Email newsletters are an excellent tool for B2B marketing if used correctly. A poorly planned or executed newsletter campaign can also have the opposite effect or even legal consequences. If you intend to start a new email newsletter campaign or revitalize the old one, we’ve put together an email newsletter checklist to help you.
As part of your overall digital marketing strategy, you can create a successful email newsletter by following these easy steps. Keep the list near so you can build an effective, on-point newsletter every time using newsletter best practices 2021.
Purpose of Sending Out Newsletters
The purpose of sending out email newsletters is to inform your clients about your industry, company and drive leads. Your customers are busy people, and your newsletter will likely be one of 126 received per day. Hence, it would help if you had a strategy to ensure that it gets opened and read (16% of emails don’t even make it to the inbox).
Provide relevant, unique, and personalized content to grab the recipient’s interest right away. Ideally, they should look forward to reading your mail and catching up on industry news and trends that can benefit them. In case you’re unsure whether this is an effective strategy, here’s a look at some statistics:
- Email marketing brings in $38 per $1 spent—an impressive 3800% return on investment.
- 2020 saw a 78% increase in email marketing engagement.
- 44% of email subscribers make at least one purchase from a marketing email
- A client is likely to spend 138% more when basing purchases on an email newsletter.
As you can see, email newsletters are an effective marketing strategy if handled correctly.
Choose the Right Target Audience
Send your emails to businesses that share your values and goals. As a general benchmark, aim for at least a 3.8% click-through rate. Blind marketing won’t generate the same leads as a targeted campaign with clear goals. Once your clients see you as an industry resource and expert, they’ll want to read your newsletter.
Don’t use the newsletter just to promote your company services and products; use it to share industry news, showing off how your products or services will benefit them. As with your website, speaking about your customers’ needs and pain points resonates more than simply talking about yourself.
Provide Relevant Content
Your customers want to read content that benefits them. If your company has an excellent content strategy, share your content. Be mindful that whatever you share should interest your clients. They want to hear information that is both relevant and helpful; don’t waste their time.
Alternatively, you can share outside or partner content and act as an industry resource. Lead in with a short introduction that puts your company’s spin on the content. Use the newsletter to share information about your company’s products or services, but present it in such a way that highlights the benefits to your customers. Relevant, exciting content increases your newsletter’s chances of being forwarded, providing free marketing to your company.
Plan Your Newsletter
Develop a template that works for you and your customers or use a ready-made one that accomplishes your purpose, and stick to it. Not everybody that receives your newsletter is interested in everything you have to say, and that’s okay, so long as they can find what they want to read.
Use your first paragraph to engage your reader and sign off with a personal message that makes the reader feel as if the email was meant only for them, not something sent to hundreds of customers by a robot.
Design
The design of your newsletter depends on a few different factors that you need to consider.
Your Clients
What type of newsletter do your clients want, and how much time do they have to read it? What is the maximum size for an email that their company allows? Do you need a visually appealing newsletter, or would your clients prefer plain text? These factors change according to your target audience.
Email Servers
Size your newsletter to be compatible with the way email servers will treat it. Try to make your newsletter mobile-friendly; mobile devices account for 46% of all emails opened. Try to tailor the width to 600x; this should accommodate most email servers.
Alt Text and Plain Text
Make sure that the alt text is there for when pictures don’t load. Some clients and servers block images, but you still want them to know the purpose of the image. Ensure that your newsletter looks good in plain text as well.
Legal Compliance
Your email needs to comply with the laws of the regions where your clients are located. Make sure that you comply with CAN-SPAM. European clients fall under GDPR.
Cadence
Cadence is the timing and pattern of your emails. Survey your customers to find out how often they want newsletters from your company, considering your limitations. Quality takes precedence over quantity. Send fewer high-quality newsletters rather than a daily update that nobody takes the time to read.
Understand your CRM tool
Your CRM tool will help you track your email newsletter’s effectiveness and route your emails to the right customers. You’ll need it to help analyze your data and track performance.
Test
Test your email before sending it out to your customers. Send it to yourself or colleagues for proofreading and see how well the design survives different email servers. Click on all links to ensure they are working. The testing phase is your last chance to fix any errors that may have crept in.
Measure
Wait a few days and measure the effectiveness of your campaign. Analyze the data from your CRM tool to see if you need to make any changes and apply the results to your next newsletter.
Wrap-Up
A properly constructed email newsletter with exciting content is a useful and budget-friendly digital marketing tool. Take the time needed to provide quality that your customers appreciate, thus increasing the chances of engagement or leads. Monitor the effectiveness of the campaign, remembering to comply with the laws of different localities. Lastly, enjoy the success of your email newsletter.
Looking for Honest Guidance for your next newsletter? Contact Us!
