Business newsletters can be a great way to keep in touch with customers. However, a large portion of newsletters either sit in inboxes unread, or end up being deleted without ever being opened. What can you do to increase the possibility that recipients will open and read your newsletters? Here are some tips to help you create successful business newsletters:
1. Create content that customers will want to read, something practical that they can actually use. For instance: tips, guidelines, checklists, recipes, or reviews.
2. Try to keep your format consistent so readers know what to expect. For instance, you can do a tip of the week, or customer questions that you have answered.
3. Keep it short. Customers will not spend a great deal of time reading a long email. Highlight important parts, and use bold titles and bulleting so that readers can quickly scan the newsletter and see which parts they are interested in reading more.
4. Do not make the newsletter one big advertisement or you will have recipients quickly unsubscribing. A good rule of thumb is having 80% useful content to 20% marketing.
5. Make sure to keep your newsletter branded, containing your logo and tagline.
6. Give your newsletter a consistent name so recipients recognize it in their inboxes, decreasing the likelihood they will delete it.
7. People may be reading your newsletter after it has been forwarded from a friend, so include a link so that they can subscribe as well.
8. The frequency in which you send out the newsletter is important. If you send out too many, it can easily annoy recipients. Usually once every two weeks to once a month is sufficient. If you are in a business such as medical or government and have more extensive newsletters, then send out quarterly newsletters.
9. Decide when the best time to send out the newsletters is. Business newsletters should generally be sent in the middle of the week, while consumer newsletters are better sent on weekends.
10. Get people to sign-up to receive your newsletter. Put links on your website and social media sites. You may offer an incentive, such as sending deals out to newsletter subscribers only. Do not send to anyone who hasn't opted-in first, as your newsletters will likely be reported as spam.
Newsletters can serve a variety of purposes, from educating customers to building a sense of community to announcing important news. If you spend some time finding out exactly what sort of information your customers are interested in, you will find your newsletters become something your customers actually look forward to receiving.
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