A Beginner’s Guide to Effective Email Newsletters

Despite the existence of countless marketing channels for brands — from social media to paid ads and even to SMS marketing — various studies have shown that email marketing still remains the most effective.

Part of every successful email marketing strategy is a well-written and well-designed email newsletter. Here’s all you need to know about email newsletters and how you can use them effectively for your email campaigns.

The Benefits of Using Email Newsletters for Your Brand

An email newsletter, in simple terms, is a regularly distributed email campaign that contains updates and information from a particular brand or business. This can include anything from new product announcements and updates to special offers and deals.

There are several key benefits to using email newsletters as part of your marketing strategy, which includes:

• Increased reach and exposure for your brand: There are over 4.3 billion active email users all over the world, and from that number, 4 billion actively use their emails every day. It goes without saying just how much reach and exposure an effective email campaign has.
• Increased click-through rates (CTRs) and organic traffic: It has been found that the average email open rate across all industries is 19.8%, and the number gets higher when you personalize your emails. This means that email newsletters have a high chance of increasing your CTRs while also increasing the organic traffic to your brand website.
• A cost-effective way to stay in touch with your target audience: A study found that for every $1 that you invest in your email campaigns, you get an average return of $36. This is a huge return on investment (ROI) over any other marketing method while regularly keeping in touch with your audience.

6 Tips for a Successful Email Marketing Strategy

All the benefits mentioned above are only effective if you have a solid email marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at some quick tips to make sure your strategy is successful:

1. Keep it short and sweet

The average person only spends about 10 seconds reading a brand email, so make sure your message is clear and concise.

Start with a strong email headline that captures the essence of what your email content is about. Then, make sure that your content is straight to the point; try not to cram too much information into one email. If you must, it’s best to reserve the longer information on a separate landing page.

2. Always have a compelling call-to-action (CTA) button

As a related point, you need a CTA button to lead readers to your dedicated landing page. CTA buttons help guide your readers to take the desired action, whether it’s subscribing to your newsletter or visiting your website.

As such, it’s important to create a dedicated landing page just for that purpose — it would be inconvenient to ask users to subscribe to your newsletter, but the landing page is for your homepage and not a direct email opt-in page.

3. Personalize your emails

Addressing your readers by name in the subject line and throughout the body of the email makes them feel valued as customers. If you have the resources, consider using a tool like Mailchimp’s merge tags to personalize your emails even further.

Another way to personalize your emails is to segment your list and personalize your emails for each group. This will help increase your open and click-through rates.

Segmenting your audience will also help determine what time you should send your emails, especially if you cater to an international audience, which brings us to the next tip.

4. Send it at the right time

Timing is everything when it comes to email marketing. Sending your emails too early or too late will result in lower open and click-through rates.

The best time to send out email newsletters will depend on your target audience’s location and work schedule. A general rule of thumb for B2C (business to consumer) brands is to avoid sending emails during work hours (between 9 AM and 5 PM) and on weekends.

However, for B2B (business-to-business) brands, you want to target the times within their work hours when they are most available. For example, an ideal time would be before lunch, around 10:00 AM and noon, after folks have gone through their morning routine to clean out their inbox.

As a related point to the previous tip, segmenting your audience will help determine the best time to send your emails, especially for audiences located in different time zones.

5. Design eye-catching emails

The visuals and aesthetics of your email are just as important as the content. No one wants to read a wall of text, so break up your email content with visuals like images, videos, or infographics.

In terms of design, use an easily readable font (like Arial or Times New Roman) and avoid using too many different colors. It’s also important to ensure that your design is consistent with your branding.

6. Make it mobile-friendly

This may be a no-brainer, considering that over half of all emails are opened on mobile devices, but it’s still worth mentioning. A study has found that 1 in 5 emails is not mobile device-optimized.

Make sure that your email design is responsive so that it can be easily viewed on a mobile device. This means using larger font sizes, keeping your layout simple, and using CTAs that are big and easy to tap on a small screen.

5 Email Marketing Tools You Can Use

It’s crucial for every successful email marketing strategy to have the right tools in place. Here are some of the tools you can use for your campaigns, both paid and free:

1. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing tools, and for good reason. It’s easy to use, has a wide range of features, and is affordable — especially for small- and medium-sized businesses.

2. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is another popular email marketing tool that offers a free trial and a wide range of features. It’s a good choice for businesses that are looking for more advanced features than what Mailchimp offers, such as autoresponders and segmentation.

3. Sendinblue

Sendinblue is a great choice for businesses on a budget, as it offers free plans for up to 300 emails per day. It also has a wide range of features, including automation and segmentation.

4. Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns is a good choice for businesses that are already using other Zoho products, as it integrates with them. It also offers a wide range of email marketing features and is affordably priced.

5. Hubspot

Hubspot is a comprehensive marketing and sales platform that offers a wide range of features, including email marketing. It’s a good choice for businesses that are looking for an all-in-one solution.

Take Your Email Newsletter Campaigns to the Next Level

Email newsletters are a powerful tool that can help you reach your target audience, build relationships, and drive conversions. If you need any help with your email marketing strategy, including content creation, design, and optimization, Ilfusion is here to help.

To get started, send us an email at [email protected] or call us at 888-420-5115, and we’ll be more than happy to help with any of your inquiries.

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