Create successful newsletters that are read [15 tips]

What is a newsletter?

A newsletter is an electronic newsletter that is sent out regularly by email. In most cases, this is done using professional email marketing tools.

These electronic newsletters are part of email marketing, which in turn is an area of online marketing.

What are newsletters used for?

From an online marketing perspective, it is a tool to pick up prospective customers and guide them through the sales funnel with the intention of turning them into paying customers.

However, the use of newsletters can serve very different purposes.

• You can stay in contact with your customers
• inform them about offers and special promotions
• provide valuable information and content, etc.

Newsletter marketing - legal framework

Email or newsletter marketing is one of the most efficient forms of marketing - if it is used correctly.

First and foremost, this means complying with the legal framework (regulated in § 107 of the Austrian Telecommunications Act - TKG).

Boring, I know.

But it has to be.

The exciting tips are coming soon.

Comply with the legal requirements. This will protect you from severe penalties. And it makes your email marketing more efficient, as compliance is a sign of seriousness.

In addition to the TKG, the requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation have also applied since 25 May 2018.

15 tips for successful newsletters that are read

As an online marketing agency, we know what is important. Successful newsletter marketing or email marketing must fulfil a few basic requirements in order to be truly successful. One of these is:

Your emails and newslettersneed to be read by the right people.

So my first tip is this:

1. Know your target audience

A good 50% of the emails and newsletters in my inbox end up unread in the wastepaper basket. Why is that? Because they are not relevant to me.

I don't need promotional emails from someone who has bought my address somewhere. Nor do I need sales emails just because I once downloaded a white paper.

What I read are newsletters that I have subscribed to because I am interested in the topic. Because I hope to find out more about it.

Your newsletter subscribers feel the same way I do.

That's why you should get to know them as well as possible. The more precise, the better. What's that called again in online marketing? Oh yes. Create a buyer persona.

2. Know the customer journey of your readers

If you have a persona of your target group, then you already know their interests.

However, you don't yet know what stage of the purchase decision the individual recipient of your mailings is at.

If you send a newsletter containing links to your service or sales pages to someone who is only looking for information, it can quickly happen that they unsubscribe from your newsletter list.

Get to know the customer journey of your readers and send information for each touchpoint (point of contact with your offer) of this journey.

3. Write relevant newsletters

Depending on where your readers are on their journey, they need different information.

Some people may have subscribed to your newsletter because they are looking for a solution to their problem. Fulfil the hopes of these subscribers by showing them in your mailings that you offer these solutions.

Another subscriber knows what they want but doesn't yet know who to buy from. In this case, your newsletter must convince them that your offer is the best of all.

Someone who is about to make a purchase decision may just need a little more information about features or prices.

The wrong newsletter at the wrong time and you run the risk of losing the subscriber.

How do you know where your email recipients are on their customer journey?

In most cases, you don't know, but your readers do.

Create a newsletter campaign and a separate landing page (or a separate newsletter subscription form) for each touchpoint with the option to subscribe to the list.

Readers will then already know where to enter their contact details and will only receive mailings and newsletters that are relevant to them.

Speaking of entering contact details.

4. No newsletter without double opt-in

Only send newsletters to people who have actually signed up to your newsletter list.

Sounds unspectacular, but it is extremely important.

Save yourself the money for purchased email addresses.

Apart from the fact that, according to TKG § 107, it is illegal to send messages for advertising purposes to people without prior consent, mailings to these addresses are only of very limited success.

Once an interested party has subscribed to your newsletter list and confirmed their subscription via double opt-in, you have gained a new recipient of your newsletter.

Ideally, this is the start of a long-term, trusting relationship that needs to be constantly nurtured.

Now let's take a look at what else you need to consider in order to create successful newsletters that are read and not immediately discarded by the recipient.

5. Use the AIDA formula

The AIDA model is used to write effective advertising copy. However, it is also ideal for creating newsletters that are intended to be read.

And let's be honest. Basically, our newsletters are nothing more than an unobtrusive way of advertising our offer.

In the following, I'll show you how to use the AIDA model in your newsletters.

5.1 How to increase the open rate of your newsletter

The first thing the recipients of your mailings see is the subject line, consisting of the sender's name, the subject and a teaser. To increase the open rate, you need to stand out immediately.

And this is how you do it:

5.1.1 Use a real reply address

If you want to build a relationship of trust with your recipients, a genuine reply-to address is essential.

Not a NOREPLY address!

