Perfecting your newsletter

We explore a few ways to really get the most our of your email newsletters.

1. Build your list first

Before you send your first newsletter, you need to have enough people on your list to make it worthwhile. Consider the type of newsletter it is – is it for prospects or customers? Tailor your audience, then start gathering subscribers. You will need to try to funnel your website visitors to a dedicated newsletter sign up CTA.

2. Include value

People don’t simply want the same old company updates and blog posts – they want something more! Try to include exclusive offers, inside-industry news or something that would give your readers the inclination to open the email. You could even include extra marketing collateral such as an eBook to keep them reading and subscribing.

3. Make sure you choose the best content

Choosing the latest two blog posts as the meat of your newsletter might seem great on the surface, but what if they weren’t the two best pieces of content you produced since the last newsletter? It’s best practice to use the most recent top performing blog posts rather than the most recent. This will encourage your subscribers to not only read the articles, but share them too!

4. Encourage social sharing

Incorporating social media sharing into your newsletter is a must – if you don’t have it you are missing you on a great opportunity! Word of mouth spreads very quickly over Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, but if you don’t have the option for your readers to share your latest post, they most likely won’t. You could even encourage sharing by hosting competitions – although this may require investment, it can do wonders for brand awareness.

Read and comment on the original Forbes article.