Learning to Write Newsletters: 11 Tips for Good Newsletters

1. What is a newsletter?
2. For whom are newsletters suitable?
3. What scope should newsletters have
4. How often should newsletters be sent?
5. 11 Tips for writing a newsletter
6. What is the purpose of a newsletter in a business context?
7. What tools can be used to create newsletters?
8. Conclusion: Your connection to customers and success

Newsletters have been a popular form of communication for many years and are a staple in the marketing mix. Even if electronic mail has been somewhat pushed into the background by social media, they are still the ultimate discipline to inspire your customers and increase your turnover. But, how do you write a newsletter? What makes it stand out and how can you conquer the inboxes of your readers? We'll get straight to the point.

What is a newsletter?

The most common use of the term "newsletter" refers to periodic email publications, which contain information and updates on a specific topic, brand, or organization.

The newsletter as a marketing tool therefore has the purpose of maintaining customer relationships, promoting advertising and sharing information. The messages sent as emails usually contain text, images, links or multimedia content and are therefore an extremely individual and popular means in digital marketing.

The current issue of the B2C Content Marketing Report shows how widespread newsletters are. Email newsletters are named there with 68% usage in 3rd place of media platforms to distribute content.

Picture: Content Distribution

For whom are newsletters suitable?

A newsletter is not a rigid construct and is therefore extremely versatile. Depending on the target group and purpose, you can adapt the content of your newsletter and use it as a communication and interaction channel. Therefore, there is hardly any industry that cannot take advantage of these benefits, but let's check this out in detail:

• Companies: The classic use case. Companies can use newsletters to keep their customers informed about products, services, offers, and news. Industry information, market analyses, and business developments can also be shared.
• Bloggers: Bloggers and content creators can regularly provide their readers with exclusive content, updates, or recommendations.
• Non-profit organizations: Looking for support or donations for charitable projects and events, the newsletter can be used to best advantage. The subscribers stay up to date and can make their contribution easily.
• E-commerce: For them, the newsletter is a must, and they have certainly subscribed to many e-commerce newsletters themselves. Product innovations, sales events, special offers, and discounts are the usual contents of these newsletters.
• Educational institutions: Schools and universities also use the newsletter to inform students, students, and parents about news, events, and educational opportunities.
• Interest groups and associations: If there is an important date or something to be planned, you can inform about it targeted.
• Media and news agencies: They send newsletters to keep subscribers up to date with current news or to win new readers for their medium.

What scope should newsletters have

There are no established guidelines that prescribe how long or short a newsletter should be in order to achieve the desired goal (entertainment, sales increase, customer acquisition, etc.). Short and concise is though usually better than long and complex.

Much more important than the length is the content, which decides whether your subscribers take the desired path, for example, visit your shop and buy a product, or instead unsubscribe from the newsletter recipient list.

You, therefore, need to always know exactly who your target group is, what they expect from your publication and what you might have promised them.

Are you e.g. a botanist and know how to get citrus plants through the winter well, then reveal these secrets to your readership. Or do you have a new testimonial that promotes your brands as effectively as George Clooney coffee capsules? Let us know.

In addition to your readers' preferences optimise the newsletter for mobile devices. Most read e-mails on smartphones, on the move or in between. Here, short and well-structured text blocks, as they can be consumed in one go, prove their worth. Complex formatting or wide texts are often displayed unattractively or cut off.

How often should newsletters be sent?

Again, there is no universal answer. If daily events are a central part of your business, you can send daily or even multiple times a day. In e-commerce, a weekly shipping rhythm is the standard to appeal to the target group with special offers. The newsletter promises news and no lame ducks, so you must find out how often you can deliver added value.

If you're just starting out, you'll want to make sure your newsletter is well prepared is. Therefore, you may start with a monthly shipment. That's okay for the beginning and a smart approach. However, it may take longer to develop important routines. Also, not every newsletter is read, which risks your business or brand being forgotten between issues.

The more newsletters you send, the better and faster you will become in it . Each newsletter also provides valuable insights as your newsletter tool, such as GetResponse analyzes with each shipment where the strengths and weaknesses of your messages lie. Therefore, the more frequently you send, the greater the potential for analysis.

Newsletter frequency: Advantages & disadvantages (own representation of the author)

11 Tips for writing a newsletter

You want to give your newsletter a certain power and draw your subscribers in from the subject line onwards? To make your newsletters successful, we have summarized the most important tips here for you.

