How to Create an Email Newsletter that People Actually Want to Read

87% of marketers say that email marketing is critical to business success. With that said, it’s easy to see why email newsletters are a great tool to get in front of your audience. Whether you’re aiming to build relationships, boost sales, or provide valuable insights, an effective email newsletter can help you reach your goals. However, creating a successful newsletter requires more than just gathering email addresses and sending content out. In this article, we’re going to go over how to build your email list and tips on creating an effective email newsletter. First, let’s go over the importance of creating newsletters.

The Importance of Creating Email Newsletters

Email newsletters are a great way to connect with your audience. Here are a few of the perks that come along with them.

Direct Communication

Email newsletters are one of the most effective tools for fostering direct communication with your audience. Unlike social media platforms, where algorithms determine the reach of your content, email provides a direct line of communication that lands in your subscribers’ inboxes. This level of control ensures that your message reaches the right audience at the right time. Additionally, people who opt into your email list have already shown an interest in your brand. This makes them more likely to engage with your content compared to those who encounter it passively like on social media.

High Engagement Rates

The engagement rates for email newsletters are often significantly higher than those of other channels like social media. Email marketing in general is a great way to drive conversions, whether you’re aiming for clicks, downloads, or purchases. Regular, valuable communication ensures that your audience remains engaged with your company, which is essential for long-term success.

Cost-Effective

From a cost perspective, email newsletters are incredibly efficient. With minimal investment, businesses can reach large audiences and achieve impressive returns on their marketing spend. In fact, the average cost per lead from email marketing is $53 for B2B companies. When combined with the potential for segmentation and automation, newsletters can deliver highly targeted messages at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising methods.

Effective for Various Goals and Funnel Stages

Finally, email newsletters are a versatile tool that can support various business goals. Whether you’re announcing a new eBook, sharing industry news, launching a new product, or nurturing leads, a well-crafted newsletter can help. By consistently providing value to your subscribers, you can maintain brand awareness, keeping your company top of mind. Now that you know the importance of email newsletters, let’s talk about how to build your list.

How to Build Your Email List

Building your email list can seem tedious, but there are a couple of ways that seem to work best for most B2B companies.

Leverage Your Website

Your website can be one of the best ways to build a high-quality list. Strategically placed opt-in forms can capture visitors’ attention and encourage them to subscribe. You can also consider adding a signup form on your homepage, blog posts, or at the end of articles. Additionally, a pop-up that appears after a visitor spends time on your site or scrolls a certain percentage of the page can also be highly effective. Make sure the call-to-action on these forms is compelling, emphasizing the value subscribers will receive by joining your list, such as exclusive content, offers, or updates.

Gated Content

Gated content refers to valuable resources that are only accessible after someone provides their email address. Examples include downloadable eBooks, whitepapers, guides, or templates that align with your audience’s interests. By creating content that solves a specific problem or adds significant value, you can motivate visitors to exchange their contact information to access it.

Identify Your Website Visitors

Understanding and targeting your website visitors with tailored offers is another way to grow your email list. Tools like Visitor Queue can identify the companies that visit your website, providing visit information like how they got to your website, the pages they visited, and how long they spent on each page. Additionally, we provide employee contact information like email addresses, phone numbers, and LinkedIn profiles to help you reach out and ensure they found what they were looking for. Integrate with your favorite CRM to easily grow your email list with highly relevant leads. Start your 14-day free trial of Visitor Queue today and stop losing leads.

Webinars

Webinars are a great way for B2B companies to grow their email list and provide content to their audience. During registration, attendees must typically provide their email address, which can then be added to your list. To maximize signups, choose topics that resonate with your target audience and promote the webinar across multiple channels. Following the event, you can nurture these new subscribers with related content, offers, or follow-up emails that continue the conversation. Take a look at our article How to Host a Webinar and Generate Leads to learn more.

Purchase a Cold Email List

Although purchasing a cold email list can be controversial, it is an option some businesses consider to accelerate list growth. When buying a list, it’s crucial to vet the source carefully to ensure the contacts are relevant, accurate, and compliant with data privacy laws. While cold lists may provide a quick boost, it’s vital to understand that the engagement rates may be lower compared to organic signups. Now that you have an email list, it’s time to choose a platform that you are going to build your newsletters on.

