Email marketing is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to engage your target audience. With a few easy steps and knowledge of newsletter anatomy, you can drive revenue to your business and build a greater audience for your brand.
As we dive deeper into the anatomy of a good newsletter, you’ll see why an e-marketing strategy is an important tool for your business.
Consistent Layout
Your newsletter design determines how long your readers stay in your email. If the information is jumbled and the design feels cluttered readers may not want to sort through the mess to get to your message. Sections, sub-headings, and bullet points create an easy-to-read platform for your content.
Your readers should also be able to recognize your brand through the template, colors, and logo, which should be the same in every newsletter. Frequently changing your design will confuse readers and are counterintuitive for brand identification.
Sections of a Newsletter
Header
Crafting a compelling headline is crucial to customer conversion. Headers are your first impression and your opportunity to grab the customer’s attention and urge them to keep reading.
Think of your header as an invitation to the reader. It should be catchy, fun, relatable to your audience and answer the question: why should they keep reading your email?
Main Image
A powerful main image entices your audience to stay in your email a little longer. In a newsletter, the picture should be a relevant foreshadowing of what will be shared in the body of your email.
Sub-header
Keep it simple.
Sub-headers help you keep your email short, sweet, and easily scannable for your reader. By sticking to just a few pieces of content, your newsletter will be on-brand and convey a clearer message to your audience.
The clearer the message, the easier it is for your audience to understand the information and turn that understanding into action.
Body Text
You’ve probably heard the phrase content is king before. Well, it couldn’t be more true in an email newsletter. If you want your readers to keep subscribing to your content, it needs to be a worthwhile read.
Providing pertinent information in an easily digestible manner will not only keep your audience interested but will also make them more likely to share it with their friends.
A newsletter should inform and engage readers without trying to advertise too much. When you’re writing your body text try not to include any ‘hard sells.’ Instead, think of a creative way to frame your information.
There are many different angles to present your message and some may work better than others for you. Think of presenting your content as answering frequently asked questions, sharing new products or services, publishing case studies or client testimonials, sharing local news that’s relevant to your business — the angles are endless.
It’s important to offer value to your readers. Another option is to share behind-the-scenes information about your business, your employees, or your community. Your newsletters should make your subscribers feel like a valued members of your team.
Part of making an e-newsletter enjoyable for your audience is the overall tone you portray. Sounding too formal, with business jargon and overly complicated phrasing, will turn off your readers. Being conversational and easygoing in your body text will form a more personal connection with the reader — like you’re a friend speaking to them in person.
Most importantly, make sure your newsletter voice is consistent with your brand. Having a consistent tone creates a familiar voice that your customers will recognize and trust. The more authentic your dialogue sounds, the more your customers will want to support your company.
Call to Action
Register, sign up, buy here, save the date; newsletters are an ideal platform for motivating your customers to take action.
Including a clear call to action will help convert your readers into customers. The layout and design of your newsletter should identify the call to action and make it easily accessible to your target audience.
Buttons like: “Learn More,” “Register Here,” or “Click Here to Watch,” are clear action items that will direct readers where you want them to go.
Footer
Your footer should include a few basics like your company’s contact information, links to your social media platforms, and a place to forward the email to a friend. An easy way to unsubscribe is also a good idea that assures readers that your business is trustworthy.
Now that you have the anatomy of a good newsletter down, start crafting yours today! See what a clear and consistent email marketing strategy can do for your business.
If you’re not sure that you’re newsletters and e-blasts are meeting your goals, check out our Spark Sessions. We’ll do an audit of your current content and give you ideas to ensure you meet your mark.
Now that you know the anatomy of a successful style guide, you can strengthen your brand’s identity and voice. You can also download our worksheet below to help start your style guide! Newsletter Checklist
