You’ve probably read about the importance of email marketing and you’re seeking to know how to go about writing an email newsletter. If so, you’re reading the right blog post. Find out why email marketing is important if you don’t know yet, because knowing the importance of something helps you take it more seriously and learn better. If you’re not convinced, ask your coach, mentor, or role model why it is necessary to know the importance of things.
There are different kinds of emails you can send to your subscribers (welcome email, add-to-cart email, etc.). Today is for email newsletters. So how do you write a newsletter that your audience can engage with? What are the key areas to focus on when writing an email? (Actually, all parts of an email are important.) What does “an email newsletter” even mean?
An email newsletter is an e-letter written to your subscribers to share valuable tips with them, inform them of an upcoming event, and basically get your audience familiar with your brand. A newsletter is a piece of content you share with your audience’s inbox to remind them of your brand and enable them to take a positive action in favour of your brand. I’m going to divide the email into 3 parts.
- Subject line
- Body (greeting, introduction, main content, purpose of the email)
- Call-to-action
Subject line
The subject line is the header of your email. It is one of the first things you see once you get an email using a mobile device. The other things are the name of the sender and probably the first line of the email.
It tells you what the email is about before you open it. A subject line should be able to make subscribers think, “Wait, for real? or interesting! Let’s check this out. I think I need this right now. ”
So how do you create a good subject line?
Know what kind of title works for your audience
This is the most important one. A subject line that increases the open rate of another brand may not work for your audience. What brand tone best communicates your message to your audience? What makes your audience happy or surprised? As a marketer, finding and understanding your audience should always be the first thing. You can read more about how to find your audience. Then do research and also analyse the results to determine the best tone for your business.
There should be urgency in your subject line.
So now that you know who your audience is, you should be able to tell if they are natural procrastinators or passive people. If they are, and even if they aren’t, there should be something in your subject line pushing them to open the email immediately.
Keep it short.
Most people check their emails on their mobile devices. So to ensure that the most important part of your subject line is visible, keep your text to about 30 characters. If you can’t, the most important words should come first.
Make your subject line intriguing.
Your subject line may not always sound urgent, but you can choose to pique the curiosity of your readers. Even though most people’s mantra is “drink water and mind your business,” that’s just a cover for their innate desire to know about other people’s businesses. That’s why we watch the news; we want to hear the official gossip about other things happening near or far from us, with the valid excuse that they affect us too. You can master what intrigues your audience that is relevant to your brand and use it in your subject line.
Body
If your subscribers click on your email after reading the subject line (congrats), the next thing they focus on is the content of your email. You cannot afford to disappoint them once they have decided to spare you a few minutes of their time that they could be spending on social media.
Things to include in the email content
A personal greeting
Instead of just stopping at ‘hi’, add the subscriber’s name. First name only or full name, you decide. Just imagine a random person on the street saying “hi” versus someone saying “hi Ayo”. Which one will you respond better to (if Ayo is your name, of course)?
Images, GIFs, and videos
The average attention span is now about 8 seconds. Help your audience easily read your content by adding relevant and relatable images and memes. As much as possible, avoid using large files. You want your content to be engaging, not something that’ll take 100 years to load.
White space
Now that dark themes are the new norm, I should probably say black space…
Okay, let’s just say empty space. As I said before, attention span is reducing and people need scannable content so that they don’t get stressed before they even start reading.
Keep your paragraphs short, use headings and subheadings, use bullet points and lists. Separate lengthy paragraphs with images.
Quality content
If your content won’t benefit your audience in any way, you can as well delete the content or archive it to send it when they’ll need it. Just don’t send it when it’s irrelevant to your audience.
Call-to-action (CTA)
Just because I put this as the last point doesn’t mean your CTA should only come at the bottom of your letter. Your CTA can be present in your subject line, the middle of your content, and anywhere necessary, not only at the bottom. It’s a good idea to always end with a CTA, though.
For every email you send, there should always be a goal or a target that guides your call-to-action. The goal could be brand awareness, more visitors to your website, a purchase or anything you set.
Why do you think many people like to have a dog as a pet?
You guessed right. It’s because they’re warm and friendly and not cold-blooded or distant or extremely formal and just out of touch. So if you want people to love your newsletters, be as human as possible when writing.
