Whether you are looking to establish and maintain connections with consumers, inform and educate potential customers, or create product awareness among your target consumers, newsletters are gifts that keep on giving.
With an average click-through rate of about 3%, newsletters provide unlimited opportunities for companies seeking to boost engagement rates. In fact, newsletters have a standard engagement rate of more than 20%, which means that at least 85% of the recipients in your contact list will actually receive your email.
Among their many perks, email marketing strategies require consent before a potential client receives your advertising content, unlike most other digital marketing channels like Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, newsletters are among the least expensive marketing alternatives. This is because you don’t have to print a newsletter to reach out to a wide audience; you simply click a button and the email is sent to thousands of readers at no extra charge. This results in extra flexibility with more options in terms of newsletter formats and the promptness at which your target audience could read your message. You can also track the readership data to develop insights that generate content based on user preferences.
Overall, when you maintain a consistent content distribution strategy, consumers will think about you the next time they need similar products or services. Choosing newsletters is a veritable treasure trove for companies that have to earn public trust to generate the most leads and conversions.
However, with the typical consumer receiving at least 10 brand emails every day, how can you raise newsletter engagement rates to keep your clients coming for more content in spite of all the clutter and competition? Here are 7 top tips.
1. Compelling subject lines:
Without an interesting or thought-provoking subject line, most of your subscribers will not open the newsletter. The subject line is usually the first thing potential clients notice before deciding to click on an email, that’s why you are given a few seconds to create a good first impression and convince them they are about to experience the read of a lifetime.
Moreover, most recipients receive up to 20 emails every day from different brands, that’s why a strong subject line increases the odds that your newsletter will fall under the 21% emails your target consumers will actually open and read.
A good place to start is ensuring that the subject line’s character count does not compromise the readership experience, especially among customers who use mobile devices. Stories are also effective strategies for making emotional appeals. Readers are usually looking for sources of inspiration, humor, and excitement–so double down on creating these positive feelings for a higher engagement rate.
Just from reading the subject line alone, the target audience must develop a sense of exigency. They should realize that if they fail to click on the newsletter immediately, they could miss out on opportunities like free access to pay-to-play content, among other prizes. Apart from gifts, using words like “breaking news”, and “alert” could raise the readers’ interest in your story.
However, ignore the temptation to disclose everything in your subject line–a more pragmatic approach to take is to stimulate curiosity. The subject line should act like a teaser that convinces subscribers to read your newsletter for additional information. For example, you could raise an intriguing question like “What’s Michelle Obama’s secret to success?” to arouse attention in your newsletter.
2. Integrate personal content:
Incorporate components such as personal feedback from existing clients/subscribers to make your clients feel heard, but also to promote your brand as real and trustworthy.
User-generated content is also a surefire way of boosting newsletter engagement. Advice sections also improve the relationship between your brand and consumers by encouraging loyalty and engagement.
3. Lists are important:
You are probably reading this article because we promised you a list of 6 tips to boost newsletter engagement rates. Lists are crucial to your email marketing strategy. They can help you break your newsletters into distinct, consumable chunks using bulleted lists.
Lists are also important because they improve the readership experience by allowing potential clients to scan through the email for crucial information rather than read the entire newsletter when they’re in a hurry.
4. Display your brand’s persona:
If you’re always talking to potential clients through emails, you might as well forge an ever-lasting relationship. Your loyal subscribers want to get to know you better, so show them who you truly are. Use the brand tone of voice to inject some personality into your newsletter copy.
If possible, make sure the readers know the writers they are talking to by creating separate profiles for each contributor.
5. Call to actions:
Do not just say “click here” when you want to influence your subscribers’ behavior when creativity and being direct could score your more points. Instead, go for other options like “Buy one now and get one free!”
Add backlinks when recommending extra reading materials. Surveys are also great options.
6. Include rewards:
The dopamine rush that comes with winning a contest is a good example of positive reinforcement. When you reward subscribers for helping you market your brand through user-generated content, both parties win.
Some companies reward their clients with holiday vacations or a year’s supply of the entity’s products if they generate a certain number of leads that convert. This way, they can increase their reach while improving brand loyalty.
7. Use visuals:
While consuming any content, most readers believe that what they see in a newsletter is what they get when they purchase your products or services; this is why a creative newsletter design is vital to increase engagement rates.
As such, it’s important that you include videos and images in your newsletter design in order to help clients visualize your value proposition much better. Images or gifs also enable subscribers to scan your content with elevated accuracy and speeds. Infographics are a good way to summarize hundreds of words into a 5-minute read.
Bringing it all together;
Marketing and advertising are expensive ventures, so businesses are always looking for new ways to boost reach without compromising engagement. Email marketing strategies like newsletter campaigns tend to be cheaper than other digital and traditional channels, but you cannot generate good returns if you don’t distribute compelling content.
Adding elements like images and videos, calls to action, lists, and appealing subject lines will help you build both brand identity and consumer loyalty.
