Certainly, email marketing is one of the best marketing strategies for your business. However, success depends on your ability to build and grow a list of email addresses for your current and potential customers and to maintain it. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is to regularly send distinctive newsletter to them.
In this article, we share with you the reasons that make email newsletters one of the best digital marketing strategies, and how to build a marketing email newsletter that your audience eagerly anticipates.
What is an Email Newsletter?
It is one of the email marketing methods that involve regularly sending newsletters to inform your audience about the latest news, tips, or updates related to your products or services.
Newsletters should not aim to promote products or services but rather to enhance the relationship of your business or brand with your customers by sharing valuable, relevant content related to your field of work.
Therefore, most newsletters include marketing articles that are not intended for direct sales. Instead, their content is relevant to your target audience and their lifestyle.
What is the importance of email marketing?
According to Statista, “There are 3.9 billion active email users daily! This number is expected to jump to 4.3 billion by 2023. This represents half of the world’s population!”.
However, “Email marketing still remains one of the highest return on investment marketing strategies. For every dollar spent on email marketing, you get an average return on investment of $36”, according to Litmus.
Email newsletters are one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies because they allow you to directly and personally connect with your current and potential customers. This is achieved by providing valuable content and relevant promotions that they find in their email inboxes.
According to Statista,” About half of consumers (49%) are happy to receive weekly promotional email newsletters from the brands they love”.
The performance of email marketing strategies can be easily measured by tracking metrics such as open rates and click-through rates for each newsletter sent. This allows you to enhance your content with each iteration.
One of the advantages of “overlooked” email marketing is that you have complete control over your email list. This means you won’t suddenly lose access to your subscribers as long as you continue to provide valuable content to them through the newsletter.
Examples of Newsletter Content
Newsletters are suitable for educating and entertaining the audience more than conducting a sales pitch. Therefore, your customer should feel like they are having a conversation with a friend when receiving a newsletter rather than dealing with a talkative sales representative!
However, you can use the newsletter to encourage your audience to take a specific action, such as reading the latest article on your blog, registering for an upcoming event, participating in a contest you’re hosting, or making a purchase from your online store.
You can use newsletters for various purposes and present them in different formats. For example, a newsletter can include:
- Weekly summaries of your content.
- Download link for an e-book.
- Recent interviews with experts in your field.
- Case studies and customer testimonials.
- News about upcoming sales or the launch of a new product.
How to Build an Email Newsletter Marketing Strategy
Now that we understand the importance of email marketing, the question arises:
Where do we start?
How many email newsletters should you send, and what is the most suitable newsletter template?
Here are 9 tips for building an email marketing strategy:
1. Define Your Goals
What are your expectations from email marketing? What do you hope to achieve through this type of audience engagement? This is a crucial first step for the success of your newsletter.
You can aim, for example, to grow your email subscriber list, drive traffic to your blog or website, or increase engagement on social media platforms.
Defining your goals for newsletters will help you craft their content and choose the most suitable design template.
So, if your goal, for example, is to attract more visits to your website, you need an email template with clear call-to-action buttons.
On the other hand, if your goal is to build a supportive community for your brand, it’s better to choose a format that suits narrative storytelling content or supports video content.
2. Choose the appropriate email management system
There are many platforms specialized in managing email marketing, but it is essential for each to choose the system that suits its marketing goals and technical requirements.
For example, if you are looking for a ready-made solution that requires minimal technical input, “Mailchimp” is a popular choice. If you are seeking a platform that offers advanced customization options, “Klaviyo” might be more suitable for you.
3. Building an Email List Legally
There’s no point in creating an email newsletter if it doesn’t reach anyone! That’s why you’ll need to consistently grow your newsletter subscriptions. However, building your audience won’t happen overnight, and gaining their trust takes time and a specific marketing strategy
It is also essential to obtain explicit consent from users to receive email newsletters; otherwise, you risk violating business activity laws in most countries.
read more: Expectations and Trends in Email Marketing for 2024
4. Use a clear and consistent email template
Whether you’re using a ready-made template or one specifically designed for your brand, consistency is crucial for a successful newsletter. The readability of the email is an indicator of whether the audience will continue to subscribe or opt-out.
5. Improving the mobile user experience
Forty-seven percent (47%) of people use their mobile phones to read their emails, according to Campaign Monitor. This means you should ensure the safety and smoothness of the user experience on mobile before hitting “send.”
6. Taking care of the newsletter subject
You have only one chance to make a great first impression. The email subject line can be the decisive factor in whether the user will open your email or not.
A strong and compelling subject line encourages readers to click on the email newsletter and continue reading. It is recommended to keep it under 50 characters for easy readability.
6. Identify the best time for sending
Whether your newsletter is daily, weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly, knowing the best time to send email newsletters to your target audience can positively impact their open rates.
Despite numerous suggestions for the best times to send newsletters, it is advisable for each project to conduct experiments to determine the optimal days and times for sending. Because the effectiveness of the newsletter is closely tied to you and your target audience.
7. Add calls-to-action (CTAs) to encourage action
Calls to Action (CTAs) serve as a gateway to attract a larger audience and potential customers for your brand.
Whether your goal is to sell a product or service, promote an event, or drive visits to your website, you’ll need to craft an encouraging and engaging statement as much as possible and integrate it with compelling and distinctive visual content.
8. Identify key metrics and track them
Achieving your marketing goals remains the ultimate purpose of email newsletters. But how do you know what works and what doesn’t?
For a clear picture of achieving your marketing goals, here are some key metrics you should track:
- Delivery Rate: The percentage of email messages that successfully reach the user’s inbox.
- Open Rate: The percentage of people who open the email newsletters you send.
- Click-Through Rate: The percentage of people who clicked on links in your email messages.
- Unsubscribe Rate: The percentage of people who unsubscribed from your email newsletter.
- Track the size of the email list and its monthly growth.
By sending a customized newsletter to your audience, you add real value to their lives and reap priceless rewards. You are building and nurturing trust in your brand, enhancing your reputation as a thought leader in your industry, and increasing the likelihood of being the first choice when your audience considers purchasing a product or service you offer.
Newsletters have become immensely popular among the Arab audience, especially in the KSA and the UAE. If you start investing in this promising marketing strategy now, you will outpace your competitors by many steps!
The content team at UFUK Foundation collaborates with the technical team to produce creative and artistic newsletters for our clients worldwide. Start today with us to build your distinctive newsletter and gain a competitive edge that attracts customers and drives sales for your business. Contact us now!