7 golden steps to creating an effective email newsletter

Do you remember the theme song to “The Golden Girls”? Sing it with us: “Thank you for being a friend. Traveled down the road and back again. Your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant.” In the world of email marketing, guess whom your customers’ pal and confidant is? Ding, ding! Your email newsletter — and there’s research to prove it!

According to the Nielsen Norman Group’s extensive Email Newsletter Usability report (based on 270 email newsletters across 6 different countries), readers feel an emotional attachment to their email newsletters:

“Newsletters feel personal because they arrive in users’ inboxes, and users have an ongoing relationship with them… The positive aspect of this emotional relationship is that newsletters can create much more of a bond between users and a company than a website can.”

So how do we keep that bond with our customers and ensure we remain connected to our readers? Follow these seven steps and you’ll be golden.

1. Be informative

Being informative and relevant is the be-all, end-all in the newsletter realm. Telling useful and compelling stories is also how we catch up with friends. If your email looks like a newsletter, but isn’t full of valuable, interesting, educational content, then it isn’t really a newsletter, nor is it a very good friend. But what do people consider valuable content?

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, more than 40 percent of users said that each of the following aspects make for valuable email newsletters:

• Work-related news or company actions (mentioned by two-thirds of users)
• Items about personal interests and hobbies
• Items about events, deadlines, and other important dates
• Reports on prices or sales

Lisa Lillien, aka Hungry Girl, has an enlightening daily newsletter (with more than 1 million subscribers!). If you love food, but you’re watching your weight, she’s got the know-how on just about everything – including newly released low fat/cal sweets, eats, and recipes. Starting with just an email newsletter in 2004, Hungry Girl today has exploded into “New York Times” bestselling book deals, a Food Network TV show, and features on “The Rachel Ray Show,” “Good Morning America,” and more. Looks like an informative newsletter pays off!

Here are some examples of informative content you can include in a newsletter:

• Blog posts
• Tips, tactics, how-to’s, and tutorials
• Industry news/third party news
• Events, dates to remember, and holidays
• Interesting facts
• Reviews
• Photos
• Contests/contest winners
• Resources
• Company news: updates, improvements, new products, awards, volunteer projects, etc.
• Infographics
• Webinars or videos
• Testimonials
• Recipes
• Fan photos

2. Lose the (sales) hype

People like to be informed of sales, but selling shouldn’t be the main focus of an email newsletter — send your offers in promo-specific emails. Think of your newsletter as a trusted friend that your reader has let into their “home” (i.e., the inbox). If someone lets you into their home and you instantly transform into a pushy salesman, they’re going to think twice about opening the door for you again. Your newsletter is no different. If you want to plug a sale or a product in your newsletter, do so like a friend would: “Did you know we’re having a friends and family sale this Saturday? You can save 50%!” and leave it at that.

3. Keep it brief and aim for a click

Guess how long the average person spends reading a newsletter? 51 seconds. Don’t let that get you down, though — attention spans are spread thin. Keeping your content scannable with content blocks, brief blurbs, snapshots, takeaways, or bullet points, and including call to action buttons, will give your readers’ tired eyes some relief. But remember, friendship is give and take, and you deserve something too. Satisfy your readers with just enough info, but leave them eager to learn more. Lead readers back to your site, blog, or social media network for more info. The point of a newsletter isn’t to make a sale; it’s to build a relationship with your audience, to inform and educate, and to snag some clicks. All of which, with any luck, will eventually lead to a sale.

Put clear, strong, and specific calls to action after each content block so your readers know they need to “Learn More,” “Read More,” or “Watch the Video” for more juicy details. 

4. Be reliable and consistent

Flaky friends: We have them, we love them, but they’re unreliable, unpredictable, and the more they flake, the less likely we look to them for friendship. The same goes for your newsletter. If you tell readers to look for your newsletter each week, you’d better be there. Pick a frequency, whether it be daily, weekly, monthly — and stick to it. Make sure to tell readers on your opt-in form just how often they can expect to hear from you. Some people don’t like surprises, last-minute drop-ins, or no-shows.

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, “69 percent of users said that they look forward to receiving at least one newsletter, and most users said a newsletter had become part of their routine. Very few other promotional efforts can claim this degree of customer buy-in.”

