As a business, there is probably a chance that you have sent an e-newsletter, and there is probably a chance that some people never opened or clicked it. It can be a pretty disappointing feeling, but that doesn’t mean you should give up with them. It’s important to learn what your recipients are looking for and that’s not always a simple journey – a lot of it is actually trial and error. What’s more, in today’s world everyone has such a short attention span and if you couple that with their incredibly busy lives you’ve got yourself a tough job. Last week we covered how to write a catchy email subject line, why you need a main call-to-action for your email and the importance of an unsubscribe feature. We’ve got a few more things we feel are essential to include in an email newsletter, so we’ll get straight to it.
Stick to the law
It’s likely you’ll have noticed that the European Parliament have approved the General Data Protection Regulation which is a way of protecting your data and mine. To put it simply, people must consent to their data being used – it was enforced in May of this year so it’s essential that you are up to date with the data protection regulations to avoid any trouble.
Something personal
Nowadays authenticity is valued very highly, and people like to see a human side to a company. We tend to gravitate toward human faces, so include perhaps your employee of the month or CEO at the front to engage readers. A lot of people tend to ignore this step but psychology studies show it’s actually very effective! You could leave it there, or you could choose to showcase an employee who does something exceptional in your business, or even to answer FAQ’s about your business. For example, if you’ve got a new head chef, show a photo of him smiling and give a little introduction – it’s all about keeping it personal!
Upcoming events/event recaps
If there’s something big coming up in your area, or if you’re hosting something, why not announce these events in your e-newsletter? If you’ve already hosted an event or attended one, recap it and share it with readers who perhaps couldn’t go but want to hear more about it. You can share things such as who of importance attended, the amount of money raised, and photos from the event.
We’ll continue to part 3 next week!