So, you’ve been online and everything you’ve read about marketing is telling you that having “a list” is key. Or to put it another way, everyone is telling you to build a large database of subscribers who have signed up to hear from you by way of your newsletter. And that seems simple enough, doesn’t it?

The answer

Well, yes and no. An effective newsletter is a great way of keeping yourself “top of mind” of all your fans, helping spread the word about your business, and with luck (or hard work) win new clients.

So far so good, but if you’ve ever written a regular newsletter, you’ll already know that getting those subscribers and creating great newsletters is hard! And getting subscribers to actually open your newsletter and click on those all-important links is even harder.

So, what’s the magic formula?

Actually, there is no magic or mystery to newsletter success. The real secret is to always keep in mind a few standard but golden rules:

1.Know your objective and get organised

It’s all too easy to think, oh cr*p, it’s newsletter day I better just get something out. But in fact, like all marketing tools, you need to have some clear objectives in mind: What’s the overall objective of writing a regular newsletter (more visits to your website, increased brand awareness, more phone call enquiries)? What’s the objective of each individual newsletter? Promotion of a particular product or event? Hand in hand with objectives goes planning. Your newsletters will perform better and be much easier to manage if it is thought out and planned well in advance so that it dovetails nicely with your other marketing activities. You also need to consider how you’re going to organise the content you include. If you just chuck everything in, don’t be surprised if it looks a bit like lumpy porridge.

2. Quality and relevance

When I’m writing a newsletter, I always start by reminding myself that my readers are very busy. And if they’ve been kind enough to allow me into their inbox and better still, if they’ve given me 5 minutes of their time to read my newsletter, then I better make it worth their while, or they might just dump me. Think about your own behaviour when you’re busy and your inbox is filling up. The chances are, you’ll only read stuff that you know is going to be interesting or useful. And won’t take too long. So that’s your mission when writing your own newsletter, to deliver something worthwhile… every… single… time. In a nice succinct and easy-to-read way. The other thing to bear in mind is that although it’s called a newsletter, just telling readers all about your news and what you’ve been up to is rarely interesting enough. There, I’ve said it. Your readers are much more interested in themselves than they are in you, so unless your news is somehow of use to them, less is more!

3.Frequency

Frequency is going to be dependent on the point above, namely how much really interesting and relevant news can you generate consistently? If you’re writing lifestyle newsletters with regular recommendations for great things to do (a weekend away, a new restaurant, a local wine) then weekly newsletters just before the weekend may be absolutely fine. But if you’re writing about widgets, honestly, how much do your clients really want or need to hear from you? Would monthly be more than enough? Consistency is also key here. If you’ve announced to the world that you’ll be publishing a weekly newsletter, that’s what you’ve got to do. Every week. However busy or boring your world has been.

4. Length

This is super tricky and again depends on your audience and what else is in your newsletter. Does it have links to articles on your website, links to external content, lots of photographs, and testimonials? I’ve seen newsletters that are just one sentence long but have perhaps four links (with a compelling Call to Action with each) and it works really well. What you don’t want to do is write too much. Nobody really has time to read for more than a minute or two so a couple of paragraphs is usually sufficient.

5. Keep it simple

OK, so you’re one of those lucky businesses which have lots going on and lots of great information to share. Great, but don’t overwhelm your reader. Remember your objective? Do you want them to visit one particular page of your website perhaps? Well then don’t include 6 links to all sorts of other places. And don’t forget to make it really clear and simple what you want them to do… or they won’t do it. Keep the design and format clean, and make sure every aspect of is it easy. That usually means one clear Call to Action. And while you’re thinking about your design, go back and look at your newsletter sign-up page. Is it clear and compelling? Does it tell subscribers what to expect from your newsletter and give them a reason to sign up in the first place?

6. Not too much sell

Of course, ultimately you want to get more sales, but nobody wants something rammed down their throat. That means keeping a healthy balance. Focus on delivering really interesting, valuable content and keep the sales to about 10%.

7. Spend time writing a “wow” factor email subject line

Most of your readers will decide whether or not to open your newsletter based on the email subject line. As internet users, we’ve all become pretty good and using these one-liners to filter out the stuff we don’t think is interesting or might be spam. That means, in order to get your readers to even open your newsletter, your subject line has got to be pretty damn compelling. Don’t write it as an afterthought. Tempt them, tease them, let them know what amazing things are within. Use emotive and sensory language, be playful… but never, ever promise something in the email subject line and then fail to deliver. It’s a breach of trust and you will lose subscribers.

8. Promotion

Spend a little time thinking about how you will promote your newsletter. Will you invite people to sign up in your social media posts, or as your Call to Action at a networking event. Think about the wording you will use to encourage people to sign up. These little snippets can be as important as the newsletter itself but can easily be neglected.

9. Have faith

There are simply hundreds of newsletter gurus out there that will promise you that if you sign up to their course for a small fee (for which read large), they can give you the magic formula to 10,000 subscribers in less than a week (or something like that).

They can be tempting but the bottom line is newsletters take thought, and time and require dogged consistency. But stick with it if you can. Make it a religion. Make it the one thing you do exceptionally well and keep going!

Or, of course, if that all sounds like too much hard work, you can always ask me to write them for you!

Please get in touch if you would like to know more.

*Photo credit - Canva