How to write a newsletter recipients will open immediately

If you run an online shop or are on your way to become the next big blogger/influencer, you NEED to send newsletters. Here’s why.

99% of consumers check their emails every single day.

Email marketing has ROI (return of investment) of 3800%.

Surprising, ha? It shouldn’t be!

Sending a newsletter is still a rather popular marketing activity e-commerce sites, and blogs all around the world rely on. And the best thing of all? Creating and sending the newsletter is not time-consuming, or money-draining. Which is why you need to get your hands on writing the newsletter right away!

However, before you get to typing your next email, we have to mention one thing: you could benefit from sending a newsletter periodically to your subscribers only if you know how to create the email they will be interested in reading.

Each time you send a newsletter, the recipients need to be wowed by the design, and the informational content you provided. They need to feel something when they read your newsletter 一 whether it’s an encouragement/motivation, pure happiness, compassion, or something else. You need to make them “feel”. If they don’t find your newsletter beneficial or slightly amusing, the email will wind up in the Spam section, or in the best-case scenario, the Trash. Which would be such a waste! 🙁

If you don’t want to risk being marked as unwanted, we would suggest you start creating THE PERFECT content as soon as today. That being said, if you have just started dipping your toes into sending newsletters, don’t be afraid 一 we’re here to help. We have decided to write a bunch of tips that will help you write a newsletter in about 30 minutes. O.K., an hour, if you choose to waste time on the trivial.

Here are those “how to write a newsletter” tips:

Tip #1 一 Make a list of all the elements your newsletter should have

Although you might think that a newsletter differentiates from a company to company, or from a blogger to blogger, the truth is that every newsletter has a similar form. It consists of the same elements. These elements are the ones that are there for branding purposes, and the ones that can make the content a bit more interesting to read. Here are all those elements:

• A logo. Every newsletter needs to have a logo. It is placed most commonly at the top of a newsletter, so recipients don’t miss who send the newsletter.
• Specific colors and fonts. Both of these elements will brand your newsletter and make it stand out.
• One heading or several headings. Titles are there to help you separate the text. We would suggest you not to add to many headings because no one has the time to read a long newsletter. The same thing goes for the newsletter content 一 never go overboard.
• A divider or dividers. Dividers are there to separate the content, not using the text, but using space. You’ll see, they are pretty useful.
• The text of the newsletter itself. Depending on what type of newsletter you are sending, you are going to have to write different copies for each newsletter. The tone and the voice you use in the text should be consistent throughout emails. Also, it goes without saying that one of the essential “how to write a newsletter” tips is that the writing you include in the newsletter MUST be grammatically correct.
• Images. To break the text a bit, we would advise you to use different types of visuals. Remember: people love seeing photos 一 it makes the text “lighter”, and more readable.
• Emojis. Emojis are highly recommended for both bloggers and online shops. Just be sure not to go overboard 一 after all, it’s not a text message, it’s a newsletter.
• A call to action (CTA), buttons. No matter if you are trying to get people to read your posts, or visit a specific page so they can buy products on sale, you need to add a button that will lead them to the landing page of your choice.
• Social media icons. We would suggest you add these icons at the very end of the newsletter, and link to your blog’s/your shop’s social media handles.

We’ll talk about each of these elements a bit down the road. For now, let’s move onto tip no. 2.

Tip #2 一 Think about the purpose of your newsletter (and plan when you’ll send it)

Before you learn how to write a newsletter, you first need to define why you need it. There are two things you need to think about.

The first one is the purpose of every newsletter you plan to send.

If you ask us, for a blogger, the purpose can be educating current followers, leading more people to the blog (getting more traffic), and, ultimately, getting more readers. For an online store, the purpose would be stimulating recipients to buy something, announcing the latest collection, etc.

By defining the objective of each newsletter, you’ll be able to analyze the results more carefully and see whether you’ve reached the goal or not.

The second thing you need to do is determine when you’ll send the newsletter, and how often you are going to do it.

On the one hand, when it comes to determining the sending time, we would suggest you make a newsletter publishing calendar (you can simply use Google Calendar) you’ll follow no matter what. The reason why we advise you to stick to the schedule is that recipients can “smell” when you are sending a last-minute email. These types of newsletters are usually not so well structured, and because of that seem a bit unappealing to the recipients.

On the other hand, when you are deciding on a sending frequency, we would suggest you not to send it too often because users tend to mark the persistent senders as spam. Don’t send it more frequently than once a week.

Tip #3 一 Choose the topic of your newsletter

Keep in mind that each newsletter needs to be dedicated to only one topic.

For example, since September is just around the corner, you can send an email with the “back to school” discount on kids’ clothes.

You get the picture.

