6 Essentials To Include In Your Email Newsletters
by Robert Gembarski on January 19, 2012
For so many business owners, it’s hard to keep up with monthly email newsletters. Sending them out is not really the issue, it’s usually what to include in them that troubles them. We are going to share with you 6 essential must haves for every monthly email newsletter you send out.
1. Subject & Title
The single most important part of any company newsletter. The subject line will determine whether or not your subscribers will open your email or move it to their trashcan. In a recent study performed by Mailchimp, 40 million emails were analyzed to find trends on open rates. The subject lines that showed the best open rates were the subject lines that were straightforward about what was in the newsletter. Subject lines that come off as too “salesy” or “pushy” had lower open rates, therefore don’t use them!
2. Header with Branded Company Logo
Have your company’s branded logo in the header. This is your opportunity to make a first impression and promote your brand. Make sure that your logo is unique and that you have it in the header so that it stands out over everything else in the top of the email. It creates a consistent element for every newsletter and consistency is an important brand element.
3. Your Monthly Message
Share why you are sending your newsletter. Have something new to say every time and make sure that it is compelling, useful, personal and relatively short. People get a tremendous amount of email and in order to keep them interested in reading your monthly newsletter you need to provide value. Remember keep it short and to the point, nothing is more annoying then emails that drag on and on to just get one point across. Short, Personal, Valuable!
4. Recent Blog Posts
Always include excerpts and links back to your most valuable blog posts of the month. This way you can still share your valuable blog posts to some people who may not have gotten the chance to read them earlier, plus its a smart idea to lead your subscribers back to your blog and website.
5. Products and Services
Leave your sales pitch at home and out of your newsletter. No one likes to be bombarded by them and if you do, it will most likely lead your subscribers to unsubscribe from your newsletter or have them mark your message as spam. Instead of sales pitches, include photos and brief descriptions of some of the products and services you offer. It’s also smart to mention any special offers or promotions that may be going on or upcoming. If you do put pictures in your newsletter, have them link back to your product and service page on your website.
6. Social Media Links
And include links to all your social media profiles so that people can connect with you. Make all links visible at both the top and bottom of the email. If people connect with you on social media sites, you will be able to connect far more often than once a month with them. You can also offer social media share buttons on the newsletter, this way your subscribers can share your newsletter with their networks increasing exposure for you!
This is very timely as I am about to start working my newsletter more consistently. I do have to include my blog posts because people are not getting them like I want them, too.
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