Creating an Effective Newsletter - The Guide

Definition: What is a newsletter?

A newsletter is a marketing tool used by companies to communicate with their customers and prospects. In its simplest definition, it allows you to send mass messages to a list of subscribers to maintain contact and inform them about products, services or relevant information of any kind.

A newsletter is usually sent by email and can be created using a marketing tool or websites specifically designed for newsletters and email marketing. Customers and prospects can subscribe to the newsletter, and it can be sent according to the user's preferences (for example, weekly or monthly).

Newsletters can be a very powerful tool in e-commerce to stay in touch with your customers and prospects, and at the same time inform them about your product or service. They offer an excellent opportunity to build their trust in your brand and create a long term relationship that over time will benefit your revenue growth.

Email marketing and newsletter

Email marketing is a type of marketing campaign that uses email as a channel to communicate with customers and prospects. Emails can be sent to subscribers who have explicitly given their consent to receive these emails, or to people who have not marked their emails as unwanted (spam).

Unlike traditional marketing campaigns, emails sent as part of an email campaign are usually personalized according to the interests and needs of the recipient. This way, emails sent as part of an email campaign are more likely to catch the recipient's attention and lead to an interaction.

A newsletter is an email that is sent regularly and systematically to a list of subscribers. Newsletters are designed to provide targeted and relevant information to subscribers, i.e. updates on your company, products or services, special offers or any other information you wish to share with them.

Interest of a newsletter?

A newsletter is a very useful marketing tool to keep your customers and prospects informed and engaged by providing them with news, novelties and updates regularly. Creating a newsletter can therefore contribute to improve your sales and your visibility with your customers.

For bloggers, newsletters can also be a great way to promote your blog and increase traffic to your website. They also offer a unique opportunity to communicate directly with your subscribers and keep them informed of the latest news and information about your product or service.

Newsletters can also help you develop a personal and lasting relationship with your customers, which is essential for the success of any business.

The main advantages of the newsletter according to us:

1. Promote

A newsletter can be a great way to promote products or services. By sending regular newsletters to your subscribers, you can keep them informed about new products and services available and allow them to get to know your brand better.

You can also add links to your website or to a product page, which can lead to additional traffic to your site.

2. Convince

A newsletter can also be a powerful tool to convince your customers and prospects to buy your product or service. A newsletter can contain accurate and detailed information about the product or service, which can encourage subscribers to make a buying decision.

You can also add links to your website or to a product page to give subscribers the opportunity to learn more and take action.

3. Build loyalty

Newsletters can also be an effective way to build customer loyalty. By staying in touch with your subscribers through newsletters, you can show them that your company cares about them and their needs.

You can also run special promotions, offer discounts or even create an online community for your subscribers and customers through newsletters.

Regulation of the newsletter

When it comes to regulations, it is important to ensure that you are compliant with the laws and regulations in force. In particular, you must ensure that you obtain the explicit consent of the recipients before sending a newsletter (opt-in) and that you offer them the possibility to unsubscribe (opt-out).

In this way, you can avoid any sanctions for violation of the rules and laws in force and fully enjoy the benefits of sending a newsletter.

The step-by-step process

Target the audience for your newsletter

First, you need to define your target through a segmentation marketing strategy. This strategy consists in dividing your database into specific segments in order to send a relevant newsletter to each of them to optimize your communication.

You can segment your database based on demographics, behavior or engagement with your content and products. The more precise your segmentation, the more you can personalize the content of your messages according to the targeted segment.

Define the objectives of your newsletter

Once you have defined your target audience, determine the objective you want to achieve by sending a newsletter. Do you want to inform, encourage purchase or communicate about an event? A precise definition of your objective will help you determine the content and tone of your emails.

Pay attention to the content of your email

A captivating title

An attractive title and well-chosen keywords are the key to catching your subscribers' attention and making them open the message in their mailbox. So focus on creating an attractive title that encourages reading.

keep it short

The content of the email should be short and concise. Try to use short, neat sentences to capture the reader's attention while conveying the important information you want to convey.

You should also include links or buttons to direct the reader to an article, product page or other content that is relevant. This way you encourage the recipient to continue reading where you want them to go in the first place.

Visually attractive

The form and appearance of your newsletter should be clear and appropriate for the purpose of your message. To save time, you can even use ready-made templates to create a professional layout.

Make sure text and media are properly aligned, choose colors that match your brand, and add a personal touch to make your message memorable!

Finally, don't forget to check that your email is optimized for mobile. Most subscribers open emails on their phones, so you need to make sure that the layout and content fits all screen sizes.

Call-to-action

Once your content is created and the layout is defined, focus on the call-to-action. This is what will guide your subscribers to a concrete action to be taken when reading your newsletter.

Consider creating a catchphrase that solicits action and adding a clickable button to allow them to perform the action quickly.

Also include a thank you message, such as a thank you page created on your website, to generate even more engagement and loyalty.

Send your newsletter

You've created interesting, well-segmented and mobile-optimized content? Then you're ready to send your newsletter! First, check that the email displays correctly on all browsers and devices by using a preview feature before sending.

