Newsletter Campaigns for the Uninitiated
Before I joined McQuillen Creative Group, I started my career nearly a decade ago with a role creating email newsletter campaigns at a trade association in Washington, DC. A trade association, which was losing engagement with its members, hired me to boost its content delivery to its members.
Through careful planning and strategic planning, we transformed the newsletters into a quick, digestible legislative brief. We then supplemented our policy newsletter with stand-alone event campaigns that worked with the attention span of the audience.
The most important thing was that we weren’t just getting high open rates, the association saw a 10%-15% click-through rates for articles and event registrations. Over time, the association saw a 35% membership increase, and the events became big draws. So, what was the key to this turnaround?
There are some rules to live by while creating effective email marketing and newsletter campaigns.
Keep Your Newsletter Campaign Emails Short and Sweet
You don’t want to send an email that’s so brief that the reader feels like they got nothing out of opening it. You also don’t want to drown your readers in a flood of information. I’ve seen both kinds, and the best newsletter can deliver concise, actionable content, and make the reader feel like they got value for their time.
The first question you want to ask is, what is the main point of my message? That is your subject line and your lead article. You’re already a third done with your email. Great job, so far!
Add Eye-Catching Imagery, But Don’t Go Nuts
When a reader opens your email, you’ll want to make sure your brand and the identity of your newsletter are front-and-center. This media can take the form of what’s called a “hero image” at the top of the page. Hero images should contain your company’s logo, the title of the newsletter (or event email), and something eye-catching but not overwhelming.
Your email should also have supporting images that break up the text inside the email or contain links to product pages. At most, you should have 3-4 pictures in your newsletter or email campaign.
Understand Your Campaign Audience Through Personalization, Segmentation, and Follow-Ups
What you say to your audience is just one part of an email campaign. How you convey your message is an entirely different beast in the process. The companies that have their operation together know that there will always be different messages for various stakeholders.
Clean data goes a long way when targeting your audience. You can do a lot of cool stuff with your emails if you know your audience well enough. You can target subscribers with multiple demographics, interests, and even their membership dates.
A strategy I employed while working for the association was to reach out to new members after an event and let them know about the exciting and effective ways they could become more involved with the association. Because of this approach, our committee and board participation doubled.
An engaging newsletter and event email marketing campaign need to strike a balance. It has to be to-the-point, but it has to draw attention. It needs to inform readers, but not inundate them with loads of information. Finally, you have to make your audience feel valued in some way.
Sending generic emails over and over will eventually make your audience archive, delete–or worse, unsubscribe from your email lists. An email is just the start of a digital relationship, but it takes a lot of work to keep it going.
Keeping these three rules in mind will help you foster those strong relationships. Or you can work with the marketing experts at McQuillen Creative Group. We have years of email marketing experience and can craft beautiful, pinpoint, email campaigns for you. Contact us to find out
how we can help you step up your marketing efforts.