Create your own email newsletters within minutes

Everything you need to know about email newsletters

Email newsletters play a pivotal role for businesses of every scale - small businesses, large enterprises, or even start-ups - to create brand engagement and brand resonance. This in-depth guide unveils the art and science behind crafting captivating email newsletters and how Freshmarketer, an innovative solution by Freshworks, can elevate your ability to create impactful email marketing tools.

With this guide, you will learn about:

• What is an email newsletter?

• How to schedule a newsletter - a step-by-step process

• Why are email newsletters crucial

• How to create a great email newsletter structure

• Choose from hundreds of templates

• How to create an effective email newsletter

• Best practices for designing mobile-friendly newsletters

• Crafting compelling subject lines that boost open rates

• Nurturing subscriber engagement and reducing unsubscribe rates

• Integrating social media for enhanced newsletter impact

• Ensuring deliverability and avoiding the spam folder

• Examples of great email newsletters

What is an email newsletter?

In 2023, 37% of brands are planning to increase their email budget. And why not, a monthly newsletter is more than just a digital missive; it's a strategic bridge connecting businesses and their audiences.

Beyond being a mere channel of communication, newsletters hold immense value for businesses. They establish a consistent touchpoint with audiences, nurturing engagement and brand loyalty. Email newsletters offer a personalized, unobtrusive platform for delivering relevant content, promotions, and stories, fostering a sense of connection.

In this landscape, Freshmarketer has emerged as the quintessential tool for marketers seeking to craft successful email newsletters. With its array of features, including multichannel engagement, seamless segmentation, and automated workflows, Freshmarketer empowers marketers to create newsletters that resonate, convert, and inspire, ultimately driving business growth and nurturing lasting customer relationships.

Here is what makes email newsletters an important element of marketing strategy:

• Stay Connected Newsletters serve as a conduit for sharing business, product, and service updates. The aim is to make recipients feel like they're receiving helpful updates from a friendly source rather than a pushy sales pitch.

• Drive action: Inspire engagement These newsletters prompt action. They nudge customers to explore your offerings, make purchases, or dive into your latest blog post. 

• High success rates Email marketing trumps social media and other channels. Forbes suggests that the ROI on email marketing is 42:1. With individuals checking their emails around 15 times daily, you have endless chances to position your business in their line of sight.

• Re-engagement Beyond updates, email newsletters efficiently nurture and get new subscribers through every stage of their journey with your brand—welcoming newcomers and reigniting the interest of loyal customers alike.

Benefits of creating email newsletters

A McKinsey report suggests that email marketing is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers. Furthermore, a study by the Content Marketing Institute highlights that 87% of B2B marketers use email newsletters to nurture their audience. With these compelling factors, it's clear that email newsletters are not only crucial but also pivotal for businesses looking to maximize their impact, engagement, and return on investment in the digital age.

Let’s look at the factors that make email marketing an important part of the content marketing strategy for brands.

A newsletter is a constant source of traffic

Email newsletters drive regular traffic to your website, enhancing audience engagement and interaction. The cost-effectiveness of email newsletters is notable, as they prove to be more budget-friendly than traditional marketing methods, with reduced expenses on printing and distribution.

Email newsletter generates considerable cost savings

Email newsletters are a cost-effective alternative to traditional marketing methods, reducing expenditures on printing and distribution.

It’s easy to measure a newsletter’s performance

Email newsletters offer easily measurable metrics such as open rates, engagement rates, and click-through rates, facilitating informed decision-making. Moreover, newsletters grant businesses a degree of independence, freeing them from reliance on third-party platforms for content distribution.

Newsletters are independent of third parties

Email newsletters offer content distribution independence, allowing businesses to control their messaging without relying on external platforms. Their versatility extends to seamless integration with other online marketing channels, allowing for a cohesive and amplified marketing strategy.

