How to write an email newsletter

The text component of any email is far from copywriting chips that increase sales. First of all, this is a topic, alt texts, a preheader, an unsubscribe link, and only then the miracles of a selling text.

How to work with all this and create a powerful letter for future mailings, we’ll talk in today’s article.

Rule 1: Start with a general concept

Before you start compiling a letter according to special rules, you should analyze the target audience in detail, as well as understand what the company sells and why it generally creates a newsletter.

First of all, decide how to communicate with customers – in a strict form, in a friendly way, or maybe in a clerical language format? It is very easy to understand this – communicate with customers in the same way as you are used to doing it on the website or other information platforms. For example, if your web pages are being told in a friendly and comical way, then convey that message through writing as well. The letter is a product of the company, so it should continue the main idea. Agree, it would be extremely strange when you have an official style, and in letters you communicate on “you” and show yourself from a completely different side.

The tone of emails should remain the same, and its changes are available only in extreme cases, for example, when you need to congratulate the client on his birthday or send him an apology letter.

However, there are exceptions: in one of the letters, Tinkoff magazine decided to completely change the format of communication and did not become a victim of replies. The company always communicates with its customers in plain language, but at one point it changed its tone to a more conservative one. It was an isolated case, and the editors thus wanted to play a trick on their subscribers. The joke was a success, and the subscribers were satisfied.

By the way, here’s the letter itself:

Rule 2: An engaging topic

The next step is to decide what message the letter carries. What will this letter give you – new sales or customer loyalty? This is important to understand, since writing with both will be ineffective. Clients simply will not respond to most of the calls, and half the work will be in vain.

When the answer is obvious, you can move on to the subject of the letter – this is the very first thing the user sees in his mailbox. It is important that the subject line talks about the benefits of the letter – why the user should open it.

Here’s how you can grab attention:

• Add emoticons. They do not always work, but sometimes they can increase the efficiency of writing. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the letter will seem like spam.
• Keep the subject short. It only takes one or two words to attract subscribers. Large topics are difficult to read, so they can turn off users.
• Show urgency. For example, this could be the end of a promotion or the last chance to purchase a discounted subscription.

Here’s exactly what not to do:

• Don’t make mistakes. This will attract the attention of the user, but your company’s reputation will immediately deteriorate.
• Don’t make false promises. If a letter is given a bright and flashy subject, and as a result nothing is shown, then you can end up in spam with thousands of subscribers. For example, if the subject line says “Free AirPods for you”, but the email itself does not contain anything like that, then such a message will instantly go to spam.
• Avoid stop words. These are words like “free”, “sale”, “Viagra”, “sex” and so on.
• Do not include the Re: prefix. With such a prefix, the letter looks like a personal message, which is why subscribers mistakenly click on it. Naturally, mass mailings with “Re:” are most often complained about and marked as spam.

The main rule of an engaging topic is to reveal the essence of the letter.

Rule 3: The most important thing at the beginning of the letter

If you offer subscribers a discount, say so at the beginning of the letter – feel free to talk about it loudly. Keywords from the message at the beginning of the letter will be broadcast in the preheader.

Preheader – the accompanying text to the subject of the message. It helps to more fully describe what the letter will be about.

To draw up a similar scheme, you need to work out the topic and reinforce it at the beginning of the letter. As a result, subscribers will immediately see the summary of the email without opening it.

Rule 4: Add an Unsubscribe Button

The “Unsubscribe” button is one of the most important attributes of any email. Not only does it affect the perception of users, but the mail services themselves respond to it. Why is this happening – let’s figure it out.

People can lose interest in any product: they get new hobbies, the need for the product disappears, or the position changes, and this is normal. In order not to forcibly keep the user, it is better to give him the opportunity to unsubscribe.

It may seem that such a button will only reduce the base. So it is, but at the same time, the subscriber base will be cleared of inactive users. And because of this, the distribution rates will increase.

In turn, mail services will treat your mailings well – as a result, all letters will always come to the inbox.

The unsubscribe button itself is most often placed at the end of the email. According to the requirements of mail providers, unsubscribing should be as simple as possible – in 1-2 clicks.

Here are some ideas for how to name the button:

• “Cancel subscription”.
• “If you no longer want to receive emails, click here.”
• “Unsubscribe”.
• “To unsubscribe, follow the link.”

Rule 5: Personalize emails

It is always nice when you can see that the letter is not a template, but came personally. Personalization helps to tailor the mailing list to a specific subscriber: make an individual offer, remind about the products in the cart, or recommend an addition to the products that the client already has.

For personalization, you can use contact details, purchase history, and more. And in the letter itself, you can touch on the following:

• remind the subscriber about previously viewed products;
• select recommendations based on subscriber preferences;
• start different types of newsletters for different audiences;
• offer additional products to the purchase that the customer already has.

Rule 6: Add a call to action

Each letter has a purpose – to get the client to do what you need. This can be achieved with a call-to-action button. For example, it may be called “Select” or “Checkout”.

Rule 7: Use alt tags

The last rule we’ll talk about is the use of alt texts. They help users see what is shown in the picture that could not load.

Photos in the letter most often do not load due to the fact that the user has disabled pictures or has a slow Internet connection. Thus, you can tell the subscriber that he forgot to turn on the display of pictures, as well as show in text format what is shown in the photo.

Instead of a conclusion

To write text for an email newsletter, you need to follow the basic rules that we talked about above. It is important that all the needs of the target audience are taken into account, and the tone of the message complies with the company’s regulations.

After writing a letter, you can use the Cheapsender service , which will help you create an effective mailing list for your target audience on a budget and quickly.