5 Mistakes You're Making in Your Email Newsletter

Your email newsletter is your direct line of contact with your audience. Chances are, your audience is getting inundated with newsletters from several different brands and blogs every week. In order to make sure your newsletter is something they’ll want to open every single time, make sure your newsletter doesn’t include the following 5 things:

General Subject Lines

Your subject line should be something that captivates the audience from the get-go. It’s generally the difference between someone opening your email or moving it directly to the trash can. Something as simple as “Weekly Newsletter” doesn’t incite excitement about what’s inside. 

Make sure your subject line is catchy, specific, and personalized! A subject line like “I can’t believe we did that…” is bound to make your reader interested in the message inside! 

Multiple Goals

When sending out your newsletter, you should have your “why” in mind. What is the purpose of this letter? If you answered, “I don’t know”, then chances are the reader won’t either. 

If your goal is to get people to read your blogs then only talk about those linked blogs. If you also want them to sign up for an upcoming webinar, make sure that information is sent out separately. This ensures less confusion with your audience and minimizes the potential for overwhelming your reader. 

Multiple Topics

In relation to the above, unless your newsletter is formatted in a template style that is regularly sent out, make sure that you are only addressing one topic at a time.

If you’re writing about the new class you’re launching, the newest content you’ve published on your social media shouldn’t be in that newsletter. If you’re introducing a new product, links to join your book club shouldn’t be included. 

Again, the idea of your newsletter is to be direct with your message, not to confuse the reader.

Unnecessary Links and Calls to Action

In general, newsletters can already be an overwhelming email to open. Minimize the chaos by limiting the number of ways that your audience can interact with the message. 

Unlike a reader visiting your social media on their own, you are the one initiating contact. This is why it’s even more important to have a clear goal with your message. It’s okay to have multiple links added in your newsletter as long as they serve a purpose. Links to irrelevant content is a quick way to confuse your reader.

Not Providing Value 

If someone has already signed up for your newsletter, it’s because they want to hear from you. They have elected to give your their email for something of value in return. The majority of your newsletter should be serving your audience in some way or another. 

It could be providing news, sharing content, or giving an update of what’s happening with your business. But in no way, should most of your newsletter be self-promotion. You already got them there, now it’s time to give them a reason to stay.

The good news is, if you’ve been making these mistakes, they are all easy to fix with a few intentional clicks of your mouse. Writing newsletters ontop of your regular content can be stressful especially when you are trying to grow your lists. With these tips, you’ll be able to keep your readers coming back for more every time you hit “send”.

Need help writing out newsletters? We would love to help you! Reach out to hear about our affordable monthly newsletter services.

Joelle Riding • June 11, 2020

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