The recipient wants to get in touch with you if they have any questions or problems. If you do not offer this possibility with a NOREPLY address, the trust is gone.

So: Choose a valid address with a real inbox that is regularly read by you or an employee.

5.1.2 Use a sender name that inspires confidence

The subject line is your door opener. The user name is your ID card.

Would you open the door to someone you don't know or who doesn't identify themselves?

The sender's name should be trustworthy and have a high recognition value.

Best practice is to use your own name or the name of the company. This way, the recipient knows immediately who they are dealing with.

5.1.3 Write enticing subject lines

The first A in the AIDA formula stands for Attention.

You can attract the attention of your subscribers with an enticing subject line.

The subject is the headline of your email. The same rules therefore apply as for good H1 headlines.

My two German-language favourites show you how to write enticing headlines (subject lines) here and here.

5.1.4 The preheader - arouse interest with the first sentence

The second part of the subject line is the preheader. The preheader has enormous potential to arouse the interest of the recipients of your mailings.

Like the subject, it offers an insight into the content of your newsletter by displaying the first line(s) as a teaser after or below the subject.

Don't waste this potential that the preheader brings with it.

The preheader is an extension of your subject line. Utilise it by making the first few lines of your newsletter interesting. Don't make the mistake of simply repeating the subject line.

Restriction: The length is limited to around 100 characters. Take this into consideration. Pack a benefit for your reader into these 100 characters. Or anything else that piques their interest.

If you do your homework well and design the subject line perfectly, the click rate will inevitably increase. Your message will be opened and read by the recipient.

If you follow the other tips ????

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5.2 After opening is before reading on

Once you have caught the reader's attention and interest with good subject lines, you need to keep them interested.

That's what the first few sentences of your newsletter are for. For nothing else. Just to arouse and maintain interest.

I have a great example for you.

This is a teaser (introductions) on Brian Dean's blog. backlinko.com

Let's imagine what these first lines would look like in a newsletter. I have translated the teaser and packaged it a little as a newsletter.

Personally, I would read the newsletter and I would click on the link to the article.

How about you?

Okay.

You've got your readers to open it with an enticing subject line and your first few lines have piqued their interest. You're on the right track.

But an excellent subject line and a good open or click rate are not enough. Sooner or later, you want to turn your readers into paying customers. Am I right?

Then let's move straight on to the next tips.

6. Give away (almost) all of your knowledge

Offer your readers everything you have to offer. Well, almost everything.

Provide so much benefit and added value that your subscribers can't help but read your newsletter.

If you stick to the following rule, you don't have to be afraid of giving away too much information.

"Show WHAT it takes to solve a problem. The HOW can be purchased from you for a fee."

7. Write short newsletters

I don't know how many mailings you receive per day. For me it's a good 70-80.

If I subtract the spam, there's still a lot left over.

If they're too long, I can't read them all. Even if I wanted to.

On the other hand, I read short, snappy messages. If they are relevant to me.

VLADISLAV MELNIK from chimpify.de has found a very efficient recipe for this. He writes short teasers - usually the first few lines of his blog articles - and then links directly to them.

Here is a screenshot:

If you wanted to categorise the length of newsletters, I would personally say:shorter messagesarebetterfor B2B marketing. Business people have less time.

8. Write long newsletters

Now that looks like I'm contradicting myself.

But, wait a minute.

There are actually newsletters that are long, like a short blog article, and yet they still get read.

The secret: storytelling and a natural conversational tone.

Tell a story and draw your readers deeper and deeper into your text. Write as if you were telling the reader the story in person. If you do it well, there will be no escape for your subscribers. On the contrary. They will wait impatiently for your next newsletter.

I have a good example of this too. Walter Epp from schreibsuchti.de writes long newsletters that are read. And his newsletter list keeps growing and growing.

One reason for this is certainly that he works in B2C marketing. Private individuals take the time to read such long texts.

If it also works in the B2B sector, please let me know, Walter :)

Here is a screenshot of such a "storytelling mail"

I admit, I'm one of Walter's newsletter subscribers and I eagerly await every one of his loooooooooong stories.

When I get a short message from him, I'm almost a little sad. ????

9. Write as much as necessary

And here it comes.

Whether it's a long or short newsletter - always write as much as necessary and as little aspossible .

Don't shorten your messages so much that important information is missing.

Don't stretch your messages unnecessarily with filler sentences and words just to write more.

Newsletters that are read contain all the necessary information. No more and no less.

Exception: You wrap your information in stories and manage to captivate newsletter recipients through storytelling.