5. Have a compelling opening line

First impressions are important for establishing any type of relationship, professional or personal. How you introduce yourself to someone can pique or fizzle the listener’s interest in continuing a conversation. The same goes for your email newsletter’s subject line. If the subject line isn’t compelling, interesting, intriguing, or thought provoking, your reader may not make it past “Hello.” In fact, as the Nielsen Norman Group found, “Some users who forwarded email newsletters on to others said they sometimes changed the subject line to make it more interesting.”

In your “From Label,” state clearly whom the email newsletter is coming from. Typically, use your company name instead of your personal name.

When crafting your newsletter subject line, avoid using generic lines like: June Newsletter, Your Monthly Newsletter, This Week’s Newsletter, The Insider. Make sure to take advantage of your pre-header, too — it’s like a secondary subject line (and possibly a second chance to make a good impression!).

The word “newsletter” isn’t instructive or informative, and it pushes valuable information out of view in your readers’ inboxes.

6. Respond

Nothing’s worse than talking to a friend who clearly isn’t listening. You ask a question and all you get are crickets. Using a “do not reply” email address when sending out a newsletter indicates to recipients that any responses will not be seen or answered. Allowing customers to reply to your email newsletter, and in turn responding to those inquiries or comments, lets your readers know a friend is listening on the other end. You’ll also receive valuable insight, feedback, and questions that very well may improve your newsletter for next time.

7. Let them opt out easily

Breakups are rough, but would you rather someone break up with you calmly, or unknowingly throw you under a bus? A person unsubscribing from your newsletter is just a fact of life, and it’s nothing to take personally. However, the harder you make it for someone to unsubscribe, the easier it allows them to click that seemingly insignificant “spam” button, and under the bus you go. Let your readers go easily if they so desire (they can always come back!) and make your unsubscribe link easy to find. Otherwise, sitting in a spam box will only cause your delivery, open, and clickthrough rates to go down.

Creating a personable, presentable, and effective email newsletter takes work, but it creates a friendship with your customers that most marketing strategies can’t. Follow these seven golden steps, and your customers will “thank you for being a friend.”

VR Buzz is the inbox friend you’ve been waiting for Our biweekly newsletter delivers great email tips, guides, and inspiration like this. Subscribe

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in June 2013 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and relevance.

© 2017, Contributing Author. All rights reserved.

The post 7 golden steps to creating an effective email newsletter appeared first on Vertical Response Blog.

Does Your Email Design Need Help? Here Are 4 Tips to Up Your Game

This post is the fifth installment of our new series, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. For eight weeks, we’re featuring a new article that covers a specific area of focus in email! Want a sneak peek into the content? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. How important is the design of your email? Is a compelling message enough, or do you need to have gorgeous visuals as well? If you’re like a lot of time-strapped business owners, you may not have had the opportunity to do much with your email design. However, adding in some design elements might actually make your emails pack a bigger punch. Why? Because studies show that 90 percent of the information transmitted to our brains is visual. In fact, many marketers and designers believe that color can impact behavior. For example, brands like McDonalds and KFC may use the color red because it is believed to invoke feelings of hunger. Orange is frequently used as an effective call to action, because of its inviting and friendly tone, according to the folks over at 99Designs. So how can you use some of this knowledge to your advantage? Here are four tips to make your emails looks better right away, even if you’re not a designer. Prefer to listen to or watch this blog post? Check out the podcast adaptation of this post below or watch the YouTube video:

1. Choose the right colors

Select colors that reflect your logo and/or brand… but be sure that there’s enough contrast and clarity for your message to display clearly for easy reading. (For example, many people find white letters on a black background difficult to read.) You can also use some of the color psychology we discussed above to select complimentary colors. Check out this chart we created about the emotional impacts of different colors. Tip: If you need help with color schemes, Colourlovers.com is full of palettes and patterns that can help you create eye-catching designs.

2. Leave some breathing room

Densely packed emails may be hard to digest – especially on mobile devices, where 53 percent of all opens occur. Plus, according to research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, people’s attentions spans are actually getting shorter – meaning that it may be better to err on the side of too much white space instead of not enough. Leaving extra white space has an additional benefit: it challenges you to keep your message brief and to only include the relevant details. But what if you have a lot to say? Glad you asked …

3. Use text as a design element

Incorporate subheads, bullet points or images to divide text and avoid an email that resembles a legal document. [bctt tweet="Use subheads, bullet points or images to divide text and avoid an email that resembles a legal document."] This can also be a great way to make your message scannable. Lots of people choose to scan instead of read. Make sure your most important points are easy to find for the skimmers as well as the readers.

