How to create a newslet­ter with well-struc­tured content

Newslet­ter marketing provides an excellent op­por­tu­ni­ty to make and maintain contact with potential as well as repeat customers. The goal of these newslet­ters is first and foremost to inform people, but many a time this objective is ignored and they end up being misused. They often contain more ad­ver­tis­ing than actual in­for­ma­tion, which leads to the recipient finding them spammy and annoying. When creating a newslet­ter, it’s important to develop a clear concept that maximizes read­abil­i­ty and user sat­is­fac­tion without losing sight of the original marketing purpose.

What exactly con­sti­tutes a suc­cess­ful newslet­ter depends on the sector it’s being created for: an online store owner (in contrast to an as­so­ci­a­tion) can put more emphasis on their products, for example. In order to find the right balance between providing in­for­ma­tion and ad­ver­tis­ing, you first of all need to develop a com­pre­hen­sive concept for your newslet­ter. It’s important to define the target group as well as the purpose of the newslet­ter. Take a moment to think about how you want to design the newslet­ter so that it actually gets the recipient’s interest and doesn’t just lie unnoticed in their inbox. Keep these points in mind when creating a newslet­ter:

• find an ap­pro­pri­ate and appealing layout for your newslet­ter
• ensure a clear and in­ter­est­ing structure
• create exciting and in­for­ma­tive content
• determine the perfect time to send out the newslet­ter
• analyze your read­er­ship with the help of relevant tools

More detailed tips and in­for­ma­tion on the various pos­si­bil­i­ties of newslet­ter marketing can be found in our article entitled Newslet­ter and E-mail Marketing.

A solid foun­da­tion for suc­cess­ful newslet­ter marketing involves de­vel­op­ing a good strategy, ac­knowl­edg­ing your target group, and being aware of the best times for dis­patch­ing the letter. And while a modern layout and reader analysis (using ap­pro­pri­ate tools) are important factors, these are useless if the most crucial component is neglected: the content. You have to assume that you’re competing with ALL newslet­ters that land in the recipient’s inbox and not just the ones that offer the same products and services as your company. Many will be ahead of the game with sleek or elegant templates, some of which may be self-designed. It’s not often that the necessary time is invested for making great content, much to the dis­ap­point­ment of the customers. High quality texts and images are the best way of in­creas­ing interest in your newslet­ter and making your company stick out from the rest.

Just like with the basic concept, you should also set aside adequate time to properly develop your content. Research and plan topics with the long run in mind, but don’t forget to take current events into account, a move that adds value for your readers. With a good structure in place, you will find creating content to be a much easier task. Including the following aspects will help you to achieve your goals of creating suitable and effective content for your newslet­ter:

Style and structure

Always remember that you’re writing these newslet­ter for your readers. It’s important that you strike the right note. Make it clear to the readers that you’re an expert in your field, but don’t overdo it with technical terms or com­pli­cat­ed facts. The more un­der­stand­able the texts in your newslet­ter are, the higher the chances are that they will be read, which in turn leads to increased customer trust. The structure of your newslet­ter is equally as important. Structure your content in a way that includes mean­ing­ful titles and para­graphs. A good structure is important for the first im­pres­sion and makes it easier for the customers to grasp the content.

Images

Photos and graphics are a simple way of improving the aes­thet­ics of your newslet­ter. In com­par­i­son to mere de­scrip­tions of what’s on offer, high quality photos can give a personal touch to your company and its products and services. Images can also be used to break up text passages, but first make sure that you have the rights to use the images.

Scope

Re­gard­less of whether you want to include a text or an image, you have to make sure that you don’t go overboard. Your aim should be to have a con­sis­tent design with a limited number of small blocks of texts and images. If you own a blog, it makes sense to write a short summary of your most recent posts and include them in your newslet­ter with a link to the blog. The situation is similar for in­fo­graph­ics: present an excerpt in your newslet­ter and link it to the full graphic. You should always check the file size to make sure it loads quickly and doesn’t end up in the spam filter.

Op­ti­miza­tion for all ap­pli­ances

What applies to websites, also applies to newslet­ters: gone are the days of dealing with your business solely on your desktop PC. Many users regularly access their e-mails on tablets or smart­phones, which means it’s essential that your newslet­ter is designed to be com­pat­i­ble with mobile ap­pli­ances as well. Excess or misplaced line breaks and huge images, which can only be viewed on large monitors, turn customers off and come across as un­pro­fes­sion­al. Read more on that here in our article about Newslet­ter Templates.

In­ter­est­ing and relevant topics

Two aspects play a special role when it comes to the choice of topic: creating a personal touch to your company and relevance for the reader. In­ter­est­ing short stories, anecdotes, or powerful quotes are excellent in­tro­duc­tions for your newslet­ter and make the reader want to find out more. It’s up to you to decide how often your products or services appear in the newslet­ter. It’s rec­om­mend­ed that no more than a fifth of the newslet­ter should comprise of ad­ver­tis­ing. You could apply this to every newslet­ter or decide that every fifth edition will be solely ad­ver­tise­ments. Other clever ways of in­di­rect­ly in­te­grat­ing your product include discount campaigns and com­pe­ti­tions. At the very end, come up with an in­ter­est­ing and powerful subject line for your newslet­ter. Bear in mind that your e-mail address and the subject line are often the only elements that the recipient sees, so they need to stand out to ensure that the newslet­ter is opened and read.