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Want to get started with email marketing? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a newsletter that people enjoy reading.
Email marketing is booming. According to Hubspot, in 2019, 78% of marketers had seen an increase in email engagement.
If the resurgence in newsletters has left you wondering how to create a newsletter that people actually want to read, you’re not alone. In this article, we’ll remind you why you need newsletters as part of your marketing strategy and we’ll share a step-by-step guide to starting one that readers won’t trash.
Are email newsletters worth it? We think they are!
A newsletter is a kind of email sent to keep subscribers informed about your business. They’re part of a strategic marketing channel and are sent through email marketing software like MailChimp and ConvertKit.
Blog posts are written for your online audience. They live online on your site and can be accessed by any reader who stumbles on them. Newsletters are written for inboxes and sent using email marketing tools. As a result, they are often shorter, quicker pieces of content with a different marketing goal.
Here are three important reasons why you need an email newsletter:
Now that you understand why you should invest in a newsletter, here’s our step-by-step guide for creating a newsletter.
What would you like to achieve with your newsletter? Want more site traffic? Then focus on sharing blog content with your audience. Interested in driving more sales? Do a weekly product roundup or write product-led newsletters. If customer connection is your goal, use your newsletter content to educate your audience or share an inspiring interview with them to foster connection.
Tip: If your goal is to grow your audience, then serve your audience by sharing links to useful resources or giving away freebies.
Building a newsletter list from scratch can be intimidating, but don’t be daunted. After all, everyone starts at zero email subscribers.
Share your first newsletter (and even subsequent installments) publicly on social media, including a link to read it so readers can get a peek before deciding to commit. Here’s how MarketerHire promoted an installment of their newsletter.
Most importantly, take advantage of website traffic (if you already have it) by using sign-up forms on your site. Here are our best tips for creating sign-up forms:
Story Matters has an appealing sign up form that mentions what subscribers can expect and keeps the form fields minimal. We love that they’ve included a preview on the side for those who want a look before they commit.
Tip: If you’re just starting out, ask friends and family who are interested in your brand or product to sign up — you can even sign them up yourself with their permission.
Your email newsletter template could either make your newsletter a joy or a pain to read. Depending on your content type, you can choose between a minimalist or a visual email newsletter design.
Unsure how to create a newsletter template? You can:
Tip: Ensure that your template is optimized for mobile and desktop viewers. Most email newsletter clients alert you about overly large images and incompatible templates and you can preview the newsletter both on desktop and mobile before sending it.
Now to the meat of the matter: writing the email. Like with all pieces of content, your headline is crucial. This is even more so with email newsletters as your email subject line can determine whether or not readers open your email.
It’s easy to be creative when you write one subject line a day, but when email marketing is your job, your creative well can dry up fast. As such, our top tip for writing email subject lines that pop is using an AI writing tool. Jasper is our foremost recommendation. This AI tool has over 52 writing templates including the Email Subject Line and Persuasive Bullet Points templates—both of which are invaluable for writing newsletters.
Here’s how the Email Subject Line template works:
You can also use A/B testing if you have two email subject options. This feature sends the same email to a small group of subscribers, each with one of your two subject line choices. After about four hours, the subject line with the most opened is sent to your remaining subscribers.
Jasper’s email generator tools can also help with writing the body of your newsletter. You can either let Jasper write from scratch by providing pertinent information about your newsletter or alternate between you and Jasper writing the copy. Don’t believe us? Here’s an example of a newsletter written by Jasper. Here’s an example we created ourselves:
Next, let’s see the Persuasive Bullet Points template in action:
Tip: Bullet points make your newsletter easier to skim and less intimidating than blocks of text. They also distill information about your marketing campaign into digestible lists.
Once you’ve written and proofread your email content, there’s just one more step before your send: testing. These are the top three ways to test your email content:
Tip: Never send out an email without previewing! It’s the best way to check for typos and see your text formatting firsthand.
Written, tested — and now time to hit send! You can either schedule your newsletter or send it right away. However, the most important part of sending is ensuring deliverability.
Newsletter experts recommend doing the following things to make your newsletter less likely to end up in spam folders:
Tip: Send your email from your business domain. This means your sending email should be @[yourbusinessname].com, not a general @gmail.com email.
The work doesn’t end when the email goes out. Now, it’s time to monitor and analyze results. Look out for the following metrics to determine engagement levels:
For context, the average open rate for newsletters is 21.33%, according to MailChimp. Aim to have an average above that figure.
Tip: If your open rate is low, it’s likely that your subject lines aren’t engaging or you’re not hitting your audience’s pain point. You may want to consider segmenting your email list to focus on the needs of specific audience groups.
Email marketing is hard work — as are all kinds of marketing. The best starting point is setting a goal. Then focus on writing copy that appeals to your audience, and ensuring that your deliverability and analytics are top-notch.
Essentially, a great newsletter begins with exceptional content and a brilliant email subject line. While there are many tools and extensions for email, you can accomplish both of these things at scale with Jasper without losing a lot of time. In addition to the Email Subject Line and Persuasive Bullet Points template, you’ll find over 50 templates to explore. Better still, you’ll also find Jasper Bootcamp super helpful for helping you get the most out of using Jasper.
What are you waiting for? Sign up for Jasper to start connecting with your email list.
Austin Distel is the Sr. Director of Marketing at Jasper, your AI creative assistant. He's also an Airbnb superhost in Austin, Texas. You can follow Austin's adventures around the internet and the world at distel.com.
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.