4. Don’t overdo it with images

Wait… didn’t I just say images are good? I did. But too many images can make your email load… very… slowly. People are impatient. Don’t give them a reason to delete your email before they’ve read it.

Clean and simple is OK, too

Whether you’re a minimalist or maximumalist in terms of email design (and yes, maximumalist might even be a real word), there’s one thing you can’t skimp on: good grooming. In terms of email, that means no spelling errors, no weird line breaks and no images that convert to non-images when your message is opened. Yes, this might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many emails go out that are hastily edited. Be sure to invest the time to preview your message first – on your computer AND your mobile device. Remember, a gorgeous header will not make up for spelling errors. If you’re using AWeber: To easily check emails before you send, click on the “Preview & Test” button on the upper right-hand side of your screen. Enter your email address and hit “Send Test” to get a test email delivered to your inbox. Don’t forget to view it on your mobile device as well! If you’re not using AWeber: Check out Email on Acid or other email testing tools to preview your design before you send.

Focus on one thing

If you’re new to email marketing, we suggest giving yourself some time for your style to evolve. Focus on having a well-groomed email to start, and then add in additional design elements as you become more comfortable. However, don’t get so caught up in having a great design that you hold off on sending emails. Remember, it’s your message that’s going to engage people. People can’t read the message you don’t send. Want to learn about other tweaks and techniques to up your email game? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing  for more info.

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Master Email Personalization with these 5 Best Practices

Targeting subscribers and sending them personalized, hyper-relevant emails is a great way to better connect with the people on your email list. It allows you to deliver the right message to people who want and need it most. And the more you can do that with your emails, the more likely you are to expand your reach and nurture your audience until they become customers and loyal advocates of your brand. But how can you optimize your emails so you’re making the most out of the opportunity to engage subscribers? Let's take a closer look at best practices for personalizing your emails to the right people on your email list.

1. Identify your goals.

If you haven’t written down what you hope to achieve by personalizing your emails, now's the time to do so. Whenever you think about ways to optimize your emails, it’s important to understand why you’re optimizing them. You don’t want to throw in a subscriber’s first name simply because someone else did it and you thought it was fun. Make sure it helps you achieve your goal, whether that’s to boost your engagement rates like email opens. After all, there are different ways to personalize your emails. You can send an email with a personalization field, like a subscriber’s first name, or you can email specific, contextual content to a targeted group of subscribers. By identifying your goals, it’ll make it easier for you to determine how to personalize your messages. As you think about how you want to improve your communication with subscribers, some questions you might ask yourself include:

• Do you want to embrace a more conversational tone?
• Do you want to include specific details of subscriber information?
• Do you want to send more relevant content based on your subscribers’ needs and interests?

For each scenario, consider how you might be able to achieve the goal you’re looking for through personalization. If you want to embrace a more conversational tone, for example, addressing a subscriber by her first name can be a subtle way to achieve that. Adding a first name personalization field might also help your email stand out in the inbox and catch your subscriber’s attention. Or, if you want to send the right message to the right group of people who would find it most relevant, you may want to segment subscribers to deliver targeted content. By having an idea of what problem you want to solve, you’ll be able to identify the best way to segment subscribers and deliver more personalized emails.

2. Collect the right data.

Once you have an idea of how you want to send targeted emails, make sure you’re collecting the right information so you can make it happen. If you want to send targeted emails that include a subscriber’s first name, confirm you’re collecting first names in the sign up form. If not, adjust your form to include a first name field, like this sign up form featured on our Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing: If your goal is to send personalized emails based on a subscriber’s specific interests,  you might want to ask for that information on the sign up form. Or, send a survey out to your subscribers so you can see what people are interested in, and follow up with relevant email content. If you want to send a one-off email based on how subscribers engaged with a previous message, you can also create a segment based on actions like opens and clicks. As you consider ways to optimize your sign up form so you can send personalized emails, avoid asking for too much information. Including too many fields can be overwhelming for your potential subscribers, and you don’t want to create a barrier that could prevent them from joining your list. If you do include more than just name and email address, I encourage you to emphasize the value of your emails. You might even want to explain what kind of targeted content you’ll deliver if a subscriber shares more information about themselves.