Subject line with appeal

Your subject line should exude dynamism, as it serves as a conveyor belt that guides your readers deeper into your newsletter. You can, for example, use the first name of your readers to increase their attention, or apply the FOMO principle (Fear Of Missing Out). FOMO describes a psychological phenomenon where people fear missing out on an opportunity, an experience, or information.

For example:

• The best seats for our concert are almost sold out!
• Julia, winter is coming! Have you already got the right boots?
• Only today: Free VIP upgrade in our top hotel
• The clock is ticking, Michael!

In any case, psychological triggers like curiosity, scarcity, and social confirmation are effective. These can not only be used in the subject lines to arouse your readers' interest.

The main thing first

The newsletter is not always read to the end, which is why the main message should be visible without scrolling. This often includes important announcements, discounts, or events.

This way, your readers can quickly grasp what your newsletter offers and are more inclined to follow your calls to action (CTAs).

Tell stories

People love stories. Through stories, your readers can establish a strong connection with your company. Stories lend humanity and emotion to your newsletter content and help to involve the readers more.

Remember, however, that the stories should always be relevant and tailored to the interests and needs of your target audience. Focus on the connection between the story and the benefit your product or service provides.

You don't have to make up stories, because stories are found everywhere:

Personal Stories:

• Tell stories from real life that present your brand in a human and authentic way.
• For example: Learn how our founder Sarah discovered her passion for sustainable agriculture.

Customer reviews or problem-solving stories:

• Use stories from satisfied customers to illustrate the effects of your products.
• For example: Read about how Johanna was able to optimize her work processes and save time thanks to our software.

Behind the scenes:

• Provide insights into the way your business works to create trust.
• For example: This is how our team selects the best ingredients for our products.

Determine the added value

Providing added value is a key principle when writing newsletters. This added value gives your newsletter its actual raison d'être and should therefore be emphasized several times. It shows that your newsletter not only serves to promote your products but also provides valuable information, entertainment, and support. This strengthens the relationships with your subscribers and increases the conversion rate.

Here are some ways to create added value:

• Relevant content: Make sure that the content of the newsletter is relevant to your target group. This includes informative articles, product updates, tips and advice, and industry news.
• Exclusive offers: Offer exclusive discounts, special offers, or access to sales that are only available to your readers. This rewards their loyalty.
• Useful resources: Share helpful resources such as guides, checklists, templates, or eBooks that can be useful to your readers in their industry or in relation to your products.
• Solutions for problems: Show how your services can solve problems. Illustrate how your offer can tackle challenges.
• Event invitations: Invite your readers to exclusive events, webinars, or trainings that may be of interest for their professional or personal development.
• Feedback and interaction: Ask for feedback and promote interaction to meet the needs and desires.
• Entertaining elements: If you're especially inspiring, humorous, or capable of explaining complex topics understandably, this can also be considered added value.

Write personalized content

If you know the interests and preferences of your recipients, you should definitely use this knowledge to tailor the content of your newsletter to them. If, for example, a customer participated in a webinar on a specific topic she might be also interested in further events on this topic. This personalization makes your newsletter suddenly more relevant for this person.

The implementation of personalization is technically easy. In your newsletter tool, you can set tags or create lists, to mark the characteristics of your subscribers. Demographic information, past purchases, or certain interactions are taken into account. If you are missing important criteria to create personalized content, ask for appropriate feedback. Carry out targeted surveys to better understand the needs and preferences of your subscribers.

Image: Newsletter tags with CleverReach

Call to action

The real purpose of your newsletter is to encourage your readers to take a certain action, click on your blog or buy a product. With a Call-to-Action (CTA), which usually appears in the form of a striking text or even better as a button, you can guide your readers specifically.

When designing your CTA button, pay attention to the correct color, which stands out clearly from the background and fits your brand design. Also, the contained text should be clear and action-oriented, for example "Sign up here" or "Try for free". Place the CTA button in one or several easily visible places, ideally already in the visible area (above the fold) of the newsletter.

Picture: Newsletter-CTA (source: Rituals Cosmetics, newsletter from 28.9.23)

Write casual and active

Formality is a thing of the past. Although there are still newsletters that start with 'Dear Mr. ...' or 'Dear Mrs. ...', in general much more casual forms of greetings have already established:

"Hello Peter!"

"Dear Mrs. Gruber",

After all, you want to build a relationship with your newsletter, or portray the existing relationship.

The casual tone you are therefore allowed to maintain in the rest of your newsletter. The same goes for active language. It sounds more direct, shorter, and more lively, and makes your messages easier to understand.