Tip #4 一 Choose a platform that will help you create the newsletter

When it comes to this “how to write a newsletter” tip, we are going to mention the tool we know for a fact will work well for you. It’s none other than MailChimp, the world-know email marketing tool. To connect this plugin with your WordPress site, you’ll need to install and activate the MailChimp plugin.

(The reason why we would advise you to choose this tool is that it allows you to create all newsletters rapidly. You can use the HTML editor to do it, or you can use the “regular one” – that layout is not so different than the one you can find Google Documents. It’s pretty intuitive to use.)

Tip #5 一 Customize the “from” section

If you think about, if there’s one thing in the world that will get you to open an email immediately, that’s the “from” section. Don’t believe us? Just imagine getting an email from a bank associate, and the subject of the email contains the word “urgent”. Your shaky hands would probably open the email in 0,3 seconds! Which is why we suggest you use the first name as your “from” address.

For instance, if you run an e-commerce website, you can add a name next to the “from [Company Name]” (John from Themes Kingdom), and if you run a blog, you can mention your full name.

What you can learn from this “how to write a newsletter” tip is that recipients need to trust the sender before they open the email.

Tip #6 一 Writing the perfect subject line

When it comes to this tip, we suggest you check our text on creating catchy newsletter subject lines. You won’t be disappointed.

Tip #7 一 Don’t flood the newsletter with the text

Finally! It’s time you get down to business.

The truth is, writing a newsletter body is easier said than done, and there are so many elements you need to keep in mind. Nevertheless, we are going to try to break them down for you, in just a few paragraphs.

A killer beginning and even stronger end

The first rule of writing a newsletter copy is to keep it simple. The simplest copy is the most effective one. Since you shouldn’t write a 3,000-word newsletter, and you want to make it short & sweet, you need to have a few punchlines recipients will remember.

This is why one of the most known “how to write a newsletter” tips is to write a killer opening line and even cooler end.

When writing the opening line remember that the beginning of the newsletter’s body is visible when recipients get emails to their inboxes (depending on the browsers they use, and devices they view the emails on).

When it comes to writing the very end, be sure to make a powerful conclusion, in just a sentence or two. It’s more than enough to motivate the users to complete the action you want them to.

Bonus tip: At the end of your newsletter, always include a CTA, a button, that leads recipients to the landing page you would like for them to get on. When filling this button with a text, make sure it’s clear what you want them to do 一 they shouldn’t have to guess.

The newsletter body

When it comes to the newsletter body, the biggest mistake you can make is to write essay-like texts whose paragraphs go up to half a page. Instead, separate the text into sections to make it more digestible.

Also, when writing the body of the newsletter, remember to talk to the recipients like you would IRL, face-to-face. There’s no need to use complicated words or long sentences. Try to stay away from using the passive voice because it tends to make the text harder to read.

Double-check the text

Proofreading is a must; always check the grammar after you feel confident that you are done with the copy. Check it once, twice, as many times as you feel comfortable. Even the slightest grammar mistake is unacceptable when sending the newsletter.

Need an example?

If you feel overwhelmed by all the information we provided, and feel like this “how to write a newsletter” tips weren’t all that helpful, here’s an example to help you.

Let’s imagine that you run an online shop, and you want to offer 50% off on all stiletto heels, to high-fashion lovers, Millennial women between 25-34 years old, you can write something along the line:

As Mr. Louboutin once said: “The higher, the better. It’s more about an attitude. High heels empower women in a way.”

We want to give YOU the power to make your walk and the outfits you own even more flattering, elegant, and feminine. We want you to feel like a million dollars all the time.

That’s why we decided to get you 50% off stiletto shoes you see in our shop.

After this copy, you can add a button that leads the recipients to the page with the stilettos listed. The copy of the button can be “I Want That Superpower”, “Get Me These Shoes”, “Get Me Those 50% off” or “I Want Those 50% off”.

Tip #8 一 Include all the elements that will make your content appear more attractive

Headings, dividers, buttons, images, videos, emojis… you name it! All these elements can make your newsletter look like an eye-candy. And you definitely want that because nowadays average subscriber spends less than a minute (51 seconds to be precise) to read the newsletter.

To make the content more readable, add the previously mentioned elements.

Are you ready to get to writing?

We hope that these “how to write a newsletter” tips will help you write your next email. Additionally, we hope that your recipients will open emails gladly.

We believe in you and that you can get the best results possible.

Speaking of the results, there is one final tip we can give you: don’t forget to measure the results of your newsletter. After sending it, be sure to wait a couple of days, and then check all the significant parameters. Check open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and how many people unsubcribed (if any!). By checking out these results, you’ll see where the recipients clicked the most. You’ll also learn what part of your newsletter they found unnecessary, and what they found beneficial.

We wish you good luck with writing your next newsletter. And let us know how it went!