Email newsletters have been used by many companies to grow their business since before the development of the Internet. Even in recent years, when communication tools such as SNS have expanded rapidly, it is a marketing measure that can be expected to produce great results.
E-mail newsletters have the potential to make a huge leap forward if you put some effort into them, but many company managers are probably wondering how they should approach this in their own companies.
In this article, we will explain in detail the key points to keep in mind when creating and distributing email newsletters, as well as important points to keep in mind to increase your open rate.
What is a mail magazine?
An e-mail magazine
, sometimes abbreviated as “e-mail magazine,” is an information medium that continuously sends e-mails to customers, whether regularly or irregularly. The name e-mail magazine came to be derived from the style of reading e-mail, similar to a magazine.
Even before the Internet became widespread, it was used as an important promotion to connect companies and customers, and it continues to be an information dissemination tool that increases the accuracy of sales strategies and brand power.
E-mail newsletters have a one-to-many structure, allowing companies, which are the distributors, to directly deliver content information related to campaigns, products, and services to customers. The key point is that it is not a “pull media,” in which customers search for information themselves, but a “push media,” in which information can be sent at a timing set by the company.
The main benefits of distributing email newsletters are as follows.
Promote purchasing with reduced costs
One of the major benefits of distributing e-mail newsletters is “purchasing promotion”. By continually contacting customers, companies can increase awareness of the products and services they offer. Another point is that you can further approach customers with whom you already have contact or those who are interested in your company through campaign announcements. By distributing e-mail newsletters with useful information and attractive, rich content, customers will realize that “this company’s e-mail newsletter is interesting.” If you can continue to send out high-quality email newsletters, you will gradually build a relationship of trust with your customers.
Additionally, e-mail newsletters are an effective information tool for companies considering cost-reducing marketing strategies. Compared to outbound calls and DM (direct mail), it has a high cost advantage, and the key point is that it can efficiently promote purchases.
Improving corporate branding and sensitivity
Distribution of e-mail newsletters has the advantage of promoting “branding” in addition to promoting purchases. Branding can be said to be an important measure to differentiate yourself from other companies and overcome the competition.
It is important to continue distributing useful information and to include not only products and services but also attractive content that is desired by the target audience. It is also necessary to carry out surveys using e-mail newsletters and to proactively incorporate what customers want. A deeper connection with your customers will help increase the value of your brand.
Nurturing customers/acquiring your own fans
By regularly distributing e-mail newsletters, you can make appropriate step-by-step approaches to potential customers without leaving them alone. It is important to maintain contact with customers who are interested in your products and services, even if they do not purchase them right away. In addition, by introducing other products and services to customers who have already made a purchase, we can expect to maximize the “LTV: Life Time Value” (customer lifetime value), which is the profit earned from a single customer over a lifetime. .
If you continue to develop your customers with optimal timing and communication, opportunities will naturally arise. Build good relationships with your customers through email newsletters.
Effectiveness verification and analysis possible
E-mail magazines are said to be an information medium that makes it easier to verify cost-effectiveness compared to other media such as television and magazines. It can be said that it is an advantage for companies to be able to quickly understand customer reactions such as email open rate and click rate. Analyzing and verifying the effectiveness of what kind of customers are interested in what kind of email newsletter, at what time, and what kind of content, can be used to formulate future measures. Analyze and verify each customer’s enthusiasm for purchasing, as well as specific numbers such as which links are clicked and what kind of content is read.
How to make an email newsletter
In order to create an email newsletter that is attractive to customers, it is important to narrow down the target audience, set the style, create sentences that match their needs, and check the content on multiple devices. Check out how to create an effective email newsletter in the following four steps.
How to create an email magazine (1) Set distribution purpose and target
When creating an email newsletter, it is important to clarify the purpose of distribution and narrow down the target group that your company will approach.
First, clarify your objectives, such as what message you want to send to your customers and what actions you ultimately want them to take.
Next, use persona setting (setting up a detailed image of your company’s typical users) when formulating your marketing strategy to specify the target group to achieve your goals.