• Active language: How you build your brand
• Passive language: How a brand is built
• Active language: We ship quickly
• Passive language: Fast shipping is offered by us

Good newsletters avoid unnecessary filler words (also, really, however, as well as) and do not weaken their statements with modal verbs (can, should, want).

Avoid SPAM words

Some words you have to avoid completely, so that your newsletter is not classified as spam. The so-called spam filter scans subject lines and content for certain formulations such as "Free", "Sweepstakes" or "Not spam", so that mailings with these words do not arrive in the inbox of your readership at all.

The same goes for the mention of prescription drugs, terms and expressions related to sexual contentn, phishing and fraud. Also, you should not use capital letters or special characters excessively.

Create an Avatar

Can you put yourself in the shoes of your subscribers to find out what they want to read from you? If you find this difficult, it is best to create a reader avatar. This is a fictional person, that represents your average or ideal reader. This figure helps you to create relevant content. And here is how you do it:

• Analysis: Collect data about your actual readers or customers. Analyze demographic information, behavior patterns, interests, and shopping habits.
• Create persona: Based on the collected information, you now create your avatar, which represents your average reader. Give him a name, consider age, gender, profession, hobbies, everyday life, and challenges.
• Goals and needs: Think about what goals and needs your avatar has. What does he or she look for in your newsletters?
• Optimization: Monitor the reactions of your actual readers to the personalized content and adapt the avatar if necessary.

Choose the right setup

Some newsletters come without a header, images, headlines, and elaborate layout and are hardly distinguishable from an ordinary e-mail. The saying 'A picture says more than 1000 words' is therefore not always correct. If the text of your newsletter already has a magical effect from the subject line and is 100% optimized to your target group, then you might need hardly any design.

In the case of e-commerce or product newsletters, however, this does not work. Here, layout, image quality, color choice, and many other aspects are at least as important as the choice of the right words. The design in this case is an integral part of your brand identity and should reflect this.

Evaluate other newsletters of similar industries or focuses to determine the correct presentation for your mailing. If you already have a concrete idea, then your newsletter tool, like GetResponse will support you to implement the layout. It offers you a wide range of possibilities, which can be intuitively adjusted via drag-and-drop.

Give the newsletter structure

Usual structure elements are:

• Subject line
• Header
• Table of contents (optional)
• Main content
• Pictures and graphics
• Call-to-Action (CTA)
• Links
• Social media share buttons
• Subscription information
• Contact information
• Conclusion and greeting
• Footer and legal notices

The sense and purpose of these elements is to improve the readability, clearly convey your messages and promote the interaction of readers. While a pure text mailing deliberately avoids certain structures, other elements such as contact information, legal notices, and subscription details must be provided.

What is the purpose of a newsletter in a business context?

A well-planned and visually optimized newsletter offers a versatile resource in your business. Here are the most important:

Customer Retention:

Through a newsletter you can build and maintain strong bonds with your customers. By regularly sharing relevant information, updates, and offers with them, you stay in their memory and encourage them to shop with you again and again.

Sales Promotion

E-mail marketing is a powerful tool for promoting products or services and increasing your sales.

Customer Acquisition

A newsletter also helps you attract new customers. By collecting subscribers, you generate leads that can later become paying customers. This is crucial for expanding your business and growing continuously.

Cross-Promotion

With a newsletter you can reuse existing content. A blog post that you have already shared on social media can be cross-promoted through a customer mailing. This creates an additional touchpoint with the customers.

Low Cost

Compared to other marketing methods, the costs for creating and sending a newsletter are relatively low. This makes it a cost-effective way to connect with your target audience and spread your message.

What tools can be used to create newsletters?

Without it doesn't work. A newsletter tool is the central platform for creating, managing, and optimizing your mailings and campaigns. Looking for the right system, you are welcome to look at the OMR Reviews or in the category E-Mail Marketing Software. There you will find detailed descriptions, ratings, and price information for the following tools, as well as GetResponse which can also be a WordPress plugin at times:

rapidmail

Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue)

Mailingwork

HubSpot Marketing Hub

Mailchimp

Klaviyo

Jumpbird

GetResponse

Conclusion: Your connection to customers and success

A newsletter requires a lot of care and commitment and must be exactly tailored to your target group. Under these conditions, the mailing becomes the direct line to the customers. Newsletters are more personal, almost like a private email correspondence, and have great potential to build and maintain the relationship with your customers. The perfect channel to present your offers and news and to have them snapped up by you.