You have a unique company name, striking business cards to give out and THE next hit product that will probably go viral.
But will your audience ever know about it? Marketing your company is a daunting part of owning a business. Not to mention expensive. The good news is that there are affordable ways of getting the word out if you’re operating on a strict budget. Using email marketing should be at the top of your list and we’ll discuss how to make it work.
Email as Part of Your Business Branding
Branding your business is more than simply placing your adapted email logo in a newsletter. Branding is about letting your audience get to know you so they trust you. Trust is what will convert new clients into loyal supporters in the future.
Email marketing and specifically email newsletters are effective in building your reputation. Why? Because with email you can use both informative content and visual features to connect with your audience. Did you know a visual boosts readability by up to 80 percent? It’s more effective than talking to someone on the phone or writing a short 280 character message on Twitter.
Image: Email newsletter visual design
If you can’t be there in person to engage with someone and share your vision through your brand identity (or a business card), using email newsletters can be the representation you need. With enough information and the right details you’ll grab attention and get conversions.
And these days most people use email, so you can reach almost anyone around the globe. Lucky for you today there are tools that help companies brand their products and services within a few clicks.
But, as with any marketing tool you need a few skills to get email newsletters right. Let’s help you.
Designing Email Newsletters that Works
It All Starts with the Subject Line
Your subject line should only be around seven words long, but you need to spend at least a few minutes on creating it. And then rewriting it. And rewrite it again.
Make sure it’s click worthy or readers will ignore the email.
Image: Subject line that clicks
Also make sure it’s a true representation of the content otherwise the subscriber won’t trust future emails from you. A keyword research would be a benefit to target the right audience and even the most searched for products and services.
Using numbers often gets traction.
Example: ‘5 Baking Tips to Try this Month’.
The reader will imagine it’s a simple email newsletter to scan through even if they’re in a hurry, rather than lengthy text they don’t want to read.
Make it Personal—Use Tags
Consumers don’t respond to a clinical feel. Your newsletters must seem personal if you want them to be memorable. Adding their names rather than ‘Dear Subscriber’ will increase the chances of them opening and engaging with the content.
Email management software usually has a feature to easily import names and surnames from your subscriber email list.
Make it Familiar—Who is it From?
Still on the subject of being personal, you should consider from which address your newsletter is sent. If your subscriber leads are drawn via your website which only mentions your company name, this name should appear as the ‘From’ details. If you use your own name or send it from an employee’s address they may ignore it because it’s unfamiliar to them.
For subscribers who have made personal contact or signed on after a seminar you personally hosted you can use your name.
The Visual Layout—Using Different Elements
Now, how should your newsletter look?
- Sections: Break your content into small chunks and place each of these on a different section of the email. You can use colors or lines to show where on section starts and the next begins. This will seem more inviting to subscribers than multiple paragraphs on a boring background. They can scan through and decide which sections are relevant to them.
- Images: A picture is processed 60 000 times quicker than text. To make sure your audience notices each section, add a relevant image or video. Of course, adding your logo to your emails is essential to ensure people get used to it, recognize it and respond to it when they see the logo elsewhere.
- Color: You can use different colors for different sections. Once again you’re helping your readers scan through the content instead of feeling overwhelmed with a mass of information. You can also use color to highlight certain details such as promotions.
- Calls to Action: Your email newsletter won’t serve a purpose if you don’t get responses. Subscribers aren’t likely to type out a reply. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to engage and that’s what calls to action are for. Add one to each section of your email. No matter what part attracted their attention there will be an opportunity to spark action on their side.
Image: Template.net
Before You Send: Preview—Is it Responsive Everywhere?
Your software should provide you with feedback on how your email will look when viewed via various email software or devices. Ideally you need to test these aspects before you send it out:
- Is it responsive when received via various service providers? Viewing it via Outlook and Yahoo! Mail could produce two different outcomes.
- Does it respond and look enticing on mobile devices AND desktops?
- Are your sales elements such as images visible immediately upon opening it, even before a recipient scrolls down?
- Will the design and content be allowed through or sent to the spam folders?
This step in the design process is also where you’ll pick up on mistakes. Perhaps there’s a typing error or layout flaw that you didn’t notice while focusing on designing the email. Ask a colleague or friend to look it over and give feedback to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
On average, people spend about 12 seconds on an email. Can you make sure they notice the vital information you want to communicate to them about your brand, product or event? Use design to make people notice your email, open it and scroll down or you’ll never get responses and conversions.
Good luck!
Author Bio
Alana Higgins works as a digital marketer but side hustles as a freelance writer. Her expertise is in writing about social media marketing, SEO and landing pages content for conversion optimization. She loves fishing with her best buddy.
