Email Marketing – Content

Content for your email marketing

How often do you need to email? Some flexibility in how often you contact can be useful if there’s not always something new to contribute. When a weekly email only duplicates what you said last week, it may help to wait until you have something different to add.

Programmes like Mailchimp, have many templates that can be used so spending too much time on the design of your newsletter is not required and lets you concentrate on the content of the email, which is probably more important than getting the colours or layouts exactly right. The content for each email has to be interesting and give the customer reason to want to read and to also look forward to your next message. The reader needs to gain something from your email.

Don’t make the mistake of starting with a design template and trying to make the articles fit the template, work from the other direction, have the content then build the design around the words.

Tips for good emails/newsletters

Short sentences Don’t over-write, too many words put people off.
Paragraphs Keep these short , maybe 2-3 at most,for the same reason as short sentences.
Headings Useful for breaking up the content and indicating key parts of the email.
Key message Ensure that your key message is towards the top of the email, in the same way as newspapers do.
Links Make links in line with the text and not buttons or images. Mobile readers may use image blocking, another reason not to use links with images or buttons.
Lists Ideal for stating benefits and simplifying complex ideas.
Headers/banners /images – Reduce the size or limit the space for these items. Keep important content and headlines to the left, to reduce the risk of ‘losing’ these if viewed in a preview pane.
Columns For ease of viewing for mobile readers these should be kept to two at most, a simple design will also help.
Images Content which is inside an image should be repeated in the text of the email, to ensure everyone gets the information.
Testing Check you email before hitting the send button. Mailchimp allows you to test your email before sending it to your list, you can then make sure your links and key messages are working.