Newsletters have become an important part of marketing strategy. If you’re still wondering ‘what is newsletter?’ and how you can create a newsletter, you’ve come to the right place.

What is Newsletter?

Newsletter marketing is the practice by which individuals and businesses send content to subscribers.

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Newsletters can be product-focused or contain informational content. They’re emailed to the subscriber list that contains existing and potential customers.

Most businesses use newsletters to establish authority. In addition, they’re used to remind the customers of their products and services.

Traditionally, a newsletter was a printed document that was delivered through the mail. Today, it’s delivered directly to the recipient’s inbox through email marketing.

Newsletters contain everything from illustrations to texts, links, videos and photos. 

What is Newsletter’s Purpose?

Now that we know what is newsletter, it’s time to understand its purpose. It’s a communication tool that’s used to build a rapport with subscribers. Newsletters are sent to provide relevant and useful information such as:

• Webinars related to products or services;
• Holiday offers or giveaways;
• Case studies showing real-life examples of a service or product providing a solution to the subscriber’s problem;
• Surveys or polls;
• New product launches;
• Behind the scenes product development insights;
• Updates about happenings or changes within the organisation.

It’s also used to:

• Attract more visitors;
• Create visiting habits in subscribers;
• Send different types of content to relevant people;
• Increase subscribers;
• Maintain regular content with subscribers.

What is Newsletter Template?

The best way to create an eye-catching and professional email is to create a newsletter template. 

A newsletter template is a file that is professionally created using software. Some popular software are InDesign, Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

A template provides an overall layout including placeholder graphics, images and text. It can be later replaced with information relevant to your organisation. 

The beauty of these templates is that you can use them again and again to maintain brand consistency.

In addition, they help you save time, money and effort as you don’t have to create a design every week/month.

If you’re someone who doesn’t know how to create a newsletter template, you can use tools such as Envato Elements. They offer hundreds of premium digital assets such as fonts, photos, logos, mockups, templates and more at affordable prices.

What is Newsletter’s Importance?

73% of marketers rated the return on investment of email to be “excellent” or “good”.

In addition, 59% of customers believe that emails affect their purchase decision. 50% of them buying straight from such emails at least once every month.

Here are three reasons why newsletter is important:

1. Promise Endless Growth. On average, a consumer spends 2.5 hours on their email on weekdays. Therefore, targeted newsletters are an excellent way to drive demand. Since we know half of them will purchase something based on the stats above, it’s certain that newsletters work!
2. Increases Brand Awareness. Share everything with your customers via newsletters. This not only helps build brand awareness but also establishes trust. Use the art of storytelling. Add compelling images to make the most of your newsletter. 
3. Increases Website Traffic. Send every newsletter with a CTAA CTA is a phrase or word designed to get an immediate response from the reader. As the name suggests, it's usually something that involves a precise action performed by.... This will help you reach your goal and also increase your website’s traffic. For instance, to increase your site’s visitors, send the links to some of your latest blog posts.

What is Newsletter Best Practices?

Here are a few tips to go the extra mile with your newsletter marketing efforts.

1. Be relevant and timely. It’s important to send the right email to the right person at the right time. This will help you build trustworthy relationships with your customers. Define your email objective before you start designing your newsletter. Personalize the newsletters as much as possible to reach the maximum potential. 
2. Be Transparent. To win your customers loyalty and trust, it’s important to stay transparent. You can do so by sharing the link to your Privacy Policy or Terms and Conditions from your email footer. 
3. Keep Updating Your Subscribers List. Remove unsubscribed followers to maintain updated lists. This will help you accelerate growth and reduce the chances of spam. 
4. Conduct A/B Tests. Compare different email variables to find out what works best for you. It’s an excellent way to increase traffic and conversion rates. 
5. Include Social Media Links. Boost customer engagement by encouraging subscribers to follow your social media handles. Guide them using appropriate CTAs and make them members of your growing community. Offer incentives and mention what they will gain by joining your community.

Here’s an example of Spotify’s newsletter where we can see them applying all these best practices to use. 

How to Make Newsletter

Now that you have understood what is newsletter, it’s time to understand how to create effective newsletters.

The first step to creating a newsletter is to determine your goal. Is your newsletter meant to remind customer’s of your brand or to boost conversions? Next, select a few metrics to measure your campaign’s success. 

Once you have a clear understanding of your goal. You can select the type of content you want to share. Build a template that suits your brand image. Stay consistent with your brand’s colours, logo and font. This makes it easy for subscribers to browse through the newsletter. 

It’s best to hire a professional web developer or graphic designer so that your newsletter displays properly on all devices. 

There are several tools that help you create and deliver high-quality newsletters such as:

• Campaign monitor
• MailSenpai
• Marketo
• Pardot
• Mailchimp

Here are a few newsletter examples for you to take inspiration from.

Checklist for Creating Effective Newsletters

Different businesses use newsletter marketing to reach their audience and increase brand exposure. Every business designs its distribution depending on the needs of its audience. However, here are a few necessary elements every newsletter must contain to make the most of the campaign:

• Compelling Headlines. Subject lines and headlines should attract the reader to open the email and read it.
• Relevant and Consistent. Information should be useful to the target audience. You need to be consistent with your newsletter’s frequency.
• Strong CTA. Every newsletter should have a strong CTA to guide the subscriber to perform the desired action.
• Clear Formatting. Your subscribers should not feel overwhelmed with the contents of your newsletter. They are likely to unsubscribe if they feel confused.
• Mobile Responsiveness. A lot of people are using their mobiles to check emails these days. Therefore, it’s necessary to design newsletters responsive newsletters. 
• Unsubscribe. Add an unsubscribe button in the email footer. This helps you create a list of genuine subscribers.
• Incentives. Offer rewards and incentives to attract customers to make a purchase. 
• Terms and Conditions. Add a link to your “Terms and Conditions” policy from your email footer. In addition, add a link to your “Privacy Policy”. This helps your subscriber understand how their information is processed.

In Conclusion

Newsletters are an excellent way to convert leads into paying customers. 

Send personalized newsletters that your target audience will appreciate. This will help you build a trustworthy relationship with them. 

Which tools and strategies do you use to create newsletters? Tell us in the comments section below!