How to Write Email Newsletters That Engage: A Beginner’s Guide
Email newsletters can be a fun and powerful way to connect with your audience. You can provide lots of value to your subscribers and drive sales conversions for your business. But with so many emails flooding inboxes every day, it can be challenging to make your newsletters stand out.
So, what’s the secret to writing email newsletters that meaningfully connect with your audience and drive conversions? Here, we’ve laid out some essential tips to help you craft gorgeous email copy that’s both engaging and beneficial for your subscribers.
What to Know Before Writing Your Email Newsletter
1. Know Your Audience
Before crafting your newsletter, you need to know who you’re writing for. This will help you tailor your newsletter to your audience’s needs. Make sure you ask the following questions about your newsletter audience:
- What interests of theirs can I address?
- What problems do they have that I can solve?
- What kind of information will delight them?
This is the time to pull out your trusty customer avatars and use audience segmentation. From their backgrounds to their daily routines, you can use this information to craft a newsletter that’s relevant and engaging for the right group of people.
2. Know Your Newsletter’s Goal
It’s tempting to write content just for the sake of it. But your newsletter won’t be very effective without a clear goal in mind. What do you want to achieve with this newsletter? What are you hoping your subscribers will do after reading your email?
Example newsletter goals include:
- Providing expert insights on recent industry developments
- Offering a special promotion
- Sharing a customer success story
- Driving traffic to your website
- Entering your reader into a company sweepstake
- Delivering a roundup of outstanding blog posts
- Informing your audience about upcoming news or company updates
- Encouraging your subscribers to sign up for a consultation
With a clear goal in mind, you can deliver a focused message that resonates with your audience and encourages them to take your desired action.
7 Tips to Write Email Newsletter Copy That Connects
1. Embrace Your Brand’s Voice & Tone
If someone signed up for your newsletter, they probably dig not just what you say, but also how you say it. Whether you’re more playful or professional, let your brand’s voice shine through in your email copy.
Just make sure to keep your copy consistent. Align each newsletter with your brand by using the same tone, voice and style.
2. Keep it Conversational & Personable
Your emails should make your subscribers feel like they’re having a direct conversation with you. Try to avoid “I” or “We” statements too often, and instead focus more on using second-person voice, like “you” and “your,” to encourage that personal connection.
It’s also wise to cut out complicated jargon that will just confuse your subscribers or cause them to become disinterested. Keep the copy focused on your audience as if you’re talking directly to them by using the kind of language they use in their everyday lives.
Considering using GIFs or emojis to convey emotions for some conversational color. For instance, you could add a rocket emoji next to an exciting new product launch or company update.
If you want to add a personal touch, try sharing an anecdote that’s relevant to your topic. Storytelling can be an effective way to grab your reader’s attention and help them relate to your message.
Let’s say your newsletter is providing vegan recipes for beginners. You can share about the first time you tried plant-based cooking and the important lessons you learned along the way. This type of anecdote is relevant to your topic, delivers helpful information and provides an empathetic tone that vegan beginners can connect with.
3. Deliver Relevant Information
It’s critical to address topics that are relevant to your subscribers. Remember that people can get hundreds of emails per day. Even if you have the poetic skills of William Shakespeare, your email newsletters won’t be opened unless you give your audience what they want.
Again, pull out those customer avatars so you can understand what your audience cares about. Create a newsletter with information that addresses pain points, provides value or delivers the information they’re actually interested in.
After all, that’s why they signed up for your emails in the first place! You provided an expectation, and they’re counting on you to see it through.
4. Make Your Copy Concise
Yes, you want your copy to be conversational and relatable. But you don’t want to overload your newsletter with unnecessary details that aren’t important to your subscribers.
The longer you take to get to the point, the more likely they’ll bounce off your email, causing you to lose out on a potential conversion. Be vigilant about cutting out any fluff that doesn’t provide value to your reader.
5. Format Your Copy So It’s Easy to Scan
If your email subscribers open your email, they’re probably skimming through it. The golden rule for all of your digital copy is to make it scannable by breaking up the text.
Use the following to make your newsletter copy easily digestible:
- Short paragraphs (2-4 lines) with paragraph breaks
- Subheadings
- Bullet points
- Images and visuals
Following these formatting tips provides an optimal user experience. When you take into account your subscribers’ online reading behaviors, you make a newsletter that’s easy for them to engage with.
6. Use Customer Data & Feedback to Personalize Your Copy
Think of personalization as an extended branch of customer service. It’s a way to show your audience that you understand their needs and desires and that you’re there to help them achieve their goals.
Use your subscriber data to personalize your newsletter content. Some possibilities include using the reader’s name in the greeting or providing a solution for a timely problem they’re facing.
You can also address your customers’ questions or comments in your newsletter. If there’s a common thread in your customer feedback, providing answers or insights about that topic will show your audience that you’re paying attention to their needs.
7. Use a Killer CTA to Hit Your Goals
When it comes down to it, a strong call-to-action (CTA) is key to getting conversions and reaching your newsletter’s goal. Your CTA should encourage your readers to take your desired action, whether it’s going to your website, signing up for an event or following one of your socials.
Writing a solid CTA can seem intimidating, but you only need a few things to make the copy powerful:
- Keep it short and sweet: Unlike the other copy in your newsletter, your CTA can be just a few sentences that are easy to read. You want the language in your CTA to be clear, specific and straight to the point.
- Combine action words with outcomes: You can motivate your readers to take your desired action with proactive verbs. Try pairing these action-oriented verbs with the results your subscribers can expect from taking your desired action. Some of the possibilities include “Sign up for free fashion tips,” “Download the ultimate marketing toolkit,” and “Follow us for giveaway updates.”
Choose the Right Words for Your Emails
For your emails to make an impact, the copy must be personable, relatable and informative. Crafting an email newsletter that checks all these boxes can be a big task, but we promise it’s worth it.
And if you need some help making content that delivers value and creates a connection, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Word Nerds. From crafting a newsletter strategy to taking the writing off your shoulders, we’re here to make your life easier!
