1. See your stats. Look at the numbers to see how many people open your newsletter. If the reason why your newsletter isn’t “clicking” isn’t clear, you can consider other aspects of it, or survey your readers. The results can help make a newsletter interesting.
2. Write what people want to read. Besides surveying your readers, analyze any social media and website content metrics you might have to see what your visitors read and search for most.
3. Look at the length. In my experience, people prefer to read shorter content. Think of your e-newsletter as an email. Do you like to read long messages?
4. Examine your top copy. According to HubSpot, headlines with 41 to 50 characters work best on mobile devices. Split A/B testing with different headlines to segments of your subscribers can help you pinpoint what entices your readers. Putting your subscribers’ names in the messages and subject lines, or personalizing them to their locations can also appeal to them.
5. Eye your design. This can be a trickier aspect of e-newsletters. Not everyone can afford heat-map tracking user studies to see where people usually look in your newsletter. Again, surveys can help, as can feedback from people you trust. Obviously, it’s best to create your messages with colors and fonts that look attractive and easy to read in most email clients and on mobile devices.
Need advice to help you make a newsletter interesting? Contact me for a free e-news audit today!
Quotes
“Facebook Fan Pages are email newsletters with smaller pictures.” ~ Jay Baer
“Don’t send out a newsletter just to send out a newsletter. One newsletter a year that is really interesting is more beneficial than 12 that are boring. If you write two or three newsletters in a row, your readers will start to think you write boring books.” ~ M.J. Rose
