This article was written by Michelle Weger.
Your customers aren’t reading your newsletters.
Don’t feel bad, though. It’s not just your newsletters.
It’s thousands of promotional emails.
The senders of those emails probably have the same thoughts as you:
“This email is going to grab their attention.”
“It’s different from all those other emails.”
“People would be crazy not to open it.”
But that’s what happens. Those emails get lost in the sea of other promotional newsletters that businesses just like yours sent out to their customers.
So how did one of our clients make $6000 in one day from their newsletter? What about our client who sold out of their featured product less than two hours after the newsletter was sent?
And here’s how we did it.
It starts with a strong subject line.
When you’re scrolling through your inbox, what is the first thing that catches your eye?
It’s the subject line.
Think of it as a book cover or a movie synopsis. You’re not going to buy the book or read the movie if it sounds boring, right? You want something that reaches through the screen and grabs you right away.
If your newsletter has a strong subject line, your customers are more likely to open it.
And if they open it, they’re more likely to engage with your call to action (CTA), which could lead to a sale.
Since the average person has 1,602 unread emails in their inbox, creating an enticing invitation is critical.
What makes a strong subject line?
Authenticity.
If your brand is known for being quirky, outgoing, or funny, use those qualities to your advantage. Not only will it stand out, it will maintain consistency with your brand.
If you own a grocery store and you’re having a sale on chicken wings, what newsletter do you think would do better:
Chicken wings are on sale
OR
Cluck yeah! Chicken wings are on sale!
Both say the exact same thing, but one adds a bit of personality and humour. According to Harvard Business School, 95% of purchasing decisions are based on feelings. This means brands that show off their human side and aren’t afraid to get personal do better than brands that are straight to the point and rely on statistics or only the facts.
But if humour isn’t aligned with your business, you can boost your open rates using personalization.
Most CRMs (client/contact management systems) have personalization fields (a function that automatically inserts custom information about each person you are emailing). You can include your customer’s first name, their full name, or a formal greeting.
Seeing their name in the subject line makes them feel like you’re talking to them directly, and their lizard brain loves to feel special.
Now that your customers are in, it’s time to keep their attention.
The hardest part of creating newsletters is getting your customers to open them. Once they do, you have to keep their attention, otherwise they’re going to move onto the next email, or worse, unsubscribe.
So how do you do that?
Keep it short and simple.
The average person spends 10 seconds reading emails. If you can’t capture your customer’s attention right away, you can kiss that potential sale goodbye. The sooner you get to the point, the higher your chances of success.
If you really want to entice your customers, don’t regurgitate what you have already said in your blogs or on social media. Throwing in extra nuggets of information that your audience can’t find anywhere else will keep them committed to reading your newsletters.
The design of your newsletter is just as important as the content.
I’m going to be blunt.
If your newsletter is not visually appealing, customers will unsubscribe.
This doesn’t mean an overload of photos or fancy graphics. While these elements may look fun, your emails will almost always end up in spam folders.
And if it’s not properly formatted for mobile? They’ll leave faster than you can blink.
More than half of all newsletters are opened on mobile. If you’re not taking the time to make sure it looks GOOD on mobile, you’re wasting your time and money.
When you craft and send a newsletter, the last thing you want to see are terrible open and click rates. Standing out from the crowd is the key to engaging content that will keep your audience loyal and happy.
