Anatomy of An E-Newsletter (Infographic)

Put together a smashing E-newsletter with our infographic guide.

Emails are dying? Not for a long stretch. Those who predicted its demise are about to get a rude shock; By end 2016, the number of email accounts are projected to rise to over 4.3 billion and an average of 1.38 million emails are still sent by companies every month.

If that doesn’t convince you enough, statistics are about to get more surprising; Contrary to popular opinion, more consumers actually prefer receiving updates through emails than through social media and are 6 times likely to click on a link from an email than through a Tweet.

At the forefront of email marketing is the ever-popular e-newsletter format. A definite upgrade from traditional news bulletins or print inserts, newsletters help promote branding in a fuss and almost cost-free manner. From updates, roundups to even industry advice, content ideas are limitless and equally as effective. 

However, as technology progresses and people expect a mobile, interactive and creative newsletter experience, basic won’t cut it. With so much email content bombarding our inboxes on a daily basis, is your newsletter standing out and being read?

To pull users in, you will need to dig deep and scrutinise your strategy – and its more than just creating snazzy copy. Here is an infographic guide that breaks down the essential elements needed to develop an amazing e-newsletter. Hello from the other side of the inbox!

But! Before You Carry On…

As important as developing a fantastic piece of content is figuring out if that content’s needed. Yes, e-newsletters can be a tempting prospect with all of its intended benefits, but do you have a purpose? What are the goals you wish to achieve from making a newsletter? Get down and research on industry peers and consumers; Are your target audiences the kind of people to read emails? Or, is your content offering even suited for the e-newsletter format? For example, if your business revolves around setting up events within the elderly community, an actual news bulletin might work better than email.

Besides setting objectives, the angle of your newsletter matters too. No one is going to open a random, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ email that you sent for the sake of it. Is there a particular topic or subject that consumers might be interested or may want to seek more information about? A newsletter is a great platform for enriching user knowledge, but not one for direct promotion. So, be sure to figure out what sort of benefit can consumers receive from reading your newsletter; Leads or sales are just the result of good content.

First Impressions Count Too

An example of subject lines and sub-headers. 

There’s just one more thing before we go at length on the meaty stuff. All those tips and tricks mentioned below will go to waste if you don’t make a good first impression. And by that, we mean your subject line and sub-headers.

They are the deciding factor to whether a user clicks into an email, so they’d better be effective. Here are some tips to follow:

• Grab a user’s attention by addressing them directly (e.g. ‘Your inspiration for the week’ )
• Don’t keep mentioning about your company in the subject line or sub-header; Readers can tell from the sender panel.
• Phrase titles in a way that provides a potential benefit for the reader.
• Or, get straight to the point about what your e-newsletter is actually offering (e.g. ‘15% USA shipping promo’)
• Use numerals in your titles (e.g. ’10 For Today: What’s lurking in the solar system’)
• Emotional triggers emphasising on scarcity, humour or surprise are highly effective. (e.g. ‘Because You’re Smart’)
• White shorter subject lines, capping at about 50 characters. This makes it easier for readers to skim through
• For sub-headers, you may include more details about the content, but don’t give everything away within the first 10 words! There would be no point for readers to click in, then.
• For more tips and tricks, read here and here.

 Anatomy of An E-Newsletter  (Infographic)

Written by: (www.script.com.sg) 

Edited & Illustrated by: Script Consultants Pte Ltd