How to create a mail magazine (2) Deciding on the format of the mail magazine
When learning how to create a specific e-mail magazine, what you need to keep in mind is the delivery format (style) of the e-mail magazine.
Select the format of the email you want to send to your customers from two formats: “Text” and “HTML”. Let’s take a look at the characteristics of each.
A writing style consisting only of text, without text images or videos. Since there are no images or videos, creating an e-mail newsletter is easy and hassle-free. The display is not easily influenced by the recipient’s environment and has the advantage of being simple and clean, but on the other hand, it is a format that is difficult to attract attention because the design is poor and customers cannot obtain information visually. You can say that. Another disadvantage is that unlike HTML, you cannot check the open rate of the email newsletter you send.
HTML
In recent years, with the spread of smartphones, there has been an increasing trend for e-mail magazines to be in HTML format. Compared to text format, it has the advantage of having a rich variety of designs, making it more appealing to customers, and being able to check the open rate of email newsletters. Creating an e-mail newsletter requires more specialized knowledge and effort than creating a text format, but it has the advantage of making it easier for customers to imagine the product or service, and being visually appealing with an excellent design. Although the downside is that it may not be received or displayed in some email environments depending on the specifications, the key points are that it is easy for customers to read and allows you to check and analyze the open rate.
How to create a mail magazine (3) Create the text for the mail magazine
The important thing when creating an email newsletter is to include information that is in line with what your customers are looking for. Before creating a text, it is important to analyze and select what kind of problems your customers have. By incorporating analyzed and selected keywords into the content of the email newsletter you create, the number of customers who will naturally become interested will increase, and the open rate will also increase.
To create your email text, first use Google to find out keywords that are often searched for your company or your products/services. Based on the related keywords, select a theme that will give you a high level of satisfaction. We create texts that are easy to read and empathize with, in line with customer needs. The key is to provide specific examples of how your products and services can help customers solve their concerns, concerns, and questions they want to know.
How to create an email magazine (4) Check and test the display content and images
The fourth step is checking the display, content, and images. Check if there are any problems with the layout and other email display on multiple browsers and devices, such as PCs and smartphones, by performing a test distribution. It is also recommended that you create check items in advance, such as whether there are any discrepancies between the body of the email and the email, and whether there are any mistakes in the text or URL that leads to the link destination. In order to increase the open rate of the email newsletter you have created, consider how it looks on each device.
Points for distributing email newsletters
Once you have mastered how to create an email newsletter and created attractive content with a clear target, the next step is to analyze effective distribution methods with the aim of increasing open rates.
The key to distribution is for companies to analyze the day of the week, time of day, and timing. To prevent customers from unsubscribing, use email distribution software or cloud-based email distribution services to deliver messages at the optimal timing when they are most likely to be read.
Additionally, e-mail magazines for the purpose of providing information on products and services or advertising your company are subject to the Specified E-mail Law.
It is possible to set up a consent button to obtain “opt-in” (permission for delivery of specific e-mails) for e-mail newsletters, or to set a URL destination where customers can immediately “opt-out” (stop delivery at their request). Required. Additionally, e-mail magazines must include information such as the sender’s name and address and contact information. Please understand the Specified Email Law before sending.
Pay attention to the open rate of your email newsletter
Even if you pay close attention to the content and send out an e-mail newsletter that is worth reading and highly informative, it will be meaningless if your customers do not open it. The most important issue to consider is improving the open rate.
One specific measure to increase the open rate of your email newsletter is to create an attractive title. Titles tend to be long, but an easy-to-understand expression that summarizes eye-catching main points and keywords is the key to increasing open rates.
However, be careful not to go too far with your expressions. Don’t get too focused on the title and have your email misconstrued as spam or suspicious, or rejected, so be sure to write text that will help you build a relationship of trust with your customers.
summary
The key to creating an e-mail newsletter is to make sure that the content is in line with the needs of your customers and that they can be read right away. Continuously send out high-quality e-mail newsletters, keeping in mind the relationship with your customers and choosing titles that aim to increase open rates.