The journey of the newsletter often ends in the nearest spam folder. Unfortunately this is the fate of most newsletters but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are so many emails that come to our inboxes everyday and hitting the delete key has turned into a habit. Especially annoying are those with subjects like “Click me” and so on.

If you open two or three of these letters you will notice for sure that some of them are actually pretty well written and contain attractive offers. So let’s hope that this will put an end to the well known practice of throwing the newsletters away. The first thing you should do is to open a graphic application and to create an appropriate layout for your newsletter. Doing that you need to know which your target is and what your goal is.

Objectives first

Sending the newsletter to the right people is one of the key components of the email marketing. Therefore, collecting the necessary information such as sex, age, and interests is vital for your success.

Your first task is to achieve high open rates and in order to do that you should plan very carefully your strategy. Effective planning can be extremely helpful if you are trying to get the receptionist’s attention.

Content is king

Remember to keep your content relevant. Before writing newsletters put yourself in the place of your targeted audience and try to understand their needs. Also keep your letter brief, lively, and once again – with relevant content.

There are a lot of ways to make a reader interested in your offer. In order to make him visit your site, place a link to a relevant part of your web site. Do not make the mistake to send the readers to your home page where they will have to find that relevant information. Try to speak their language and make them feel comfortable on your web site.

A clever way to cover the lack of content is by using a proper design. Take your time and choose the best for your newsletter.

The amount of text you are going to use also depends on your audience. Keep in mind that young people prefer visual stimulation and less text while the older users can afford to spend some time and read more text.

Subject lines

When placed in a full inbox your newsletter has to be easily noticed. To achieve that you will need a suitable subject line which will provoke the recipient to open it and of course a trusted “sent from” address. At first you may underestimate the importance of these issues but in fact they are one of the key components. The subject line can be compared to a company slogan – it has to be short, smart and interesting.

The successful newsletter provokes actions and contains deadlines in order to increase the interest and make the recipients eager to open it.

Usually emails are deleted because the people are not sure how safe and trusty is the sender. That’s why it is recommended to use your company name in the “From” field.

Producing the design

After you have taken care about the subject line and the content it is time to pay attention to the newsletter’s design. One thing that will definitely make you an impression is the fact that the HTML design is very old-fashioned. The restrictions that are imposed are mainly due to email client compatibility. However, the table structure of emails has proven to be most effective. Also be careful when choosing colors because different email clients may recognize them in various ways. Keep you code simple and avoid JavaScript as well.

Most of the email clients have something that is called “preview pane”. It makes approximately 400 pixels of the newsletter visible before you scroll down and open it. The space that these 400 pixels provide is the most important space on your newsletter. So, make sure your headline is written with the largest fond and it matches the subject line. It is calculated that you have around two seconds to catch the reader’s attention so don’t forget about the hot spots of the screen and use them wisely.

Another option is to offer an alternative version of the newsletter. You can do this by using a web link. That way even if the email clients still cut your newsletter you will be sure your message will be delivered to the reader.

When signing up for a newsletter, there are three mandatory components – name, email and an option that allows the reader to unsubscribe. Also you have to choose the email format – HTML or plain text. Remember, the more simple you keep your newsletters, the more success you will have.

Make sure you don’t forget the unsubscribe option because if people start to flag your email as spam it is only a matter of time before one or another ISP blocks it. So, be sure you offer such option and make it visible and accessible.

Email distribution companies

The last step of the process involves sending the letter. It is common practice most firms to hire a communication companies to send their emails, to maintain the email lists and to provide feedback about the open rates. Make sure the company you have chosen has a good relations with a number of ISPs so your letter won’t be considered as spam. Also the hired company should provide full time support and be capable of performing analyzes on open rates.  

Another good idea is to try to build an in-house system which will send the emails. That way you will save significantly amount of money.

If you have read carefully the whole article you can be sure that now you know more about the email marketing then most of the people that are dealing with it at the moment. With a creative design, catchy content and reliable distribution you can be sure your newsletter will be successful.