3. Use personalization naturally.

Once you’re collecting the right data, there’s one rule to keep in mind: With great personalization power comes great responsibility. Personalized content should feel natural and not forced. Do it if it makes sense for the goals you have for your broadcast emails or automated campaigns. Does adding the first name to a subject line bring additional value, or are you just doing it to try it? Do you really need to set multiple campaigns for different sign up forms if the emails aren’t too different from one another? Another helpful way to think about it is by looking back at the goals you originally set. Whether you use personalization fields or contextual content, it should either make it easier for you to create the email or help you establish a personal connection with your email community.

4. Get creative.

While there are a variety of ways in which you can personalize your emails, I like to break it out into two strategies: personalization fields and contextual content. Personalization fields allow you to automatically populate an email with specific subscriber’s information, like their first name or city. Contextual content allows you to send relevant content to targeted segments of subscribers, like a broadcast message to re-engage those who haven’t opened an email in over six months. Since there are so many pieces of information you can collect about your subscribers and ways to send hyper-relevant emails, there are endless opportunities for you to get creative with both strategies. For example, personalization fields aren’t limited to subject lines. You can pepper them into your email content to better hold the attention of your readers. Here’s an example from one of our customers Honoree Corder, a writer, speaker and coach to authors looking to publish books: For contextual content, consider how you might be able to target automated campaigns to your different subscribers. You can send them campaigns based on what incentive they signed up for, their geographical location or experience level. One way to find out what your subscribers really need is by referencing any common questions they’ve asked. Are there individuals who want information based on their industry or personal situation? Are there others like that person? If you're low on ideas, this can be a good place to start.

5. Test your emails.

Testing your emails is a must-do for most people who send email, and it’s especially important if you’re doing things like adding personalization fields or triggering multiple types of automated campaigns. After you create your emails that feature personalization fields, send a test to yourself to make sure the right information is being pulled in correctly. If subscribers first names should appear, confirm that’s actually happening. If you’re using AWeber to send your emails, you can add personalization field content so you can view it in your test email. If you’re sending broadcasts to a targeted subscriber segment, carefully set up the process so that the email is only going to that group. If triggering different automated campaigns, test the sign up process to make sure the right follow up sequence is launching with the right actions. Tweak and test as needed until everything looks good to go!

Start personalizing your emails today

There are a variety of ways in which you can better connect with subscribers and I encourage you to choose one of these new tactics to try in your next email send! Want more ideas to help you write better emails? Sign up for our What to Write in Your Emails Course (and get 20+ free email copy templates)!

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Turn email pains into gains: Our new editor can help

Whether you’ve just kicked off your email marketing program or you’ve been at it for years, you’re bound to run up against a few obstacles. From finding the time to manage and build campaigns to simply making sure that your emails are user-friendly and readable, there are a lot of moving parts. VerticalResponse’s new email editor was specifically created to make keeping track of all those moving parts easier for you. Among the powerful design tools included in the app update, you’ll find features that help you tackle some of the most common email marketing challenges. If you’re struggling with your campaigns, here are four ways the new editor can turn those email woes into wins. 

Pain point: Can’t control the look and feel of emails when using templates

When you don’t have any coding or graphic design experience, an email template can be a lifesaver — it allows you to build your email quickly and gives your campaigns a consistent look and feel. But what do you do if you want to increase the white space between content elements when you’re using a pre-formatted template? What if you’d like to edit the thickness of the email’s border or change the positioning of content elements? Templates are helpful, but one major limitation to using them is you don’t have full freedom to modify the design and format to fit your unique messaging needs.

Solution: Customizable templates and content blocks

To simplify the email design process for you, we’ve optimized our templates by campaign type. So you’ll find pre-made designs for coupons, invitations, announcements, newsletters, and more. If you’re satisfied with the way the template you’ve chosen looks right out of the gate, that’s great — just add your copy and images to the email, and you’re ready to send. The best part is that our new editor gives you the ability to edit these templates as much you need.

The new editor uses a content block approach, which allows for more flexibility in choosing content elements and where they can be placed within an email. Want to insert text, images, buttons, or columns into your template? All of these elements and more can be added with just one click. After you’ve added your content blocks, you can swap elements from one side of the email to the other; choose the exact fonts, colors, and backgrounds you need; and adjust spacing.

Pain point: Mobile optimization

It’s critical that your emails be mobile-friendly, now more than ever. According to a recent study, 80 percent of email users are expected to access email via a mobile device by the end of 2018. No one wants to have to zoom in or out or squint to read an email on their smartphone or tablet. If poorly optimized, an email with excellent, relevant content could be deleted.

