Newsletters can be a brilliant way to keep your business in customers’ minds, to add value to your offer, and to incentivise potential clients to hire you. But they can also get lost in a busy inbox and be deleted without having the impact you would wish.
So, how can you make sure that time spent on crafting a newsletter is well spent, and ensure that your newsletter is doing its job? Here are our five top tips to boost readership, open rates, and engagement.
1. Understand your audience
First things first, you need to know who you’re sending your newsletter to:
- Are they C-level, juniors, the marketing team?
- Are they current clients, prospects, or interesting lay people?
- Are they receiving your newsletter to be sold exclusive upgrades, offers, and benefits; to learn more about a specific topic; or to keep up-to-date with the latest trends?
Consider conducting a readership survey to find out what readers want from your newsletter, and then use the results to hone and refine the content you are creating.
2. Segment your audience
When you understand what your readers want, you will start to realise that they don’t all want the same thing! Segmenting your email list by different demographics means that you can tailor content to different audiences, meaning that you’re offering relevant, useful information to everyone. Remember to also regularly verify your email list to avoid sending newsletters to the wrong people.
3. Consider A/B testing
Another great way to find out what works is to experiment. A/B testing allows you to try out different subject lines, formats, and even content, to see what performs best. Keep careful track of open rates, click through rates, and follow-up from different kinds of emails, and use this information to refine your strategy for newsletter campaigns.
4. Have clear goals
Your strategy for your newsletter will vary depending on whether your goal is to grow your subscriber list, to improve open rates, or to boost conversions.
You might want to consider:
- incentivising sign-up (with a discount, special offer, or other sweetener);
- offering exclusive content, added value, or offers to subscribers;
- changing how to phrase and position your CTAs;
- redesigning your template to be more visually enticing;
- changing the tone or style of your content…
5. Give people a reason to open your email
In amongst hundreds of emails, many of them urgent, how can you make your newsletter stand out? The first step to boosting open rates is having a great subject line. Avoiding “spam” words such as “free” will help keep your emails out of spam filters. Make sure that your subject line is succinct, appealing, and accurate – there’s nothing more annoying than promising something you don’t then deliver.
With these tips, you can make your B2B newsletter a useful, successful, and integral part of your business’s marketing strategy, measure success, and use your time wisely.
Need some help upgrading your B2B newsletter? Get in touch at hello@isolinecomms.com today.
