We’re still moving along on our journey into the various types of email marketing. So far, we’ve learned about acquisition emails and welcome emails. Next, we’re going to go over one of the most effective types of emails, the almighty newsletter.

Types of email marketing: Newsletters

A newsletter is an email sent to subscribers regularly, containing news and informational content relevant to the company and of interest to subscribers. Newsletters are a great way to advertise your product, build trust and show your expertise, create lasting relationships with your customers, and inform and educate them.

Newsletters fall into several buckets in the marketing funnel because they exist at many stages of marketing campaigns.

• The newsletter can fall into the consideration stage when readers are still getting to know your brand.
• The conversion stage is when they’ve decided they like your brand and want to support it.
• And the loyalty stage, when they keep coming back for more products and content.

They are an incredibly versatile aspect of email marketing. To use newsletters effectively, you’ll want to make sure you’re being thoughtful in the creation of your newsletter. Newsletters should include only relevant content that you think your readers will enjoy.

Newsletters should include

• Relevant content
• Mentions of trending topics, pop culture, or current events
• Catchy, clever writing
• Clean, on-brand design

Let’s expand on those concepts for a moment. When including relevant information, think about

• Does your company have big news to share?
• Are you launching a new product or service?
• Is there a recent update that your subscribers might want to know about?

Your newsletter content doesn’t always have to be strictly about your company. Maybe you are a wellness company that sells products related to mental health. You can include external resources like articles featuring anxiety-reducing breathing exercises from reputable therapists or specialists.

There will sometimes be cases where you don’t necessarily want to drive traffic to other sites. Just be thoughtful about what you do include. Some of the best newsletters out there include articles that don’t try to sell a product and instead include articles relevant to subscribers’ lifestyles.

Consumers typically have an interest in the latest trends. To remain relevant throughout the ebbs and flows of what is top of mind to consumers at any given time, keep the content topical and fresh. Your writing style and tone are a huge part of whether or not your subscribers feel connected to your brand.

Make sure the style and tone you write in are not only catching on brand but also genuine. It should be clear that you intend to add value for your subscribers in some way. This is a huge part of relationship-building between you and your base.

Craft catchy newsletter copy

Writing marketing emails is something that takes a lot of practice and patience. You can use the tips below to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success when crafting emails.

Write to add value

Your goal is to convince people to open, read, and click on the links in your marketing emails. To achieve this goal, write content they will want to engage with. Every email you send should add value to the subscriber in some way. Whether you’re introducing them to new products or services, making them laugh, or teaching them something new, each element in your emails needs to be thoughtful and intentional.

Subject line

A subject line is the first text recipients see after your name when an email reaches their inbox. The subject line is your subscribers’ first impression of the email, so it’s important to make it compelling.

When you write your subject line:

• Keep it brief. Your subject line should be about 6-10 words in total. If it’s too long, it may be cut off from being viewed entirely by your subscribers.
• Pique readers’ curiosity. Write a subject line that makes readers interested in the content of your email. If you’re sending emails to a list of people who added items to their cart but abandoned it at some point during the checkout process, you might include a subject line like: “These items are too good to leave in your cart.”
• If you’re offering something, be clear about it. Whether it’s an experience, a new piece of information, a discount, or something else, make sure subscribers know there is a benefit to opening your email.
• Consider personalizing it. If you use an email marketing tool, you will have the capability to personalize emails by using first names. This is a great way for subscribers to feel like you’re talking to them specifically. Depending on which tool you use, the way you do this will be a little bit different, so read up on your specific tool.

Preview text

Preview text is another important aspect of your marketing emails. Preview text is next to an email’s subject line in the inbox and gives extra insight into what’s inside the email. It may be second to your subject line, but it’s still visible from readers’ inboxes; they see it before they click into your email. Your preview text tells readers exactly what to expect in opening the email.

When you write preview text:

• Make sure to include the most important piece of information from your email. What is the main point you are attempting to communicate? That should be your preview text.
• Make sure it aligns with what your subject line says. The subject line and preview text should work together to entice subscribers to open the email.
• Sometimes, you may want to maintain a sense of mystery. Writing preview text that teases the content can be an effective way to get readers to open an email. Preview text like: “The recipe you didn’t know you needed…” might be an effective way to make your subscribers curious about the contents of your email. Before you do this, think about your goals and objectives and whether this makes sense for your brand.
• Keep it between 35-50 characters. Your preview text should be brief enough that your subscribers can read it quickly.

Body

The email body is where most of your content will be. You can text out different approaches when it comes to your email body, because what is right for other companies may not be right for you.

When writing your body:

• Maintain a second person perspective. This means you will always want to write your emails as though you are speaking to your subscribers. You want the email to seem personal and specifically crafted for your readers. Second person also refers to as “you” language. It helps create a sense that the writer is talking directly to you, the reader. This makes readers feel engaged and involved. A phrase like “Here’s a discount for you,” is more powerful than “Here’s a discount for our readers.”
• When possible, break up blocks of text with white space. You don’t want your email to seem overwhelming to the reader, so be brief and include visual breaks in between your text.
• Include a compelling call to action. Your readers are more likely to do what you ask of them if you ask them clearly. If you want them to buy an item, encourage them to do exactly that. Sometimes, emails will have several calls to action, especially in newsletters, where several products, services, or links are likely being shared.

Key takeaways

Writing compelling content is a huge part of email marketing, and it takes time to get it right. If you follow the tips provided here, you’ll have a much better chance of growing your open rates. When you craft a subject line, preview text, and email body, make sure to be thoughtful and intentional. Also, feel free to test different email copies to see what your audience responds to best.

Types of email marketing: Promotional emails

Another type of email is promotional mail. A promotional email is an email that is sent out to inform your subscribers of your new or existing products or services.

There are countless reasons you may want to send promotional emails. Maybe your company is having a sitewide sale, maybe you like to celebrate your customers’ birthdays by offering them 10 percent off their order, maybe your brand is celebrating five years in business, maybe you’re launching a new product, contest, or giveaway, maybe you’re offering some kind of free downloadable content for a holiday.

Goals for promotional email:

• Speeding up the buying process.
  Promotional emails may push potential customers to make a purchase.
• Encouraging subscribers to take some kind of action.
  Promotional emails may encourage subscribers to sign up for something, such as a free consultation, in addition to the email list.
• Creating new or repeat customers.
  Promotional emails may motivate previous customers to make another purchase.

Because of the goals above, emails tend to fall into the consideration and loyalty buckets of the marketing funnel. Promotions give your subscribers and your customers a reason to keep coming back and in turn to purchase something.

Since promotional emails can be packaged in so many different ways, there aren’t necessarily strict rules about what they should entail or include. However, here are some tips you can use to help guide you as you craft a promotional email.

Promotional emails should

• Focus heavily on the promotion itself.
  If there are additional product features or details you hope to include, link to them, so that your audience can click through to a landing page and read further.
• Be concise and to the point.
  A promotional email should be concise, so keep the body of your email brief and to the point. The email body is the text in the main content of your email. The reader should be able to read your promotional email in just a couple of minutes. Your audience doesn’t need to read one thousand words on your company and its products or services because they already have some interest in your brand’s product.
• Introduce or tease the promotion in the subject line.
  Marketing studies show that 47 percent of emails are opened based on their subject line alone, which means you should spend considerable time crafting a subject line. Be sure to announce the promotion in your subject lines. It should hint that something special is inside and it should be relevant to the promotion.

Now that you understand the importance of an effective promotional email. Let’s keep this momentum going.

Happy learning and good luck!