Solution: Responsive templates and preview mode

With the new editor, you can ensure that your emails look great wherever they’re read. All of our pre-made templates are responsive, so your emails will automatically adapt to the size of the screen they’re being viewed on. Once you’ve designed your email, you’ll be able to see how it looks on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop using the preview feature. You can even see what your email will look like when it’s read vertically or horizontally on a mobile device. If you’re unhappy with the way your message displays on mobile, you have the ability to go back and tweak the overall design until it’s perfect.

Pain point: Don’t have time to send out campaigns on a consistent basis

Small business owners inevitably end up juggling multiple roles, often having to oversee day-to-day business operations while attending to promotional and marketing duties. Even if you know email marketing on average delivers a staggering 4,300 percent return on investment, it isn’t uncommon for your campaigns to take a back seat to more immediate concerns.

Solution: Campaign scheduling

The campaign scheduling feature allows you to send your messages at the exact day and time you need them to go out. Not only does this mean that you can create your emails when it’s most convenient for you and then have them automatically sent out later, but it also allows you to send out emails when they are most likely to be read. If, after using an analytics tool such as Advanced Reporting, you learn your campaigns have higher open and click-through rates at 6:00 a.m., there’s no need to wake up early to send out emails — just schedule them ahead of time.

Pain point: Don’t have the resources or time to create eye-catching visual content 

Your subscribers will form a first impression about an email you’ve sent them in a flash — 50 milliseconds to be exact. Adding high-quality images and graphics to your campaigns can be a great way to grab your readers’ attention and encourage them to really engage with your messages. This might be easier said than done, though, if you’re one of the 65 percent of email marketers who list a lack of time or resources as the biggest stumbling blocks toward creating visual content. 

Solution: Free image and graphic libraries

You don’t have to hire a photographer or graphic designer to create visual content that pops. Professional photos and graphics are just a click away with our new editor’s free image and graphic libraries. From animals and landscapes to restaurants and cars — you’ll find a wide selection of images that work for your business.

Our new editor makes creating and sending professional-looking email campaigns faster and easier than ever before. Find out more about the editor update here.

Ready to start using the new editor? VerticalResponse is easy to use and free to get started. Sign up or log in to your account today. Start for Free

© 2017, Amber Humphrey. All rights reserved.

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The secrets to great logo design

Consumers flock to businesses they recognize, and an effective logo can build that recognition. The Amazon arrow, the Starbucks siren, the Shell shell — everywhere you look, there’s a logo waiting to catch the eye and say, often without any words, that the brand behind it is prepared to provide exceptional products or services.

A logo anchors a brand — it’s shorthand for your business, telling customers who you are and unifying all of your marketing efforts. In an instant, the best logos are able to attract customers and engender goodwill.

Because the human brain remembers visuals better than words, a logo — the visual embodiment of a brand — is one of the most important marketing tools in any business’s toolkit. We all know a catchy email subject line can help you cut through the clutter of your subscribers’ inboxes. But once that email has been opened, a strong logo in the header will remind readers of the business behind the marketing message. And remind them that it’s a business they recognize and trust.

So how do you create a logo that works for your business? What’s the design process like? How much should a logo cost? What can you learn from famous logos that got it right or wrong? What will make your own logo stand out from the competition in a way that clicks with customers?

Find the answers to these questions and more in our free eBook, Guide to Logo Design. Download it today before starting your own logo.

Download our Guide to Logo Design Ready to learn more about logo design? We created an in-depth guide with everything you need to know! Download FREE eBook

© 2017, Amber Humphrey. All rights reserved.

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The Secret to Writing Addictive Email Content

This post is the fourth installment of our new series, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. For eight weeks, we’re featuring a new article that covers a specific area of focus in email! Want a sneak peek into the content? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing. It's easy to become obsessed with searching for the next “trick” in email marketing: the formula for creating an effective subject line; the perfect call-to-action copy that will influence more of your subscribers; the ideal way to design an email that will bypass the spam filter. While it’s certainly a good thing to stay on top of the latest email marketing best practices, there is one key to boosting subscriber engagement that is often overlooked. And that’s sending valuable content your subscribers expect and want to receive from you. But how do you know if you’re sending relevant emails? What does “valuable content” actually mean? In this post, we’ll dive deeper into what it takes to create engaging content and how you can apply it to your emails today. Prefer to listen to this blog post? Check out the podcast adaptation of this post or watch the YouTube video:

So what is valuable email content, anyway?

