4 quick email newsletter improvements

By Tim Priebe on August 11, 2015

By Tim Priebe on August 11, 2015

You’ve done it. You’ve been hearing forever that email newsletters are great, and you’ve finally sent out your first email newsletter. Or maybe you’ve been sending it out for months now, and you’d like to make some improvements. Or, let’s face it, you may hate your own email newsletter.

Whatever the case, let’s take a look at four ways you can quickly improve your email newsletter.

1. Block out time

If you’re anything like me (and let’s hope you’re not), when you’re not careful, you can end up running out of time for the important things by letting all the little things that crop up unexpectedly get in the way.

So block out time on a monthly basis for email newsletter management! Set aside a couple hours to get the following month’s newsletters ready to go.

(If you work one month on the following month’s email newsletters, you’re far less likely to miss one.)

2. Add a call to action

If someone receives your email newsletter, they’ve (hopefully) already given you permission to have an ongoing conversation with them. If they want to take that conversation to the next level, you need to give them a path to do so.

And a call to action (or CTA) does not have to be a hard sell. It’s typically not “Buy now!” unless your product or service is just a few bucks. Instead, it’s simply making it clear to them what the next step should be.

Some examples of a “softer” CTA include:

  • Download our free ebook
  • Take our online assessment
  • Share this with a friend
  • Leave us feedback
  • Get a quote

3. Make it scannable

Don’t put a million details in your email, with huge blocks of text. Include things like photos, headlines, and bulleted lists to break it up.

If you need to share a lot of information, consider sharing just an excerpt of that info, including a “Read More” link, then linking over to all the info on a page or post on your website.

4. Have the right recipe

Your email newsletter needs to be the right mix of Promotional, Informational, and Entertaining. I’m a fairly punny guy, so I like to say you need the right recipe for your P.I.E.

Promotional is anything that is about you. Doesn’t matter if it’s a story, your history, or you’re highlighting a product or service. If it’s about you, it’s promotional.

Informational is anything that taken by itself can help your target market. So they don’t have to also buy something from you or contact you, they can take the information in there and apply it even if they’re doing something on their own or using your competitor.

Entertaining is, at its basic level, not being boring. Depending on your level of entertaining, it can also mean you’re being fun!

The mix will be different for every industry, every organization, and every individual. But you actually need to be intentional about your recipe. Don’t be like my kids when they get a soft drink at a restaurant, haphazardly mixing everything together.

The key mistake to avoid? Don’t have too much P in your P.I.E. Nobody likes a P.I.E. full of P. It’s gross.

Want more?

If you’d like more help, I have great news! We’ve written a bunch of blog articles on email marketing, so feel free to read through some of those.

Or, if you’re tired of doing it yourself (or don’t want to start doing it yourself), we also offer email newsletter design and email newsletter management services. While we’re not a good fit for everyone, feel free to reach out if you’d like to talk about your email newsletter.

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