Best Email Platforms to Create Your Newsletters

Once you’ve built your email list, the next step is to choose the right platform for sending your email newsletters.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing software, for good reason. It offers a user-friendly interface, customizable templates, and easy to understand analytics. It’s an ideal choice for beginners and small businesses looking for an easy way to get started with email marketing. Mailchimp also offers a free plan with basic features, making it an accessible option for those just starting out.

Constant Contact

Another great option is Constant Contact, which provides a range of professional templates, email list management tools, and automation features. It’s particularly well-suited for businesses looking for a fairly simple solution. Constant Contact plans start at just $12 USD per month, so they are another affordable options for businesses looking to get started.

ActiveCampaign

If you’re looking for a more advanced email platform with sophisticated automation features, ActiveCampaign is a great choice. ActiveCampaign is known for its powerful automation workflows, detailed segmentation capabilities, and in-depth reporting. It’s an excellent option for businesses looking to scale their email marketing efforts. Their pricing plans start at $15 USD per month.

Tips and Strategies for Creating an Effective Email Newsletter

Now that you have your list and your software picked out, let’s go into how to create your newsletter.

Craft a Compelling Subject Line

The subject line is the first thing your subscribers see when they receive your email, and it can make or break whether they open it. A great subject line should be concise, clear, and compelling, sparking curiosity or offering immediate value. Avoid using clickbait or misleading subject lines, as this can damage your credibility and lead to higher unsubscribe rates. You should also consider testing different subject lines to see what resonates most with your audience. A/B testing is a great way to experiment with different formats, tones, and word choices. Over time, this will help you understand what works best for your specific audience.

Personalize Your Content

Personalization is one of the most powerful tools you can use in email marketing, and it goes way past just addressing them by their name. By segmenting your email list and tailoring content to specific audience groups, you can increase relevance and engagement. For example, if someone has recently started a free trial of your software, you can send them a follow-up email with tips for getting the most out of their purchase.

Focus on High-Quality Content

While it’s tempting to use your email newsletter as a platform for promoting products or services, it’s important to remember that your subscribers are looking for value. Providing high-quality, informative, and engaging content is key to building trust with your audience. Consider sharing industry insights, blogs, case studies, or even exclusive content like behind-the-scenes looks at your business. The goal is to provide information that helps your subscribers solve problems, learn something new, or feel more connected to your brand. Your newsletter should not be a sales pitch!

Keep it Short and Simple

If your email newsletter is too long or difficult to read, your subscribers are likely to skip over it or unsubscribe altogether. Keep your content concise, easy to scan, and well-organized. Use clear headings and subheadings, short paragraphs, and bullet points to break up large blocks of text. And, lean on images and colors to make it flow. 

Optimize for Mobile Devices

Even as a B2B company, a lot of your emails will be opened on mobile devices. So, it’s crucial that your newsletter looks good on all types of devices and formats. Ensure that your emails are responsive, meaning they automatically adjust to fit the screen size of the device they are being viewed on. Additionally, pay attention to font sizes, button sizes, and image optimization to ensure that your email looks good and is easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile.

Analyze, Analyze, Analyze

Creating a successful email newsletter is an ongoing process. It’s essential to analyze your email performance regularly to identify what’s working and what’s not. Most email platforms provide detailed analytics, including open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates. By analyzing this data, you can adjust your content, subject lines, sending frequency, and overall strategy to improve results over time. Constantly testing and optimizing your email campaigns will help you get the best results from your efforts.

Final Words

It can take some trial and error to figure out the best way to create your email newsletters. Ensure that you evaluate your metrics to ensure that they are continuously performing well, and if there is anything that you can do to improve. By focusing on building a quality email list, choosing the right email platform, and following best practices for design, content, and engagement, you can create newsletters that provide real value to your subscribers and drive measurable results for your business. If you have any questions about how to use Visitor Queue to identify your website visitors and grow your list, do not hesitate to reach out.