Are you new to newsletter design? Many questions arise when you create your first template. What format should a newsletter follow, how much text should be included and how often should it be sent? How can you make sure that Jeanne, during her lunch break, will open her mailbox to read the latest news you have to offer?

While, like any marketing strategy, email effectiveness is not an exact science, it can be optimized to meet the precise needs of a specific audience. A few best practices can help you build an effective emailing strategy. Because our customers are worth it.

Tip no. 1: Know your newsletter audience and offer them appropriate content

It may seem obvious, but the starting point for creating a newsletter is to capture the attention of a certain audience: yours.

Whether you've collected your contacts on a paper form, via an online pop-up on your website or through the sale of products and services, your database is very important.

Some members of this database are very loyal, others a little less so. Nevertheless, they have all agreed at some point to receive additional information from you, in addition to your usual communications (website, communication campaigns and social networks).

The first thing to do before embarking on the creation of a newsletter template is to know who you're communicating your newsletters to. This will determine everything else!

💡 Be careful not to flout the RGPD rules rules governing your audience's data. Certain rules must be followed to the letter, such as not adding a contact to your database without their prior consent. Integrating an unsubscribe form is also required in all newsletters.

Find out who's behind your newsletter subscribers

Depending on the origin of your contacts' recruitment, you can deduce their interest in your brand. Is it a subscription following sponsorship on your social networks? A promotion on your home page? An event where you met prospective customers?

To sort out your database, don't hesitate to create lists by type of targeted customer. This way, you can tailor every campaign you send out to a specific target.

On Mailchimp, you can also create different contact segments to divide your audience into several categories for which you choose the criteria. These can be as follows:

Contact information: last name, first name, e-mail address;
The contact's personal data such as age or geographical origin (provided that the person has authorized the addition of this information when filling in the registration form);
Contact activity and connection (to select contacts who have opened one or more of your previous newsletters, for example).

Create a targeted campaign for your audience

Once you've imported and sorted your contacts, you can plan a newsletter template to suit your lists. You can create a newsletter template for each mailing list, making it easier to edit future campaigns.

Statistical data on mailings allow you to know whether your database is active and whether it is more likely to respond to a certain type of content.

Tip 2: Get straight to the point.

Keep it short and simple! Is writing a short but effective text an objective that you respect in your day-to-day copywriting? This rule also applies to newsletters. Each sentence should contain one main piece of information, not five.

It should be smooth and attractive to read. Remember that you're not the only sender of newsletters, and that your target audience is inundated with different e-mail solicitations. To ensure that your contact consults your e-mail, he or she must immediately understand the purpose of its content. Going through the motions or writing long, unstructured blocks of text is just asking for trouble. Instead, think about prioritizing your information with bold headings, sub-headings and short paragraphs.

The idea is not to cram an entire blog post into a newsletter. The mailing is a complement and a gateway to encourage your readers to visit your blog.

✅ RECOMMENDED: add a "Read more" button

Tip 3: Structure a clean, ergonomic design.

First of all, make sure you have a balanced structure that is suitable for all media (mobile, PC screens and tablets), bearing in mind that more than half of all e-mails are now read on mobile devices.

Take advantage of your template to add dynamism to your content. Add eye-catching images and even gifs (but be careful to keep the balance right so that your e-mail doesn't end up in the spam folder).

✅ RECOMMENDED: create dedicated sections

to video by integrating a video player or GIF

💡 Before sending your mailing, you can preview the format in which your newsletter will appear (mobile or desktop version):

Tip 4: Include an "exclusive" feature that you can't offer anywhere else.

To find interest in opening your newsletter, your audience needs to find information in it that they can't find on other platforms, websites or social networks. The content of your newsletter should therefore not be a simple copy-paste of a LinkedIn post or blog entry.

Give your mailing a form of exclusivity by including an offer dedicated solely to your most loyal customers who have taken the step of subscribing to your newsletter.

Make your audience happy: offer them a personalized, advantageous deal! This could be a percentage discount on a product or service, personalized practical advice, or a competition (the results of which you'll announce in a future mailing).

Tip 5: Find a captivating email subject line

Many people neglect this very important element of their newsletter. The subject line is the very first thing your reader will read when they receive your newsletter: make it a strength! Choosing a short punchline (ideally not exceeding 9 words and accompanied by an emoji) that moves, inspires or intrigues the reader's mind can effectively encourage the audience to open your newsletter.

The emotional object

This type of object aims to arouse your audience's curiosity by appealing to their emotions or desires. It's a risky exercise, as it can be misinterpreted as too engaging or embarrassing for a certain audience. Make sure you remain fairly general in your comments and don't go into the realm of value judgments.

The inspiring object

Positive invites positive. You can use the short object method that inspires a good vibe to intrigue the reader. This could be apun, a seasonal expression or an inspirational quote. It's time to let your creative juices flow!

The object in FOMO mode

FOMO" (Fear Of Missing Out) is the panic fear of missing out on something. It may sound like a pressure tactic, but the FOMO object is effective for giving a little boost to last-minute offers and sales if you're launching a marketing campaign.

In short, to make an effective newsletter :

✔️ Know who you're talking to

✔️ Be clear

✔️ Offer interesting and original content to your target audience

✔️ Learn how to arouse the curiosity of your audience

Newsletter: 5 tips for creating effective content