Easily linked to other online marketing channels

Email newsletters can be seamlessly integrated with other online marketing channels, contributing to a comprehensive and cohesive marketing strategy.

Deliver personalized experiences to your customers

Email newsletters enable personalized content delivery, creating engaging experiences that resonate with individual subscribers.

Creating an effective email newsletter structure

It is not enough that you know how to create an email newsletter, what is crucial is to create engaging email newsletters that deliver results. It is a combination of knowing the art and science of email marketing.

All elements of an email newsletter have to be optimized to ensure that they together result in a newsletter that receivers will not just open but subscribe to as well. Let’s take a look at every component of the newsletter and how to optimize them.

Dimensions

Today, customers are using multiple devices to check emails – desktop, mobile, tablet, etc. Emails must be responsive and have the right dimensions. These dimensions ensure that your newsletters display correctly across various devices, guaranteeing a seamless reading experience.

Template

Email newsletter templates are invaluable for maintaining consistent branding and layout. Utilise templates to streamline your design process and deliver a cohesive brand experience. Freshmarketer provides a range of email newsletter template options to choose from, facilitating effortless customization.

Header

The header acts as your first impression, setting the tone for your newsletter. Crafting a visually appealing title that resonates with your brand identity and captures the reader's attention right away involves these key practices: keep it simple yet engaging, ensure brand consistency with logos and fonts, integrate eye-catching images that align with your brand, create multiple versions for versatility, and test different headers with subscribers to refine your design based on audience preferences and analytics.

Body

Designing the email body involves arranging the main content of your newsletter for optimal engagement. Incorporate a mix of visually appealing images and concise, well-structured text. Ensure the layout is easy to navigate, guiding readers through the message seamlessly. Effective formatting enhances readability, so use headers, bullet points, and short paragraphs. Strike a balance between images and text to maintain a visually appealing yet informative presentation that resonates with your audience.

CTA

A well-crafted CTA is a driving force behind recipient actions. Design clear and compelling CTAs that prompt readers to take the desired steps, whether it's making a purchase, signing up, or exploring further.

Footer

The footer plays a crucial role in providing essential information. Include contact details, social media links, and an unsubscribe option. A well-designed footer ensures a professional finish and fosters trust.

Subject line

Subject lines are the most important part of creating email newsletters. They are the reason why an email will get opened in the first place. Personalization, relevance, and concise messaging are key. Employing a sense of urgency and curiosity or offering exclusive deals entices opens. Maintaining a familiar sender name, segmenting subscribers, and using engaging preview text contribute to success.

Experimentation, A/B testing, and analyzing metrics refine your approach over time. Each subject line should encapsulate the essence of the email's content while invoking curiosity or intrigue. Read this article to learn more about creating attention-grabbing email subject lines with Freshmarketer.

Choose from hundreds of Freshmarketer templates

With Freshmarketer you can choose from 150+ email templates to create your campaigns. The drag-and-drop editor makes it super easy to customize emails based on your brand and campaign requirements. Not just that, you can create customer journeys effortlessly by utilizing ready-made playbooks that allow you to establish pathways and execute campaigns swiftly. These playbooks are designed for common scenarios such as confirming orders, addressing cart abandonment, collecting post-purchase feedback, and more.

Get started with email newsletters

How to create an effective email newsletter?

Creating an impactful email marketing campaign involves several key steps to ensure engagement and effectiveness. By focusing on these elements — design, content, personalization, and timing — you can create an email newsletter that not only captures attention but also resonates with your audience, fostering higher engagement and driving desired actions.

Design

The email newsletter design plays a critical role in attracting reader's attention and encouraging them to explore further. A visually appealing layout with a clean, organized structure enhances readability and user experience. Incorporating your brand's color, fonts, and logo maintains consistency and strengthens brand identity.

Utilise responsive design to ensure the newsletter is optimized for various devices, making it easy for recipients to read and interact. Including eye-catching images that complement the content can make the newsletter more visually engaging.

