Why an E-Newsletter can IMPROVE User Engagement and BUILD Brand Authority

E-newsletters are a beautiful thing. Superb, well-executed ones offer a breath of fresh air amidst the dull, dated and disengaging scroll of our inboxes, serving up a plate of valuable, engaging, and insightful content.

E-Newsletters carry many possibilities. Businesses can use them to consistently re-affirm themselves as an authority within a specific field, while also building user engagement, and reminding loyal subscribers why they were first interested in subscribing.

Put simply, you can use an E-Newsletter to reward your subscribers with free, valuable content they can use as part of their own strategies.

Note the word VALUABLE. When it comes to an E-Newsletter, it all comes down to VALUE first in everything you do. If your reader doesn’t get value out of your content, then chances are they’ll delete your email, or even worse, hit the unsubscribe button.

You might be wondering; how do I achieve an all-round winning newsletter that ticks all the boxes?

Have no fear, for we’ve compiled the N – R of  ‘Newsletter’, with everything you need to know to make it happen.

N: NAME.

Pick a name that is memorable and isn’t cliche. After all, a newsletter is its own product, so we need to treat it this way, and that means giving it its own unique name.

Hint: Puns are always welcome.

E: ELEMENTS.

You won’t miss a beat if you have considered all elements of your newsletter.

Do you have a way to say goodbye to your readers with a fun outro sign-off? What about a fun greeting? What are you going to write in the subject line? What different sections will you include? Who will sign off the newsletter?

W: WEBSITE.

You need to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up to your newsletter.

And that means having a dedicated newsletter opt-in page on your website.

This gives users an easy access point to input their name and email address, should they wish to subscribe. Need an example? Check out the Caffeinate Digital opt-in page below, where we explain what readers can get out of a FREE subscription to our monthly newsletter, ‘The Monthly Brew.’

(Subscribe to The Monthly Brew)

S: SKIMMABLE.

Believe it or not, we actually have pretty short attention spans in 2020. People don’t like large chunks of text, so make your content skimmable. How? You could include headings, subheadings, bullet points, videos, animated GIFs, or images.

L: LOSE THE BORING CONTENT.

No one wants to hear about company updates, or what’s happening in the office. Trust me, as impressive as the cake you bought for someone’s birthday was, save that for a Facebook post!

E: ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE.

You want readers to be intrigued, engaged, and excited. You want them to gain something from reading and engaging with your content.

Connecting with your audience means selecting words they can resonate with.

That’s why it’s essential to create a customer avatar (someone you’re thinking about when creating your content). Using your avatar, you can craft your content around the right conversational jargon and colloquial language (that is, the everyday language, words and phrases someone might often use).

Remember this. We need to not speak AT our customer avatar, but rather, to them and with them.

(READ: Copywriting 101: Why Tailoring Content to your Customer Avatar is Crucial to WINNING Leads)

T: TREAT YOUR NEWSLETTER AS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF CONTENT.

You need to build a POSITIVE rapport with your subscribers who want to know what you have to say. Do this by giving your readers TIMELY, ACTIONABLE content they can access wherever they are, whenever they choose, on whatever device they select. Use the newsletter to establish your brand as an authority within your industry.

T: TYPES.

Countless newsletter types exist, and each serves a different purpose.

There’s the ‘Featured Article Style’, for example, which involves a significant amount of writing to open the newsletter in a ‘Letter to the Editor’ style, commenting on something industry-based, while also providing links to valuable internal or external content. Then there’s The Link and Curated content style, the blog style newsletter, and more. Map out a format for your newsletter, and stick to that with each edition you release (or tweak it as you see fit).

E: EVERY PART OF YOUR NEWSLETTER MUST BE RELEVANT!

Your readers must have a reason, or more than one reason, to read it. Give them that reason. Give them content that is VALUABLE to the industry they’re in.

There’s a lot of ‘noise’ out there. Stand out – don’t become part of that noise.

(READ: How to Quickly Build a Killer Email List: 23 Simple Email Hacks)

R – READERS ARE EVERYTHING.

They’re the number one thing you need to think about when writing and constructing your newsletter.

Don’t treat them in a manner that says “Hey, you’re on our list now, we’re going to spam and send you a whole bunch of content that we think is good, and you’ll like it because we’ll tell you it’s good.” But instead, “Hey guys, you’re getting this awesome new thing, and there’s so much valuable content and information in here that you can use to benefit your business and develop your strategies.”

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