Once you are sure that your design is ready to be sent, there are two more things to keep in mind before scheduling your newsletter.

Hour of delivery

Choosing the right time to send your email is essential to generate more opens and engagement rates. So try to reach your subscribers at a time when they are likely to read your email.

You can use analytics tools to check when the open rate is highest and determine the best time to send your mail.

There is no universal answer to this question as it depends on your sector of activity and your audience, but it would seem more appropriate to schedule the sending of your newsletter between Tuesday and Thursday between 10am and 2pm according to a study conducted by Sendinblue.

Sending frequency

It is important to avoid bombarding your subscribers with too frequent or unnecessary newsletters. Try to find a balance between the frequency and intensity of your newsletters. Then define a frequency of sending and stick to it in order to keep your communication consistent and effective.

Which software to use to set up a newsletter?

Email marketing software is the ideal solution for a newsletter. These tools allow you to quickly and easily manage the sending of emails to your customers and prospects. Moreover, they offer a variety of features that make the communication process more efficient and accurate.

Email marketing software offers a variety of benefits, including:

• Easy creation of customizable campaigns with intuitive tools.

• Analytical features to track email performance and observe trends.

• The ability to segment your subscriber list so you can target a specific segment for a campaign.

• Predefined and customized email templates to simplify the creation process.

• Email tracking to know how long your emails are opened, which links are clicked and by whom.

• Split-testing to compare and optimize your campaigns.

• Email automation so you can create specific scenarios.

Email marketing software is a powerful tool to help you manage mass emailing and customer communication more efficiently. These tools offer a variety of features that will allow you to personalize, segment and track the emails sent, making your email campaign more effective.

To get started, you can take a look at our selection of the best email marketing software, all adapted to the creation and implementation of a newsletter.

Examples

Frequent news

Regular newsletters can be an effective way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. Update your readers on the latest news, offer useful information and share content that is relevant to your industry.

Promotional campaign

Newsletters are a great way to promote your products and services to your current and potential customers. Include special offers, discounts and promotions to encourage your customers to buy.

Events

Newsletters are a great way to promote your events, such as webinars, conferences or others. A newsletter is a great way to make sure your customers know when and where the events will take place.

Surveys

Newsletters can be used to gather feedback from your customers and target audience. Send quizzes, polls and surveys to understand what your readers think about your brand or products and services.

Newsletter Glossary

Subscriber

A subscriber is someone who has given their consent to receive emails. The recipients on your mailing list are your subscribers.

A/B testing or split-testing

A/B testing or split-testing is a method that consists of testing and comparing different versions of the same email campaign to determine which one offers the best results.

Call to action

A call-to-action is an instruction to the recipients of an email to perform a specific action, for example: buy a product, visit a website or download a document.

Tracking link

A tracking link is a link that can be embedded in your message to measure the number of clicks made by recipients. With a tracking link, you can easily determine if recipients are opening your email and clicking on the links in it.

This allows you to adjust your objectives and activities according to the results obtained to optimize the success rate of your campaigns.

Mailing list

A mailing list is a database containing the email addresses of the recipients to whom you wish to send your newsletter.

Opt-in

Opt-in is a procedure that allows recipients to give their consent to receive emails. Recipients must agree to the terms and conditions and provide their email addresses in order to join your mailing list. Once subscribed, you can send them newsletters and other content.

Opt-out

The opt-out is a procedure that allows recipients to unsubscribe from your newsletter. Recipients can choose to unsubscribe at any time and you cannot force them to stay subscribed. It is important that your emails include a link to unsubscribe in order to comply with current regulations.

Tracking pixel

A tracking pixel is a line of code that can be embedded in your newsletter to help you measure the success of email campaigns. With the pixel, you can track the number of emails opened, the number of clicks on links and the engagement rate of recipients.

You can also see if your message was delivered or rejected by the recipients' mailboxes. Finally, you can see if a recipient took any action after opening the email, such as clicking on a link or buying a product.

Open rate

The email open rate is an indicator that measures the number of emails opened compared to the number of emails sent. This indicator allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of your emailing campaigns and to adjust your strategy to obtain better results.

Commitment rate

Engagement rate is a metric that measures the number of actions taken by recipients in a newsletter. This engagement rate can include the number of emails opened, the number of clicks on links in the newsletter and the number of actions taken after opening the email.

Click-through rate (CTR)

The newsletter click-through rate is a metric that measures the number of emails opened and the number of actions taken, including clicks on the links contained in the newsletter. This rate can be used to evaluate the success of an email campaign and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Unsubscribe rate

The unsubscribe rate is an indicator that measures the number of recipients who have chosen to unsubscribe from your newsletter.

Conversion rate

The conversion rate is an indicator that measures the number of actions taken by recipients after opening your newsletter, such as buying a product, filling out a form or subscribing to an offer.

Deliverability rate

The deliverability rate is an indicator that measures the number of emails sent and the number actually delivered to the recipients' inboxes.

Template

A template is a design that allows you to structure your message and organize the layout, form and information displayed. You can use predefined templates or create your own layouts from scratch. Templates are essential to better target your audience and optimize your recipients' experience.