Content

The content of your newsletter should be both valuable and relevant to your target audience. Craft compelling subject lines that entice recipients to open the email. Within the newsletter, provide content that solves problems, addresses pain points, or offers insights. This content could include articles, blog posts, product updates, how-to guides, and more.

Use a conversational tone and concise writing to keep readers engaged. Incorporate storytelling elements to make the content relatable and memorable.

Personalization

Personalization is key to making your email newsletter resonate with recipients. Tailoring content based on recipient preferences, past behavior, and demographics creates a more meaningful connection. Address recipients by their first name and segment your email list to send relevant content to specific groups. Use dynamic content blocks to display personalized recommendations or offers based on user data.

Send time

The timing of sending your newsletter significantly impacts open rates and engagement. Consider your audience's time zones and schedules when determining when to send. Experiment with different send times to identify when your subscribers are most active. Typically, sending emails during the middle of the week and daytime hours tends to yield better results. However, industry and audience preferences may vary, so regular testing and analysis of open and click-through rates are essential to refine your timing strategy.

Best practices for designing mobile-friendly newsletters

In our digital age, mobile phones have become our constant companions, influencing tasks from checking emails to managing projects. This shift has led marketers and designers to adopt a "mobile-first" strategy for crafting email templates.

The mobile-first design begins by catering to mobile screens and progressively adding features for larger devices. This approach is vital since many subscribers, particularly Millennials and Generation Z, rely heavily on smartphones for email access.

Neglecting mobile design can lead to low email engagement and missed chances for higher conversion rates and open rates. Let’s look at the best practices to create mobile-friendly emails.

1. Engaging subject lines: Craft attention-grabbing subject lines within the limited mobile space.

2. Design for mobile: Use a single-column layout for better mobile readability. 

3. Optimise images: Resize and format images for mobile viewing. Compress images for faster loading and add alt text for accessibility.

4. Call-to-action: Employ large, colorful buttons for clear and relevant calls to action (CTAs) that encourage interaction.

5. Space and scroll: Enhance user experience with white space around design elements and CTAs. Keep content concise and skimmable.

While creating a mobile-friendly newsletter with an email builder tool, one important aspect is to understand the difference between Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Design. Mobile-friendly design involves fixed-width emails for mobile devices, while responsive design adapts to device width for consistent experiences.

Just like mobile or web apps, optimizing email templates for mobile responsiveness creates engaging, accessible, and conversion-focused emails aligned with modern consumer preferences.

Crafting compelling subject lines that boost open rates

The initial glimpse into your email comes through subject lines, the text that recipients first see when your email arrives in their inbox. It's the gateway to improving email metrics and boosting open rates. Crafting captivating subject lines is vital since even the most brilliant email content is worthwhile only if the email gets opened.

Best Practices for Compelling Subject Lines

• Short and sweet: Given mobile email viewing, keep subject lines brief. For example, transactional emails benefit from concise lines like "Complete your order."

• Familiar sender: Use a recognizable name and email ID for a personal touch.

• No 'No-Reply': Skip 'no-reply' addresses; they distance customers.

• Segmentation matters: Tailor emails to specific segments for relevance.

• Urgency, curiosity, and offers create action: Limited-time offers tend to encourage open rate. Pose intriguing questions and include deals in subject lines.

• Personalization wins: Address recipients by name and past purchases.

• Measure and adapt: A/B test to discover what resonates with your audience.

Mastering subject lines is an essential element in the journey toward email marketing success. They hold the power to spark interest, improve open rates, and drive engagement, all of which contribute to building stronger relationships with your audience.

Nurturing subscriber engagement and reducing unsubscribe rates

Reducing the rate of unsubscribes is a key goal for any organization striving for successful email marketing. Fewer unsubscribed recipients lead to better outcomes for your business. Here are eleven strategies to achieve this:

1. Opt-In and double opt-In: Obtain permission from users before sending emails. Use opt-in and double opt-in methods to ensure user consent and respect their inbox space.