The dictionary definition of “valuable” is “worth a great deal of money; extremely useful or important.” So content that is valuable to your subscribers should first and foremost be useful and important. As a result, the goal of every email you send and the foundation of your email content strategy should be to help your audience.

“I approach email marketing as the chance to open up a conversation. Of course, I have goals and objectives for my emails but I always look at what value I can add to the person reading my email before asking them to do anything.” - Mark Asquith, Excellence Expected

[bctt tweet="I have goals and objectives for my emails, but I always look at what value I can add. - Mark Asquith"] To help you craft useful emails your subscribers won’t be able to find anywhere else, there are 5 questions to use as a litmus test for your content.

1. Is it useful?

The best way to create helpful content is to take what you know about your specific audience and brainstorm topics that addresses their needs and goals. Using your subscriber/customer personas, you can identify ways to provide solutions to specific problems, help them achieve their goals, keep them up-to-date on industry news and so on – just be sure the education you provide ties back to your business. To deliver this educational content via email, you can send either a broadcast or a follow up. Broadcasts are one-time emails you can send to deliver time-sensitive information, such as a newsletter, blog updates or information about an upcoming sale or event. In this email newsletter below from food blogger Meghan Young, for example, she shares her latest blog post: Follow ups (also known as autoresponders) are emails you can create and schedule in advance to be automatically delivered to subscribers the moment they sign up to your list. Since these emails can run for weeks, months or years at a time, the content is usually evergreen (not time-sensitive). Some follow up emails you might schedule include welcome emails, an educational course or a lead nurturing series. Before determining which type of email you want to send, you should identify the goal of your message. Then, make sure it’s clearly conveyed to readers. “I also make sure to be super clear on where the value is within the email for the reader. I only ever ask them to take one action and ensure that they know exactly what taking that action will result in.” - Mark Asquith [bctt tweet="I make sure to be clear on where the value is within the email for the reader. - Mark Asquith"]

2. Is it interesting?

To create interesting content, there are a few writing principles to keep in mind. First, choose a tone that works best for your audience. In many cases, taking a conversational tone can improve readability and help your brand appear more relatable. However, if your audience expects a more formal tone because it’s more appropriate for your industry, then keep it formal. Again, reference your audience persona to confirm you’re writing in a way that’s most appealing to them. “I treat my subscribers like I would someone I really respect and admire. I know some people who are very intelligent and discerning are on my email list and they read my stuff. So I don't talk down to people, and I make it worthwhile to read my emails. I even bury jokes in the "P.S." and small font at the end just to delight and surprise people who are paying attention.” - John Corcoran, Smart Business Revolution [bctt tweet="I treat my subscribers like I would someone I really respect and admire. - John Corcoran "] Second, organize your email content in a way that’s easy for subscribers to read and skim. In today’s fast-paced world, you may only have a few seconds to showcase the value of your email. So make it as easy as possible for them to understand. To accomplish this, structure your content so the most important information is at the top. Additionally, use headlines, subheadlines and bullet points to break up large chunks of text. To emphasize important parts of your message, try bolding, italicizing or underlining words and phrases.  

3. Is it unique?

As you consider what you want to write about in your emails, you may find that your topics have already been covered by someone else. But that doesn’t mean you can’t jump in on the conversation. In order to make your content stand out from the rest, try taking a new angle on the topic. By doing so, you’ll be able to stand out from competitors and establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche. I also encourage you to try new content mediums where your competitors may not have big audiences. If your industry is flooded with blog posts and ebooks, experiment with other forms of communication like podcasts or video. As you test different angles, keep an eye on your email performance to see what resonates best with your audience. To help you really stand out in the inbox, optimize your subject line to include specific references to what subscribers will learn in your email!  

4. Is it what you promised in your sign up form?

A big reason why subscribers disengage with an email list is because the emails no longer deliver the value they were expecting. When it comes to sending valuable emails, the expectations you set in your sign up form play a huge role. By telling people what you’ll be sending them in your emails (as well as how often they’ll receive them) before they sign up to your list, they’ll know what they’re getting into. Plus, you’ll be more likely to attract the right subscribers. This will also prevent any unpleasant surprises for your subscribers, which could lead to spam complaints and unsubscribes. Check out the sign up form from the previous example from food blogger, Meghan Young: In the sign up form, she tells me what kind of content to expect in my inbox and how often it'll arrive. Once you’ve verified that you’re setting clear expectations, it’s time to follow up on your promise by delivering that content.  

