Is it time for your local business to establish a newsletter? Other local businesses probably have already, so congratulations on joining the party! You’ll find this endeavor will have a dramatic significance in your bottom dollar. In fact, perhaps because of the increase in smartphones and portable devices, the rate of emails being opened is very high. If you make an investment in creating an email newsletter, it will have a high ROI. But it has to be done right, or it can fall flat. The team at Quantus Creative can help you get it done right.
Focus
The first thing to do is create a focus. An email that is full of a little bit of everything can be overwhelming for your email list. Stay with a traditional marketing email with a single topic and a single call to action. This is easier to write and read and more likely to create a conversion.
Yes, your email newsletter should be all things to all customers, but they must be compelled to open and read it. Choose a vertical and stay with it; other aspects you want to cover can be segmented.
Information Then Sales
As you write your newsletter, remember this isn’t a sales letter. Your customers are going to subscribe to your newsletter for information. They don’t want a hard-core sales pitch! However, they are interested in deals and special promotions, and the Quantus Creative team can help you blend that all together.
You should have 9 articles of information in your newsletter with only 1 sales pitch. This ratio is 1 to 9, making 90% of your newsletter content educating and entertaining. If you have any more sales pitches than that in your newsletter, you’ll see a drop in your subscription rate.
Short and Simple is Sweet
Next, you want to combine your newsletter with easy-to-under digest content, small chunks of content. A single column is ideal; less is more regarding attractive images. Instead of including long content, consider embedding a link back to your website blog. This simplicity is essential in being found in mobile searches too.
Video and Your Subject Line
Videos are extremely popular today, and when the word “video” is in your email subject line, you have almost 20% better chance of your email being opened and read! It doesn’t have to be a long video, thirty seconds is plenty to build your customer’s curiosity.
Attention Grabbing Subject Lines
An email newsletter subject line that compels subscribers to pen it should be intriguing. Make the subject lines clear and enticing. Something like: “A Special Coupon Inside for You!”, will do it.
A Single Call to Action
A single call to action is all you need in your email newsletter. When there are multiple calls to action, it becomes overwhelming. Stay with a single CTA that offers a specialized coupon or discount code, or have it backlink to your online store, giving your customers a special buy ticket to an upcoming event. The boundary is limitless, and your call to action is important to get the best results from your email newsletter.
Testing, Testing, Testing
Last but not least, testing. Most businesses use Constant Contact or MailChimp email automation services. Try multiple versions of headlines in various colors and images or content, then study the results of the open rates and click-through rates but try only one at a time, so you aren’t trying to read through muddy water.
