• Tips to A Great Newsletter Using the 4 W’s: Who, What, Why, & When

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    Screen Shot 2015-05-26 at 4.41.00 PMThe tool to embrace in every business is the E-Newsletter.  Why? Well, according to E-Marketer 69.7% of US Internet users prefer to communicate with businesses via email.  In the United States the current population is approximately 320 million. This means a business can potentially reach a little over 220 million Internet users. Of course, then that can be broken down into target markets but that is getting ahead of this blog post. Now that you know, the potential an email newsletters has to reach consumers lets look at what it takes to get your newsletter actually read.

    Tips to A Great Newsletter Using the 4 W’s: Who, What, Why, When

    1. Who are you developing your newsletter to reach? Contact Management
      Before putting effort and time into an awesome Newsletter, start collecting email addresses and get to know a little bit about your peeps through e-news signups on your Website, social media sites, and networking events. Currently on JaimeeDorris.com, Jaimee is collecting email addresses of people who love the videos and content she is posting on the Website. She is sending #meerkat viewers, Facebook peeps, Google+ peeps, and friends to her Website. One of the first things that pops up is a box asking if they would like to receive more Jaimee goodness in a e-newsletter.At the time of this post, Jaimee has collected approximately [enter number] emails of people wanting to receive more. As we continue through the rest of these tips we are designing the Jaimee Dorris E-Newsletter. Are you signed up? Visit JaimeeDorris.com
    2. What are you planning to put in it? Content & Design
      According to a Salesforce Pardot post, 79% of marketers consider content and design as being one of the most critical aspects of an e-newsletter. Keeping this in mind, Jaimee looked at the analytics of the content she is putting on her blog. There is no doubt, Jaimee’s fans love seeing her Wednesday Jam’s and videos. By utilizing the e-newsletter and an editorial calendar (more on that in another post), Jaimee can plan the content she wants to first launch to her fans in a newsletter. Only the fans who subscribe will get the first look before she launches the content to the world. More on content in a future post.Now that we have content checked off the list, let’s look at the design. Recently, the tech industry is a buzz about the importance of having a responsive Website to continue to stay high on the search engine rankings. Currently, 80% of Internet users own a smart phone. No wonder Google is changing how it ranks Websites. Knowing 80% of Internet users own a smart phone and 72% of the US online adults send or receive emails via smart phone at least weekly (Forrester), it makes sense that the e-newsletter needs to have a responsive design.It’s decided, we have content and a responsive design but that is not everything. We need to look at the colors and order of how the beef of the newsletter needs to look. The colors of the newsletter should reflect the brand of the business sending out the newsletter. Use the same colors as on the Website and in the Logo. When it comes to how to organize the content, put the most interesting content at the top to grab the attention of the reader. Keep the selling minimal and closer to the bottom. Give them a taste of the product you are promoting and put how to get towards the end.One last thing: Don’t forget to have a stand out subject line too! The subject line has to catch the attention of the readers or again you may find the newsletter going to the trash or spam without being read.
    3. Why is this important? Call to Action
      The purpose of an e-newsletter is to get the reader excited and wanting more of your content, services, or products. Otherwise, your message will end up in the spam or trash boxes. However, don’t put your call to action all up in the readers and instead put it in a little at a time. Typically it takes three mentions of what you want to sink into people’s minds for it to actually stick.
    4. When should it be sent? The Perfect Time
      Timing is everything, along with being consistent! The newsletter is ready, now what should be the posting schedule? How often should you post? According to the marketing industry, Tuesday – Thursdays are the best days and between 1-3pm or 9-11am. Others say every 2nd Wednesday of the Month at 10am is ideal. We say, know your peeps and make sure to be consistent in when you send the newsletter out. Look at how often you post to your blog or when you are having a big sale. If you only post once a week then may we suggest once a month and on the 2nd Wednesday at 10am. Posting more, then once a week would be better for you. The one variance would be event oriented reminder newsletters which should be 3 to 5 days prior to an event.