5. Does it align with your business goals?

Whether you send emails to build an audience, grow your business or both, the content you send should help achieve your goals. When you’re not directly promoting a product or your service, consider how you can still give your subscribers opportunities to connect with you and become a customer. As you provide educational content, show how your business can also be an answer to their problem and include links back to your website. Maybe there are ways you can include customer case studies or testimonials, or even share user-generated content from your social followers. As long as you regularly deliver valuable content, providing opportunities for them to turn into customers should feel like a natural element of your emails, rather than a sales push. If you keep these elements in mind, you’ll be creating valuable email content in no time.

Create addictive content

While all five of these tactics are great ways to craft engaging content for your audience, I encourage you to choose one and give it a try in your next email! To learn even more ways to improve your email content (like what to write in your subject lines and welcome emails), check out The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing!

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Social Media 101: Managing your social media presence

Likes and snaps and tweets…oh my! Managing social media can seem overwhelming at times. How do you know you’re taking all the right steps for your business when it comes to social media management? Don’t panic! We have a social media sanity check to help take the stress out of social.

Does your business have the right social media profiles created?

  Not all social channels make sense for every business. No matter your industry, the top hitters that we recommend for any business are as follows:

Facebook

With nearly two billion monthly users, Facebook boasts the biggest social media user base and incredible targeting capabilities. It can also add a personal touch to your business, promote your fan base, and help boost SEO for your website.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the largest professional network online. It’s great for making new connections, generating leads, and building your brand. This platform is ideal for nearly all businesses but is a game-changer for B2B companies.

Twitter

Twitter is ideal for live communication, brand awareness, and blog promotion. It’s also a very affordable way for small businesses to market products.

YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine with more than three billion unique visitors a month. Because YouTube is part of Google, having a presence here can also add SEO value to your business’s website. The drawbacks to using YouTube include high competition and allocating the resources to create valuable videos.

Does your business have the bandwidth to effectively maintain your profiles?

Staying current on social media calls for regular activity and for content that will interest your readers.

Frequency

Each channel requires a different level of posting activity. Here are our guidelines for keeping your social pages active and maintaining users’ awareness of your business:

• Facebook: 1 to 2 times per day
• LinkedIn: 1 time per day
• Twitter: 3 to 5 times per day
• YouTube: 1 to 4 times per month
• Google+: 2 to 3 times per day
• Pinterest: 5 times per day
• Instagram: 1 to 2 times per day

Creative

Each social channel you use needs individual ad copy and creative. This includes the actual text within your posts, as well as videos and images. Numerous studies have proven that posts including visuals such as images and videos promote higher engagement metrics. Keep this in mind when strategizing and scheduling posts for your social media profiles.

How will your business engage with users on social media?

Customers routinely use social media to reach and review businesses. Social media is an easy way for customers to boast about great service they received, and to air their complaints. Fortunately, social media is also an easy way for your business to communicate back. Nothing looks more unprofessional than a business profile with customer feedback that hasn’t been responded to. Use automatic alerts and notifications to stay on top of these posts and comments (the positive and negative ones), and designate a person on your team to respond swiftly and professionally to customer questions and feedback.

Does your business have the right tools to keep on track?

You most certainly would not send a plumber to fix a leaking faucet without his or her tools. Social media is no different. We’re not sure which job is dirtier, but either way, someone has to do it. Having the right tools in place to help you track, monitor, and automate is the safest and cleanest way to success. Here are a couple of tools to consider adding to your social media kit: Hootsuite, Buffer and Sprout. It’s amazing to see the evolution of social media and the impact it has on our lives and businesses. The amount of work that goes into social media can feel overwhelming, and sometimes it requires reinforcements. Fortunately, there is plenty of support out there to help manage social media campaigns, and it often pays to turn to the experts. Our partner Deluxe has a passion for small businesses and offers specialized services in social media management, helping grow your social media profiles and create digital word-of-mouth for your business.

Sign up for our FREE webinar! Join us for “How to Grow Your Business with Social Media” on February 22, 2017 at 10:30am PST. Register Today

© 2017, Ria Boyce. All rights reserved.

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