Link tip: Newsletters that inspire - from media Beats

10. Use professional email marketing programmes

Ensure that your newsletters are delivered reliably.

Professional email marketing programmes save you a lot of work and ensure that your newsletter is delivered reliably.

The costs are relatively low. They don't cost a fortune, especially for small lists.

Video: Create a Mailchimp newsletter

Here are some providers & link tips:

Newsletter2go

Cleverreach

GetResponse

21 newsletter tools for successful email marketing

Newsletters that inspire - a guide from media-beats.com

11. "I hate spam"

Have you ever read this sentence under one or two registration forms?

And have you still been spammed with messages and newsletters afterwards?

Such providers are immediately cancelled by me.

Don't spam your readers.

Make people wait. Not too long, but not too short either.

Provide good, relevant content. Offer benefits and added value.

True to the motto:

12. Continuity and quality instead of quantity

Let's assume that you want to turn your newsletter subscribers into paying customers.

To do this, you need to build a relationship based on trust. And this is best achieved through reliability and quality. Not through quantity.

You don't have to send every day. Especially not if you have nothing useful to say.

Instead, find a sensible rhythm and stick to it continuously.

If you have something interesting to report every week, then send weekly. If there is only something new every fortnight or even every month, then adjust your rhythm accordingly.

This way, your newsletter will never be perceived as spammy. On the contrary. Your subscribers will appreciate it and perhaps even recommend it to others.

13. Perfect timing - time of dispatch

In addition to all the points I have mentioned so far, the timing of sending plays an important role in whether your newsletters are read or not.

A rough estimate can be derived from the target group.

In the B2B sector, the usual office hours will be appropriate. The weekdays Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have proved particularly effective.

On Monday, tasks left over from the previous week are often completed and on Friday, one or two tasks are usually finished quickly and people are already thinking about the weekend.

In the B2C sector, the evening and the weekend tend to be favourable dispatch times. This is when the reader comes home from work and can check their inbox in peace.

If you want to know exactly, the aforementioned professional tools such as Newsletter2go, Cleverreach, GetResponse, etc. will help you. These analyse the time at which the messages are opened and send them on a scheduled basis if desired.

14. The salutation - personalise or not

The name is a trigger. It attracts attention. That much is clear.

What is not so clear, however, is what reaction the mention of a name triggers. Attraction or rejection.

Yes, rejection is also possible. I have experienced both.

Basically, we feel positive when someone addresses us by name. It conveys closeness and familiarity.

But I've also experienced that this can be the opposite, especially with new subscribers. For two reasons.

1. Addressing a stranger personally by their name (often even just their first name) is perceived as alienating and unpleasant.
2. Personalisation - i.e. the name in the subject line or elsewhere in the text - indicates automation and is therefore not exactly conducive to trust.

It becomes unpleasant if the personalisation does not work properly and you see something like [first name] or [first name].

If you decide to use personalisation, it should look like this:

It should not look like this:

We, at ithelps, do not use personalisation and trigger attention through other effective signals.

15. The footer - it's all about trust here

Include your legal notice, the name and contact details of a contact person in the footer (bottom section of your newsletter).

You can also provide references here and refer to other interesting content on your website.

A link to unsubscribe also belongs here. This is a legal requirement.

With these tips, you will never again have the problem of your newsletters not being read.

But there is one more thing.

What if your message has been read to the end? Was that all? Or is there more to come?

Of course there's more:

The CALL TO ACTION

You are definitely pursuing a goal with your newsletter marketing.

You need to communicate this goal. In the form of a call to action, as the call to action is called in German.

You want your reader to follow a link to one of your blog articles. Then ask them to do so: READ THE ARTICLE NOW!

You want them to visit your offer on your website. Then communicate this: VIEW OFFER NOW!

The CTA is generally located at the end of the message. For long newsletters, however, you can distribute several (2-3) calls to action in the text.

In a text-only newsletter, these are hyperlinks. In HTML format, it can also be a prominent button at the end.

If you have done everything right beforehand, your CTA will be clicked.

The perfect newsletter - conclusion

As you can see, there are many factors to consider in order to create successful newsletters that are read.

If I could only give you 3 tips, it would be these:

1. Know your target group
2. Deliver the highest (relevant) quality
3. Avoid spam

If you follow these 3 points, you are already on the right track. If you also follow the other tips I have given you, nothing will stand in the way of a successful newsletter. You will create successful newsletters that are opened, read and subscribed to.