How effective is your email newsletter?

Customers who have bought from you before are the ones who are most likely to buy from you again, and sending out email newsletters is a great way of keeping your current customers engaged with your brand.

But just collecting someone's email address doesn't mean you're automatically going to have good engagement with your email newsletters. If you've been sending email newsletters out for a while now and noticed that your stats aren't as high as you would like, you're not alone.

Here are some common problems companies face with their email newsletters, along with some simple solutions. Let us know what you think! 

Problem: My open rates are down
Possible Reason: You need better subject lines

A boring subject line is death to any newsletter. Have you ever been enticed by a subject line like "X company's June newsletter"?

Keep your subject lines short, catchy, and with your audience always in mind. And if you can promise to solve a problem for them, even better.

Remember, however, that catchy shouldn't mean cryptic. I got one today from Athleta (a clothing company owned by the Gap), that said "LBD is going on vacation." What is LBD? A person? A brand? I had no idea. (Turns out it was "little black dress.") Confusing people shouldn't be your goal.

Problem: My click-through rates are down
Possible reason: You have too many graphics or too much text

If your entire newsletter is one big graphic or a big flyer, people may automatically assume that there is nothing to click on and will just glance at it and close it. Not good. Instead, make sure your newsletter has some graphic elements, but it also has lines of text.

However, too much text can be as bad as too many graphics. If there's too much text, people will skim it, or there will be nothing left for them to read on the website.

The best approach is to write a blog on your website and then include the first paragraph of your blog in your newsletter and provide a link to read more. 

Problem: I have too many unsubscribes
Possible reason: Your content is too sales-heavy

People do not want to be sold to (too much). Remember, people will open newsletters that will help them in their lives. Always think about the customer's pain points when deciding what to include in a newsletter.

For example, if you own a pet store, you could write blogs that provide advice such as "Is Your Dog Getting Enough Exercise?" or "3 Easy Ways to Give Your Dog Medicine," instead of only sending out emails about your upcoming sales. Content will always get better engagement than messages about sales, and sometimes, when people only get information about sales, they will simply unsubscribe. Just try to write about topics that you think are of interest to your readers.


Remember email newsletters aren't an exact science. Sometimes you have to tweak your formula to find one that works for you. The most important thing is that you do it!

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