Your Guide to Creating an Email Newsletter

After months of planning, prepping behind the scenes and countless pep talks, you’ve finally done it! You’ve launched your new business, you’ve decided that it’s time to make that passion project public or maybe, you’re simply looking for a better way to communicate with the public. 

You have the who, what and when — but your new challenge is the how. 

Luckily, an email newsletter is the perfect outlet to share your content with your audience. Newsletters are reliable and informational but most of all, they’ll allow you to interact with consumers in a meaningful way. 

What is a newsletter? 

An email newsletter is similar to a bulletin board, except it’s electronic and typically, much better organized. Newsletters are usually sent out on a set schedule and can be as frequent as you want: daily,  weekly, monthly or even annually. 

Email newsletters serve the purpose of sharing information about your business or organization in a concise way and can be a useful tool to get the word out about deals, events or progress and updates about your organization.

 Many different industries use newsletters. Whether you’re an online retailer, a tech start-up or a non-profit organization, a newsletter can provide a meaningful way to connect to your consumers and keep them up to date on your latest products, services or achievements. You just have to select the news you want to highlight the most and decide how frequently you’d like to share it. 

How can I create an email newsletter? 

Step 1: Set a goal. 

The first thing you need to decide is your objective. Do you want this newsletter to be informative? Will your newsletter get more people to visit your site? Or is the newsletter meant to get your audience to interact with the content you post? For the best results, the content and style of your layout should complement the overall goal of your newsletter. This way, you’re more likely to get the results you desire and your subscribers are less likely to delete your newsletters or unsubscribe. 

Step 2: Decide what content to include.

Once you know your goal, your next task is to pick content that will help accomplish it. Make sure that the content you pick isn’t too long-winded or detailed so that your audience will stay engaged and can quickly pick up on the message. Remember, most people will likely view your newsletter on a mobile device and may only have a few seconds to spare; so, choose your words wisely. 

Step 3: Choose your frequency. 

Once you’ve decided what you want to share, decide how often you’d like to share it. Once you get an audience that expects your newsletters, make sure you can stick to a reliable schedule. Consistency is key to attracting loyal subscribers so avoid overcommitting to too many newsletters in a given timeframe or you may end up sending newsletters much less frequently than planned and frustrating your mailing list. Generally, it’s better to start off with a less frequent timeframe and gradually decrease the time between newsletters if you later find you have more content you’d like to share. 

Step 4: Choose an online tool for your newsletter.

With all of the major decisions out of the way, it’s time to choose an online tool for your newsletter. While there are many different e-newsletter platforms to pick from, some popular choices are MailChimp, Benchmark and Campaigner. Using these tools, you can input a mailing list, make a template and customize your newsletter to your liking. Some will charge you use their services while others are free. Similarly, some might impose size restrictions per email so be sure to check that whichever platform you use will conform to the needs of your newsletter. 

Step 5: Select a template and customize to your liking. 

After selecting a newsletter tool, you’ll need to decide how to design your newsletter. Think back to the objective of the newsletter as well as the content you’ll be sharing to decide the best way to convey the information. You’ll also need to size the newsletter and make sure that the format you chose works well on desktops as well as mobile devices. 

Step 6: Take a practice run. 

Testing your newsletter before sending the real deal is a must.is Send a sample of your newsletter to a few friends and get their feedback. This helps you see what the final product looks like, and can help you find errors or formatting issues, as well as give you a chance to decide if there are any major changes you want to make before sending it out into the abyss.

Step 7: Send it!

Once you’ve worked out all of the kinks and settled on a template, it’s time to send your newsletter! Be confident and get excited but also pay attention to which newsletters get the most attention and help you to get closer to your goal. Take note of these strategies so you can implement them later on. 

What are email newsletters useful for? 

Newsletters can be useful in many cases like for book clubs, meetings and editorials or blogs but can sometimes be impractical for less substantive information. They do a great job of keeping people in the loop, particularly those who don’t interact with your company or organization as frequently as you have new updates or content to share. People who sign up for your newsletter are interested in your brand or product and want to stay informed about your latest news and what you have to offer but may not have the time to scroll through your site or attend your events. Help them stay invested in your growth and send a newsletter that will inspire and spark some joy in their lives. 

How do I sign up for an online newsletter?

Many sites will add you to the subscriber list once you make an account (like we do here, at Fairygodboss). Sites often have pop-ups, subscribe now buttons and landing pages to help you opt-in. 

How do I Get People To Sign Up For My Newsletter? 

People will be more inclined to sign up for your newsletter the more they like your product or the information that you share. 

Get the word out about your newsletter. Tell family and friends and make sure it is readily accessible to anyone who looks for it. If you feel as though your consumers aren’t engaging with your newsletters as much as you’d like them to, try out different styles and techniques. Switch up your approach until you find something that sticks. 

Creating a newsletter can seem like a daunting task. On top of running a successful business, organization, or blog, you're pretty much creating a mini newspaper to share with all of your subscribers. Despite these fears, the fact remains: you have the power to create a newsletter that is tailored to your needs and showcases the best of your business. Though it seems like a major task at first, after a few rounds, you’ll get the hang of it and it’ll become something you can do without a second thought. 

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