2. Avoid purchased lists: Refrain from using purchased email lists as they often lead to irrelevant content and high unsubscribe rates. Focus on engaging genuine subscribers.

3. Regular list cleaning: Periodically clean your email list by removing opted-out users, updating addresses, and ensuring engagement with relevant content.

4. Effective segmentation: Segment your email list to send tailored content. Relevance increases engagement and decreases unsubscribes.

5. Personalised content: Personalise emails based on user preferences and behaviors to build trust and decrease unsubscribes.

6. User-managed preferences: Provide users with the option to manage their email preferences. This empowers them and reduces unsubscribes.

7. Collect feedback: Use surveys and polls to gather user feedback. Insights gained can guide improvements and enhance email relevance.

8. Responsive design: Ensure your emails are responsive across various devices. A good user experience fosters engagement and lowers unsubscribes.

9. Email accessibility: Design emails for accessibility, catering to users with disabilities. Use legible typography, alt text, and color contrast for inclusivity.

10. Optimize timing: Respect user preferences for email frequency. Send emails at appropriate times to increase engagement and reduce unsubscribes.

Integrating social media for enhanced newsletter impact

In today's digital landscape, merging the power of newsletters with the reach of social media can amplify your message's impact and foster deeper connections with your audience. 

Here's a concise guide on how to seamlessly integrate social media elements into your newsletters, enticing subscribers to engage and share on social platforms.

1. Consistency: Maintain consistent branding across your newsletters and social media channels.

2. Cross-promotion: Include social media icons prominently in your newsletter design, linking to your various social profiles. 

3. Share-worthy content: Craft compelling content that aligns with your subscribers' interests and resonates on social media. 

4. Interactive elements: Embed social media posts directly into your newsletters. Incorporate engaging polls, quizzes, and user-generated content from your social channels to boost interaction.

5. Exclusive previews: Tease upcoming social media content in your newsletters. Give subscribers a sneak peek of what's coming.

6. Social sharing buttons: Include share buttons for popular social platforms within the newsletter content. Make it easy for subscribers to share your newsletter directly with their followers.

7. User-generated content: Showcase user-generated content from your social media platforms in your newsletter. 

8. Hashtags and handles: Incorporate relevant hashtags and social media handles in your newsletter content. This encourages subscribers to mention your brand and join larger conversations.

9. Social-exclusive offers: Reward your subscribers by offering exclusive promotions or content through your social media platforms. Promote these offers in your newsletter to drive engagement.

10. Call to Action (CTA): Use strong CTAs to encourage subscribers to engage with your brand on social media. Whether it's "Follow us for updates" or "Share this with your network," clear CTAs drive action.

By thoughtfully merging your newsletter and social media strategies, you create a synergy that expands your reach, boosts engagement, and transforms subscribers into active brand advocates. Remember, the key lies in crafting valuable content that seamlessly flows between these two powerful communication channels.

Ensuring deliverability and avoiding the spam folder

In the intricate landscape of email marketing, ensuring your newsletters land in recipients' inboxes rather than the dreaded spam folder is pivotal for success. Upholding a strong sender reputation is paramount – consistently send relevant and engaging content to your subscribers.

Maintain clean email lists by promptly removing inactive or unengaged recipients. This not only improves engagement but also prevents spam complaints. Here are a few tips to ensure your emails do not land in the Spam folder

1. Optimize your email content by crafting concise, personalized subject lines that avoid spam trigger words, and clickbait.

2. Incorporate a healthy balance of text and images and provide a clear and visible unsubscribe option. 

3. Comply with email regulations, including the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR, by obtaining consent, providing a physical address, and honoring unsubscribe requests promptly.

