Email Newsletters Tips
One of the most underestimated but easiest ways of reaching your target audience on the Internet today is the e-mail newsletter. It’s an inexpensive and simple form of ‘push’ technology that is quickly gaining ground as its commercial value becomes clear. Make your message heard by keeping these tips in mind when you compose your newsletter:
* Keep your email newsletter short and sweet. Many readers find that the emails they receive are too frequent or lengthy. They are extremely fast in reading newsletters. The average time assigned to a newsletter after opening it was only 51 seconds. The studies show that only 19% of newsletters are fully read. Generally, the people are scanning the page or are skimmed a small part of the newsletter. People were highly inclined to skip the introductory blah-blah text in newsletters. Although this text was only three lines long on average, it was revealed that 67% of users had zero fixations within newsletter introductions. Keep to a set structure each time, e.g. overview (100 words), article (600), bullet points of article’s key points (150), sign off, including a summary of your business and contact information (150). Variety is also a key factor in attracting readers each and every time. Your newsletter should most likely consist of several paragraph-long articles, each about a new event or topic. Do not repeat articles from issue to issue. The reader are looking for new and exciting happenings and he will not be thrilled to see that you ran the exact article some moths ago. If you receive many requests to be dropped from the mailing list, it may be a good indication that your e-mails are being sent too frequently. Once per month are considered the norm, but this can vary.
* Choose the correct format. Do not use annoying graphics or complicated layouts. For instance, most e-mails can only be received in HTML layouts, which include certain spacing and font requirements. Creating an e-mail in a program such as Microsoft Publisher may look good to you, but it might arrive in inbox incapable to opening it. The simplest, surest format to use for an email newsletter is the plain text. Formatting the copy with a simple text editor but if you plan to use the advanced formatting capabilities afforded to you by HTML be sure to validate the code before sending it. Also, design one template and stick with it so that recipients recognize the visuals as your newsletter before reading a word. As well, using a lot of different colors or fonts can distract people from your message and might also appear dilettante. A simple, refined e-mail will almost certainly be more effective than one that’s too fancy.
* CAN-SPAM Compliance. Don’t start sending newsletters to millions of email addresses you purchased on CD-ROM via eBay auction. Send email only to addresses you acquire through a form on your Website. Also, make sure the program you use to send the newsletter includes a functioning unsubscribe link that allows recipients to remove themselves from your list easily. Finally, include the physical address of your business at the bottom of your newsletter.
* Invest in professional language and style. Nothing will harm your confidence quicker than a misspelled word or misused phrase. The enthusiasm can be shown in a professional manner: develop a clean, consistent, and correct voice for your organization, treat your readers with the respect they deserve. Use active, interesting words in your headlines, provide details you think will attract or interest readers, and use numbers or statistics to provide some back-up for your statements. Also, be sure to provide your organization’s contact information and website URL in the body of the e-mail; you want to be sure people can come to you for more information.
* Use “you” not “we” language. Comparing: “We develop software for bulk email marketing (direct marketing) and online business. Our services and utilities help you promote your business. ” with: “If staff retention is an issue for you, as it is for many medium-sized businesses, the answer could be in better trained management.” we see the first part look like an overblown advert while the second looks like an informative article.
* Respect your readers’ privacy. This can easily be covered off via a one-sentence statement expressing that details will not be shared with any third parties. Obviously spamming a loyal readership is a no a way - you may get away with the odd survey, but bombard their inbox and you’ll lose readers in short time. Place a link to your privacy policy near your list sign-up form. This policy will report how you handle the information you collect and how people can contact you in case they have any questions. Your subscribers have to be sure that you will not sell their addresses or other information to third parties without their consent.
* Never send unsolicited attachments. Don’t send attachments or special formatting, such as RTF or HTML files, unless you know that this is what your entire audience can and wants to receive. Ask intended recipients if they accept attachments, and in what format. For one thing, you don’t know if the recipient has the same software or even computer platform to accept your missives. Viruses are a serious issue, and attachments are a popular way to deliver them. Many times e-mails with attachments are simply deleted.
* Promote your email newsletter. Tell your existing clients, prospects and partners about your newsletter. Promote your newsletter in your sales letters, direct mail and email signature. Place a subscription box on your homepage. Add a “forward to a friend” button in your newsletter to facilitate new subscriptions.
* Remind people that they subscribed. At the top of your messages, include a standard heading each time you send a mailing. A short note like “Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter”.
In our days, the readers are even more flooded with information than in the past. As a result, people are getting extremely selective about which newsletters they’ll allow into their exuberand inboxes. Of course, this fact again increases the need for publishers to pay attention to their newsletters’ usability and to design. People are conscious of the need to protect their time, and they try to identify the best newsletters for their various information needs. On average, users have 3 email accounts each, using different accounts for different purposes.Over the time users are accumulating “old” email accounts that they rarely use. If your newsletter arrives in such an account, users might not see it while it’s fresh, so you could see a “slow tail” of clicks and orders coming in from such users. There’s not much you can do about this. Several participants used special accounts to sign up for things that they feared might be spam or be generally less useful. your task in this situation is to convince users that your newsletter belongs in a higher-priority account. You can accomplish this by following the guidelines for giving a credible impression in the subscription interface of your newsletter’s value and publication frequency.