If you’re wondering why more of your customers aren’t opening your email newsletters, it may be because they’re one of nearly 150 billion emails sent per day! This staggering stat comes from a recent Mashable infographic, which also made clear that a whopping 65% of emails sent actually qualify as spam, and also that more than a quarter of all emails are opened on a mobile device. What this means for small business owners is that they need to find professional writers for hire who know how to make a quality email newsletter that stands out from the spammy crowd.
Purpose & Plan
Before hiring a writer to work on your email campaign, you must have a clear purpose and plan in mind for your newsletter. Some businesses do well by sending a newsletter on a consistent monthly, weekly, or bimonthly timeframe. If you take this approach, that means you should be including newsworthy content about what’s happening in your industry and any new products or information you have to share about your business. You may also include calls to action or special offers, which can give some incentive to read each month or week to see what the latest deal is. It’s important to vary this if you want to engage your customers however; offering the same exact 10% coupon each month won’t do much to generate clicks or purchases. If you make this regularly delivered content interesting and useful, and well-written in an identifiable voice that you want associated with your brand, you’ll find that customers will start looking forward to reading your content every month instead of automatically sending it to the trash.
Another way to handle newsletters is to consider them similar to a press release. Send them out at irregular times, and only when you have big news to share or a major sale occurring. An engaging, “clickable” title is key here, but that doesn’t mean your writer needs to go crazy with exclamation points, hyped up sales language, or call caps. A milder, more human approach is often welcomed; simply ask a truly engaging question, or allude to a specialized offer (“For Your Eyes Only,” etc.), and you’ll get the clicks you crave.
Work That (Email) Body
Beyond a catchy, clickable subject line, you also want to offer plenty of opportunities to engage within the body of the email. Encourage your writer to mention products that you want to promote and hyperlink them to their corresponding purchase pages on your website. Include a link to your social media pages, and be sure that the customer will find interesting, shareable content there! To mix it up, include links to relevant videos or blog posts within the industry. The goal is to have a variety of interesting content that establishes your company as one that gives useful information that’s always worth paying attention to.
Caitlin C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