4. Refine your strategy by regularly monitor metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints.

Great email newsletter examples

Crafting email newsletters is a form of art that comes with practice. A lot of companies are cracking their email marketing strategies. Apart from the emails mentioned above, here are some examples of the best email newsletters consumers love.

Spotify

Spotify does everything right in its email newsletter. From upfront sharing the offer in a concise and impactful manner to using eye-catching but not too loud colors and graphics to fonts and images, they maintain a consistent brand experience throughout the email. The CTA button makes it easier for readers to act even if they see this email on a mobile device.

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Google 

Google’s newsletters are one of the most awaited newsletters, especially in the developer community. The reason is simple: it shares valuable information about new updates, webinars, and learning resources, all in one place.

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Airbnb

Airbnb wins at creating newsletters with compelling storytelling. Whether or not readers avail of Airbnb’s services, they will not miss reading the newsletter because of its compelling images and stories that accompany the scenic imagery.

Invision

As a brand, Invision sends some excellent email newsletters that are highly relevant to its users. They emphasize creating immediate value for the subscribers with design tips, blog posts, hacks, and more. Invision is a great example of mixing valuable resources with engagingly showcasing their products without doing a hard sell.

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Medium 

As a blog-publishing platform, Medium's newsletters are bringing personalized content to their subscribers and have an above-average open and click rate. Consumers love Medium because of the quality content that the platform provides. The brand ensures that readers get the same benefit from their newsletters too, with a curation of the best articles based on what the users have subscribed for.

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In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, email newsletter has proven to be a steadfast tool for fostering engagement, amplifying brand reach, and driving meaningful interactions. Throughout this comprehensive guide, we've delved into the essential elements that constitute impactful email newsletters, all with the support of Freshmarketer, a dynamic solution that empowers businesses to craft, analyze, and optimize their email marketing endeavors.

As we conclude this journey, let's recap the pivotal takeaways that can serve as your blueprint for harnessing the true potential of email newsletters, underpinned by the capabilities of Freshmarketer:

1 . Crafting purposeful newsletters: Email newsletters stand as a direct conduit to your audience, granting you an opportunity to nurture relationships and provide value consistently. By understanding the influence of Freshmarketer's scheduling features, you can embark on the journey of scheduling and sending impactful newsletters, all while ensuring optimal engagement.

2. The power of email newsletters: Newsletters hold a multitude of benefits, from fostering regular traffic to substantial cost savings. Freshmarketer's platform aids in measuring performance, granting you insights into open rates, click-through rates, and more, facilitating informed decision-making.

3. Tailoring engagement: Email newsletters are the embodiment of personalized communication. Utilise Freshmarketer's versatile templates, headers, bodies, and CTAs to create tailored experiences that resonate with individual subscribers, fostering deeper connections.

4. Mobile optimization and design excellence: With the prevalence of mobile consumption, designing email newsletters that seamlessly adapt to various devices is paramount. Freshmarketer provides a plethora of templates and a drag-and-drop feature, ensuring your newsletters captivate recipients, regardless of their device of choice.

5. Compelling subject Lines and social integration: The battle for attention begins with compelling subject lines. Freshmarketer's integration capabilities allow you to seamlessly weave in social media elements, enabling subscribers to extend the conversation and amplifying your brand's impact.

6. Sustainable engagement: The art of nurturing subscribers requires a delicate balance. With Freshmarketer, segment your audience, deliver value-rich content, and manage frequency judiciously to curtail unsubscription.

7. Deliverability and compliance: Landing in the coveted inbox necessitates vigilance in maintaining the sender’s reputation and adhering to email regulations. Freshmarketer equips you with the tools to ensure your newsletters reach their intended recipients.

As the digital realm continues to reshape how businesses connect with their audiences, Freshmarketer emerges as your steadfast companion, equipping you with the tools to master the art of email newsletters. The creation, delivery, and optimization of impactful communication lie at your fingertips, all fueled by Freshmarketer's arsenal of features and your newfound expertise