Are newsletters a part of your growth strategy?
Newsletters (or any kind of email campaign for that matter) are vital components of your digital strategy. Yet, harnessing your content to achieve specific objectives may seem overwhelming. To create impactful content that aligns with your goals, follow these best practices when crafting your email campaigns.
Content & Structure
Subject Line: the subject line should attract attention and convince your reader to open your email. The most effective email subject lines engage curiosity and are personalized to each recipient's interests (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021). The optimal character limit for your subject line is about 50 characters, so make sure to be short, sweet, and straight to the point. Here is an example of an effective vs. ineffective subject line:
- Good: Happy Birthday Mary – Surprise Inside!
- Bad: Happy Birthday! A code for free shipping inside.
Body: you should utilize the inverted pyramid structure when writing your email copy. If you’re familiar with journalism, you might know the inverted pyramid in terms of putting the most important information first. However, in marketing, an inverted pyramid structure (see below) is in reference to going from higher level value statements to specific actions.
Your opening statement should grab attention and illustrate the value of reading your email. Then, you want to include more detail to build anticipation, usually adding in visuals or data. Finally, you hit the reader with your call to action. A call to action highlights the specific action you want your reader to take and gives them a clear path forward. This could be a button at the bottom of your email that says sign up for our newsletter, buy this product, register for this event, etc. See the example below on how the inverted pyramid was used in a recent Apple email.
Tracking
It is important to track your emails so that you can use analytics to update your email strategy accordingly. Usually, you can get reports straight from your delivery platform. Once you pull up your send report, you’ll want to look at overall performance and conversions. Focus on rates rather than total numbers because they account for changes in your email list.
These are the most important metrics to look out for:
- Open rate: How many people opened your email compared to the number of emails sent out.
- Click through rate: the percentage of people who clicked on a link or photo in your email.
- Bounce rate: The percentage of emails that don’t reach the intended inbox. If you have a high or steadily increasing bounce rate, it might be a sign of an unhealthy email list.
- Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of people who unsubscribe from your emails.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of people who have performed a specific action. Conversions are an essential part of determining if your email campaign is successful. The best way to optimize conversions is to have a clear call to action.
Need additional help understanding your email analytics? Send us an email and we will help get you set up.
Final Tips
Always think critically about what you put in your newsletter. When you show your reader that you value their time, you create a stronger connection and increase your brand value. For more newsletter tips, check out HubSpot’s blog on writing newsletters that people want to read.
If you want to chat about your email strategy, feel free to reach out to us! Email Betsy DeSimone, Director of Digital Content Strategy, for additional help with email marketing.
