newsletter as a digital version of a traditional newspaper. Just like a printed newspaper includes various sections, the content of your newsletter should also be divided into multiple sections. What exact sections it will have will vary based on the industry or niche you operate in. You will certainly need to customize the sections in your newsletter copy in a way that they align with the needs of the specific audience you serve and your business goals. 

Typical sections you can include in your newsletter are:

Introduction
Company news (achievements, milestones)
Upcoming events
Customer stories
Industry insights
Featured articles, blog posts
Product updates
A brief wrap-up

You can let your creative juices flow and come up with many more sections to pique the interest of the audience. Whatever structure you finalize, it is a best practice to stick to that structure. Readers await those newsletters that have properly defined sections tailored to their specific needs.

#5. Keep it Short

When it comes to writing newsletters, the general rule of thumb is to follow minimalism. It should be understood that a newsletter is not a blog post, which you can make as long as you want. Lots of content in an email newsletter will overwhelm the reader. So, you need to keep it short and crisp.

Most people using various kinds of digital technologies have a short attention span. If your newsletter is very long, reading it will consume a lot of time. People will find it quite hard to digest the content, leave alone acting on it. Various studies have also proven the fact that short emails are liked by readers and generate better click-through rates as well. While you create your newsletter, you should aim for no more than 250 or 300 words. Keeping the newsletter content brief increases clarity and boosts engagement and conversions as a result.  

So, include in your email newsletters short summaries of articles or blog posts while providing readers with links pointing back to that piece of content. In this way, you will also be able to generate website traffic.

#6. Share Customer Success Stories

Customers love hearing stories that directly relate to them. You should definitely include customer success stories in your newsletters. Try to create story-rich content as much as possible to share with your audience. Highlight specific examples of how using your products or services solved a problem faced by the customer. Use the art of storytelling to make your content resonate.

When you write a customer success story, tell briefly who the customer is and what kind of challenge or problem he or she is facing. It’s a good idea to include a line or two from the customer along with some visually appealing elements that help you tell the story in an effective and engaging manner.

Share a wide range of customer success stories in order to prove the versatility of your product or service to the customer.

#7. Include Photographs, Whenever Possible

A great email newsletter isn’t just interesting to read, but it also looks appealing. So, you should include relevant, high quality images that are relevant to the content of the email newsletter. You may also need to optimize the photographs so that they are properly sized for fast rendering and viewing. While using images, you should keep the right balance between text and images.

Either use your own original photos or use the ones with Creative Commons License. Plus, add descriptive alt text to each image you use to make them easily accessible to visually impaired readers. 

#8. Leave a Lasting Impression

Don’t aim for perfection or try to copy other people’s formats when you write an email newsletter. Your emails will stand out only when their content is original, high-value and well-structured. Your focus should be on creating newsletter copies that capture the hearts and minds of the subscribers.

Ask yourself if you are enjoying creating newsletters for your audience? If what you send out is really great, it won’t feel like work. Instead, you will enjoy the whole process and the audience too will be impressed with what you create. So, keep looking for stuff that you really love whether it is related to the copy, structure or design of the email newsletter. Create what your brand truly stands for and what helps you connect with the audience on a deeper level.

Looking for a Newsletter Writing Service?

Email newsletters provide an excellent way to drive website traffic and generate leads for your business. There is no shortage of ideas to create newsletter copies that help you engage the audience and leave a long lasting impact. All you need is to include valuable and relevant content in your newsletters, presented in a visually attractive way along with clear call to actions.

If you plan to outsource your newsletter writing, feel free to get in touch with us via a phone call or an email.