Email newsletters can be used to deliver a variety of messages, from promoting new products or events to fostering brand awareness. However, they’re one of the hardest emails to do right. While they can prove a useful marketing tool, going about them the wrong way can instantly land them a spot in your email subscribers’ trash folders. Your e-newsletters should find the appropriate balance between educational and promotional. Let’s discuss how to write an email newsletter your customers want to read.

Determine the Focus of Your Email Newsletter

A common problem e-newsletters face is that they try to focus on too much at once, resulting in a cluttered and disjointed message. Placing new blog posts next to product news and PR stories beside company events can cause subscribers to lose the thread. Framing your ideal client can uncover their interests. After determining the information most relevant to them, focus on one vertical and keep the message brief and punchy. The best way to convince your audience to engage with your e-newsletter is to ensure they understand the point of the email the moment they open it.

Find the Balance Between Educational and Promotional Content

While your subscribers may cherish your company and the products and services it provides, chances are, they don’t want to read an email entirely comprised of promotional material. Say your audience loves sweaters; they’ll be interested to hear about your promotions, but if you flood their inbox with emails that scream “buy, buy, buy,” there’s a great chance they’ll wind up deleted. However, if you send educational or entertaining content, such as covering the top sweater patterns for fall or sharing a personal story, your subscribers will be more inclined to engage with your email.

Use a Minimalist Approach to e-Newsletters

Much in the same way the content of a newsletter can seem cluttered, so, too, can the design. While original content amplifies digestibility, a simple design can contribute to the email’s readability. Here are some tips on how to approach a minimalist email design:

• Write Concise Copy: Unlike blogs, your subscriber is not in the process of seeking out information when checking their email. You want to provide brief, punchy copy that’s purpose is to redirect them to the whole body of content on your website.
• White Space is Your Friend: White space alleviates the cluttered feeling of emails. It also helps the reader to consume the relevant information and provides a much more user-friendly experience on mobile.
• Use Images Sparingly: While images will add an aesthetic flair to your emails, they can quickly add to the clutter and can even trigger the subscriber’s spam filter. Utilizing charts or infographics can help convey concise information.

You also want to choose fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes. Picking a color scheme that blends too closely can wash out your text.

Encourage Engagement

Your goal is to drive purchasing decisions without sounding desperate. Create a strong call to action that motivates the subscriber to visit your website or store. That means providing your audience with information they can’t get from your other channels. By creating a uniquely personal experience, your audience will be more likely to engage with your emails. You should also incorporate social media links in your emails so your subscribers can follow you on multiple platforms.

You don’t need to be an author to write an email newsletter your customers want to read. As long as you’re familiar with your audience’s interests, you can create content relevant to them. Finding the right balance between promotional materials and what your subscribers want to read will work wonders. At Vision Advertising, we have experience running email campaigns and creating e-newsletter with high rates of engagement. If you want to better provide email correspondence to your subscribers, contact us today.