Newsletters are still a great way to stay in touch with your customers, but winning them over and building rapport takes time—and skill. Here’s how to do it.
If you have a brand newsletter, you know how powerful email can be in helping you connect with people. Being in someone’s inbox feels more personal than social media, and with every newsletter you send, you’re strengthening this unique relationship with your audience.
But how do you build loyalty for your newsletter? Here are five tactics and best practices to have a more engaged audience and get more visibility in the inbox.
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First, audit your brand newsletter
Whenever you want to make progress on a project, it’s helpful to step back and assess where you are and how you can improve.
Here are some questions worth pondering:
- Are you building your email list correctly? Every subscriber should opt in and express clear consent to receive emails from you. Avoid adding any contacts to your database without permission.
- What do your metrics look like? Study your newsletter engagement reports from the past three to six months. Notice what stands out, namely what emails tend to perform best and what type of content falls flat.
- What is your bounce rate? If it’s higher than 2%, an email validation service will help you remove old, obsolete contacts. Your email list degrades and pruning it is a must to avoid bounces.
Once you get a clear picture of your current newsletter performance, you’re better equipped to address your challenges and open your mind to new ideas you could test. Next, let’s see how you can adjust your strategy and boost your engagement within just a few weeks.
Focus on educational content
Many companies confuse brand newsletters with direct response marketing emails. If you want to win over your customers and prospects, treat these two types of emails differently.
- Email newsletters are educational emails that aim to build rapport and loyalty with your audience. Think of your newsletter as an ongoing relationship with a lead, where you offer value rather than making a pitch.
- Direct response marketing is a sales-oriented tactic. These emails are transparent conversion tools—your product or service is at the core of the message, and your goal is to make a sale.
Depending on their journey with your company, your customers appreciate both types of emails. But if you want to grow engagement for your brand newsletter, remember not to turn it into a series of sales emails. Instead, offer educational content addressing your audience’s main pain points and desires.
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Reconsider your sending cadence
How often do you send your newsletters? Sending them once a month may not be enough to build brand loyalty and engagement among your subscribers.
Crafting your emails takes time, but if you have the resources, consider changing your sending cadence and showing up in people’s inboxes more often. Pay attention to your metrics. If you notice a spike in unsubscribes, work with your team to find your ideal sending rhythm.
Are you sending a daily newsletter but not seeing much traction? Think of your own email habits to better understand how your audience may treat your messages. Perhaps it’s worth transitioning to three emails a week instead.
Regardless of your schedule, what matters most is sticking to it. Consistently sending your newsletters helps build brand loyalty and keeps your IP warm, which in turn gives your emails a higher chance of reaching the inbox.
Avoid spam complaints
When subscribers report your newsletters as spam, chances are you won’t reach the inbox the next time you hit send. For email service providers, like Google and Yahoo, your spam complaint rate is vital user feedback, so you can’t ignore it. This metric has to stay between 0.1 and 0.3%.
To avoid spam complaints, make sure to:
- Continue building your database ethically, and never add any contacts to it without permission.
- Stick to the type of content subscribers expect from you. If they signed up for business tips, send them what you promised.
- Be careful with your sending cadence. You can increase it, but consider doing it gradually and monitor your metrics.
- Have an unsubscribe link in every newsletter you send and remove people who opt out within two days.
Also, never reach out again to subscribers who’ve reported you as spam. Set up an automatic process to remove these contacts from your list right away.
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Surprise your audience with a free resource
Business owners know that small gestures go a long way in winning a customer over. There are many things you can do if you have a brick-and-mortar store, but your brand newsletter also allows you to show appreciation.
For instance, if you create a digital lead magnet—like an e-book that you host behind a form – you can share that with your newsletter list. At ZeroBounce, the company I work for, I do this every time I write a new e-book. Our newsletter subscribers get a direct link to it, no strings attached, so they can download it for free. Those emails tend to have the highest open and click rates.
Not sure what type of resource you could create? Checklists, e-books, reports, videos, and infographics sharing helpful content are all great tools to reward and engage your list. Doing this regularly positions you as a thought leader and keeps your business top of mind.
Final tips to boost engagement for your brand newsletter
- Encourage replies by asking questions – but make sure to monitor your reply address and respond to everyone.
- Try to make your newsletters sound more personal. In the age of AI, a human tone of voice stands out and helps you connect more genuinely.
- Include user-generated content, such as social media posts and testimonials. Showcasing that third-party validation helps your brand grow.
Finally, don’t overthink your brand newsletters. Keep them simple and allow yourself to be spontaneous and creative. To win your customers over with these emails, you have to enjoy creating them.
Image by Drazen Zigic on Freepik
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