There are just too many companies out there using e-newsletters as a means to reach out to their clientele. Some are great, and some are not-so-great. Now, if you want to succeed in using the e-newsletter to keep your clients glued to your every word, you better not just give them something cold and generic. You need design your newsletter so it represents your brand.
1. Talk to your clients like human beings, not mere prospects. When you ask people to sign up for your newsletters, you are asking them to be your audience. With your brand in mind, think of a way to set the tone of the contents of your newsletter so your readers are entertained and informed. They need to want what’s in your newsletter each time you send a blast. Otherwise, your newsletter might just end up in the spam folder because it’s no better than an ad that screams it’s out to get people’s money.
2. Find a way to communicate and not simply broadcast information. So you’re having a sale. It’s nice that you brought that up in your newsletter, but having only that in your newsletter is risky because it might look like you’re producing the type of newsletter that only likes to hear itself talk. People prefer newsletters that are also gateways to communicating with your company. They want to feel important enough to be heard. Try to include links to social media accounts, buttons to blogs, and other mediums to hear your audience’s feedback. You might even want to include a poll to see how well you’re doing.
3. Make sure everything agrees with your brand. Does your newsletter look like it was made for your company? Everything from the typeface of the text to the placement of the graphics and the tone of the message should look like it’s from your company and nowhere else. If your newsletter is not different from your rival’s newsletter, then you’re in trouble. There’s a big probability that your efforts will be mistaken for the other party’s efforts at reaching out. Aside from including a little call-to-action at the bottom of your newsletter, what you really need is to create a strong identity that evokes recall. Branding efforts will go a long way if it’s also incorporated in your newsletter design.
4. Stay current. You also need to dish out hot, new information that your audience is interested in. Just find a way to dress it up so it’s still relevant to your branding efforts. Don’t stop at introducing your brand, though. Be the brand that knows how to flow with the changes.
5. Track your efforts. Like any newsletter design, your first one will not always be the most effective. Look at the conversion rates, and use took to track actual figures so you know which parts of your design or your content to tweak the next time around. Stability makes a brand powerful, but staying too long in one “look” can make you seem like old news. The key is to gradually update your newsletter when the timing seems fit. You’ll see it in the numbers.
