Did you know that 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers? (Hubspot).
It’s clear why that rate is so high: Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your customers and build a valuable relationship. So how can you utilize email marketing to benefit your business? Newsletters.
A newsletter is an email from a company that shares organizational news and updates to subscribers. Subscribers may be internal employees or customers. Of course, a newsletter geared towards employees and a newsletter directed to customers are going to vary in content, but you can expect the process to build a newsletter to be roughly the same.
As you think about your own newsletter strategy, it can help to have an example in mind. You likely don’t have to look further than your own inbox! Pressed for inspiration? One customer newsletter that I believe deserves recognition is by Moz. This SEO software company’s newsletter stands out because they’re not trying to sell readers anything, instead, they are providing valuable information to the customer through free templates and educational videos.
Now that we’ve discussed what a newsletter is and the role it can play in delighting your readers, let’s find out what you’ll need to get started.
4 steps you’ll need to create a newsletter:
Select an email marketing platform
Choose your newsletter’s goal
Find the content
Pick your Template
Select an email marketing platform
Before you send out any emails, you’ll need to pick the right platform. There are plenty of paid email platforms out there, but if you’re just beginning, I suggest you try a free version so you can get a taste of what it’s all about. I recommend MailChimp as the perfect beginner platform.
Choose your newsletter’s goal
Beside picking out the email marketing platform, this is one of the most important steps. You can’t begin to write email copy or make graphics until you’ve determined the goal of your newsletter. Are you looking to build relationships? Sell products or services? You’ll want a clear goal to achieve before you begin.
Find the content
Now that you’ve selected the goal of your newsletter, it’s time to explore the content that makes sense to add to your newsletter considering your goal. Like we mentioned above, your newsletter will contain different content depending whether it’s for employees or customers. When building a customer newsletter, content such as industry insights, intriguing blog posts, videos, free templates, and other insightful information are most effective for engagement. On the other hand, if you’re writing a newsletter for your employees, you might want to focus on more internal happenings such as job openings, anniversaries, inspirational quotes, etc.
Pick your template
Here’s the fun part - template design. It’s important to pick a newsletter template that you feel aligns with your brand. Take into consideration your logo, brand colors, font, and images.
In my opinion, less is more. Start with a simple template and add personal touches such as a logo, images, and some brand colors where applicable, but don’t go overboard. A word of caution: Avoid getting caught up in the search for the perfect template. This isn’t a valuable use of your time and you’ll find yourself prolonging the launch of your newsletter. You can always make adjustments as you go along.
There you have it! These are the top 4 steps it takes to get a newsletter started. By following these steps, you are on the path to creating an engaging customer experience that will benefit your business.
If these steps seem overwhelming, We’d love to help. Reach out and let’s discover how we can get your newsletter up and running. And if you’re looking to learn more about email marketing, don’t miss our blog post that gives you 10 tips to build subject lines that convert.
