email marketing

Designing A Great Newsletter

Ezine.ie - Design a templateEzine.ie - Design a templateJust about every company selling a product or service sends out a newsletter, but why is it one newsletter gets read while another ends up in the virtual garbage? The simple fact is it all comes down to newsletter design and content. 

Unlike emails, if you regularly receive a newsletter, more than likely, it’s because you subscribed to it, perhaps because the subject matter interested you. But, if that email arrives and it’s poorly laid out, dull and doesn’t tell you anything that you didn’t already know, well, no matter how interested you are in the subject then you probably aren’t going to read it.

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Even the most boring topic can be given a new lease of life if the newsletter design is appealing and vibrant. When you consider how important the newsletter is in disseminating company information, marketing promotional events, raising brand awareness and ultimately pushing sales, you can see just how important it is to get it right.

So what makes great newsletter design?

It might be tempting to take an off-the-shelf template and fill it with content, but, in the end, that’s only going to make you look like everyone else and, if it looks like everything else in your inbox folder, then sooner or later, it’s going to look like everything in your trash folder. If you really want your newsletter design to stand out, then you might be better placed to create it from scratch.

When your newsletter design looks good, you look good

Firstly, think about what you want your newsletter to do. Is it purely informational? Or do you want it to sell? This can have an impact on design, as well as content. Secondly, make sure you integrate your branding. Your customer needs to know immediately that this communication has come from you, so incorporate the livery and colours you use in the rest of your marketing materials. Decide on a colour palette and use it consistently throughout each and every newsletter.

Now that your customer knows it’s from you, there’s a good chance they’ll open it. Time to impress! Hit them with a big, beautiful image. A striking visual that’s relevant to your audience is one guaranteed way to draw them in and get them to read on. If you can immediately drive home what the newsletter is all about with one great visual and a bold headline, you’re almost there. Read our blog post for more information on  sourcing images for email marketing here.

Content is king

So your newsletter design looks fab. Unfortunately, it’s not a success just yet. Without quality content, it simply won’t perform. And that content needs to be relevant, it needs to be interesting, timely and it needs to be informative. Most of all, it needs to immerse your audience and elicit a reaction.

Which is why you can’t afford to omit calls to action, contact details and links to landing page offers on your website and social network platforms. How will you know when you’ve got your newsletter design just right? Just track your open and click through rates using your email marketing analytics.