E-Newsletter Checklist, Part Two. Get it Read!

Previously, George Passwater shared tips for designing and planning your e-newsletter. Now you need to get it read! Here's a short checklist of important elements for getting people reading, responding to, and sharing your e-newsletter.

Subject line: For your subject line, craft one that's compelling, related to the newsletter content, and makes the recipient click instead of hitting delete. When you're looking at developing a great subject line, ask yourself, "How does this make the recipient feel?" Try to draw on emotions or general curiosity. If you have a numbered list of points, try to integrate that number into your subject line.

Sharing: Your newsletter isn't only for your existing subscribers. What do you do when you read something that's WOW? You share it! This is what you need with your email newsletter. Now, how do you get your existing subscribers to share your message?
    • Ask them to share it with someone who will benefit from it.
    • Give them many options to share it. This includes email, social media, and
      other methods.

Calls to action: Most of the email newsletters I get have a good amount of valuable resources without trying to sell me something. Or do they? An effective call to action isn't an ad or a button telling me to buy now. Some great subtle ways to keep your readers engaged involve getting them to see more about you and your business. Consider these simple but effective calls to action:
    • Add icons and links to connect with you on social networks.
    • Invite your reader to an upcoming event.
    • Ask the reader to subscribe for their own updates if someone forwarded the email
      to them.
    • Welcome feedback and see what your readers think of you.
    • Add links to other relevant content, such as your blog.
    • If you have to add a sales message, keep it small and let your content speak for
      you instead.

Testing: If you just write something and send it out, will it succeed? How do you know? Unless you can read minds, you will need some method to test your message. Try these on for size:
    • Do A/B testing with different subject lines or even different opening statements.
    • Not everyone's email client is the same; test on multiple email clients and
      operating systems.
    • Speaking of that, are you testing your content on mobile devices? Does your
      message fit and display properly for those on the go?

Thorough testing gives you a better shot at success, and it will show in your email analytics.

Content Marketing With Effective Email Newsletters: Email newsletters are not dead; they are very much alive and remain an essential element to successful content marketing. When you incorporate each ingredient, you have a checklist for successful email newsletters.

This article was originally posted on the Content Marketing Institute blog here.