When it comes to creating a valuable email newsletter for your customers, you need to consider the value of the content within it. For the newsletter to create real impact, it should include a wide range of topics and content types, as some readers will respond to certain types of content differently than others.
Here, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the components every newsletter should include in order to pique and maintain reader interest. Ensure these components make it into your newsletter design plan to help you build a list with impact.
Young Entrepreneur Council members think every email newsletter should have these components.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Rich, Personalized Content
Email communication is used now more than ever to reach individuals. With so much competition, personalization and rich content is what is needed to keep your audience clicking to open and browse. If you’re providing valuable information to the individuals you’re sending to, you’re more likely to have a continued readership. Do what you can to humanize the newsletter by including a photo of your team or a link to a video offering additional helpful insight. Those who subscribe should feel like they’re getting something in return, so don’t rule out including a coupon or featuring other similar services that you might offer. – Joe Morgan, Joe’s Datacenter, LLC
2. A Purposeful Call To Action
Lots of business owners may feel pressure to send a newsletter to keep the list warm, but then forget that there should really be an objective to make subscribers click. This doesn’t have to be a sale; it could be an invitation to join a community, provide feedback or learn more. Having an objective will train your subscribers to click, which is helpful for sales. Click rates increase your credibility with email clients such as Gmail, improving the deliverability of future campaigns. Most importantly, nobody likes to receive a newsletter from brands “just because.” There has to be some meaning behind sending any communication. – Kaitlyn Witman, Rainfactory
3. A Link To Your App
If you have an app for your business, then linking to it will send more users to your app. You can add this to the footer of your email copy and add a compelling reason for them to visit your app. For example, offer a discount for a purchase made the first time on the app. You can make this part of your email marketing template so this feature is on every email you send. You should see a number of downloads and active users if you do this correctly. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
4. Human Stories
People want to read about other people, especially people who are relatable and aspirational. Numbers and figures are fine, but no one is going to remember your sales numbers or revenue figures. They will remember stories of people—your people, the people who run your company and are advocates of the amazing work your organization does. Personal stories allow your readers to be invested in your success because they start to care about your employees and their lives. There is no quicker way to grab your reader’s attention and keep your company relevant and relatable. – Ashley Sharp, Dwell with Dignity
5. Interactive Elements
Make your newsletters interactive! Whether it’s a simple call to action directing a reader to follow you on social media or a quick poll with a fun question, at the end of the day, email is a form of communication. So, make it a conversation. Depending on how people interact, you’ll quickly learn what piques their interest and what doesn’t. You can then use this information to segment your list and provide more personalized value down the line. – Shay Berman, Digital Resource
6. Video Content
Stand out by regularly integrating videos into your emails. Video is a great way to fit in a lot of complex information with very few written words. People’s attention spans are becoming increasingly shorter and they don’t want to read a lengthy email. Video is an extremely efficient form of communication that we’ve found subscribers to be very responsive to. Build a simple landing page to host your video so that it’s not embedded in the email. Keep the email simple and to the point and give the call to action to view the video. If you utilize automated campaigns, videos are a great addition to a welcome email when someone subscribes. It should be used to authentically connect with the new subscriber and set the expectations for what they will receive from you in the future. – Colin McGuire, Boomn
7. An Unsubscribe Option
For any newsletter or email content you send out, you need to make sure it comes with an “unsubscribe” option at the bottom. Failure to include an unsubscribe option frustrates subscribers and leads to resentment toward your brand. Subscribers want to know they can opt out of your newsletter any time they want and, without that reassurance, they’ll be quicker to run away. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
8. Proper Citations And Research
If you’re going to start a newsletter that adds value, don’t shy away from linking out to other credible sources of information. Remember that your goal is to maximize the value for your reader so that they keep opening your emails and coming back for more. So, I suggest packing every post with references that direct to high-quality research or articles that substantiate your claims or back up your points. This way, you can be seen as a reliable and transparent source of knowledge in your field. – Tyler Gallagher, Regal Assets
