5 Email Newsletter Tactics to Engage Readers
Email is alive and well. Whether for redirecting to your content hub or promoting upcoming events, the inbox is still one of the best places to meet your audience, drive value and promote your message. One valuable way to connect with your audience is with an email newsletter. We’ve written about the brand benefits of publishing an enewsletter. Read on for five tactics to make engaged consumers out of each of your enewsletter subscribers.
How Effective Is Email Marketing?
Just how relevant is email in 2022? HubSpot’s recent State of Marketing Report illustrates many compelling reasons to prioritize email marketing in your content plan, including:
- 4 billion people use email daily
- 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months
- Smartphone users prefer to receive brand communications via email
The research also shows that 37% of brands are increasing their email budget, so this is no time to let your brand fall behind.
5 Email Newsletter Tactics to Engage Your Readers
1. Look for Insights in Your Analytics
One of the easiest places to find opportunity is in your numbers. Take a good look at your analytics to determine which content performs best. Ask yourself:
- Which topics and subject lines are getting the most opens?
- What content is getting the most clicks?
- Which CTAs are producing the highest conversions?
These open, click, and conversion rates will help you chart your course. Also, pay attention to delivery rates to ensure that a high percentage of your emails aren’t bouncing.
2. Craft Compelling Subject Lines and CTAs
Write subject lines that immediately make the payoff clear to the recipient. Rather than “Newsletter Volume 2,” give your audience a quick peek at what’s inside. Check out The Skimm and Curious Elixirs for inspiration.
Equally as important, CTAs should motivate readers to read more at your blog, listen to a podcast, or sign up for an educational workshop. Check out our blog post for more detailed tips to punch up your CTAs.
3. Design for Mobile First
According to Campaign Monitor, more than 80% of people prefer to read email on their phone, so keep your copy concise to avoid long walls of text that readers have to scroll through. Make CTAs big, bold and easy to tap. Your enewsletter’s design should look like a cohesive extension of all your other branded content, with consistent colors, logos and fonts. Keep the content well-spaced with some breathing room, and ensure fonts and images look great and are readable on mobile devices.
4. Cross-promote Content on Social Media
Let readers know what they can expect in your upcoming enewsletter by posting photos, short quotes or sound bites. Sharing enewsletter content on social channels is also a simple way for your already-devoted readers to share your newsletter with their followers. Another bonus: Seeing which posts get the most views can give you helpful direction on what compels your audience.
5. Simplify Subscribing
When readers are so engaged with your content that they want to subscribe, don’t make the sign-up process long and cumbersome. Entering their email address and clicking “Subscribe” should be all that’s needed to get them on the list. Feature this in your website’s footer and at the bottom of blog posts (look at the bottom of this post!) On Facebook, you can feature a “sign up” button that takes consumers to the enewsletter sign-up page.