Building strong relationships with your customers is vital. Sending email newsletters can be an low-cost but effective marketing strategy. Well-designed and written emails can raise awareness of your business and products, boost customer trust and win sales.
What are the benefits of email marketing?
Many businesses see email as one of their most powerful marketing channels. Email newsletters:
- can promote your business and build awareness of your brand with customers and others on your mailing list.
- help to build trust and relationships with your customers, and encourage conversations.
- allow you to communicate with your customers in a way that’s direct, timely and cheap.
Planning and designing your email – some tips
- Keep your emails brief and easy to read, and the design clean and simple.
- Get permission to use other people’s content or photos.
- Think about your branding, such as your logo and company colours, and match your email to your brand.
- Design your email so it can be read on different devices.
Writing your email
Good newsletters are well-written and tell interesting stories about your brand and products. Strong content and regular emails can deepen your relationship with your customers. They may not buy from you today, but they may in the future.
Think about what your subscribers would like to read, and plan updates in a content marketing plan.
Some writing tips
Many people receive too many emails to read! Make you emails stand out so that customers open them and read them.
- Write interesting subject lines that make people want to open your email when it lands in their inbox.
- Write in a direct, friendly, personal voice that encourages customers to read your emails from start to finish.
- Create interesting content that your customers will talk about or share online.
- Use short sentences and clear, direct calls-to-action.
- Ask questions and have conversations with your customers.
Avoid sending spam
Be careful that you’re not spamming people with your emails. Spam is an unwanted electronic marketing message, which could be an email, text or instant message. Spam messages are commercial, and contain offers, advertisements or promotions
The Spam Act 2003 prohibits sending spam with an Australian link. To avoid your email being classed as spam, you must have consent from the person receiving it. You must also make sure your email identifies you as the sender, contains your contact details, and makes it easy to unsubscribe.
Further reading
- This article is adapted from the Business Victoria resource, Using Email Marketing.
- A content marketing plan can help you create content that is fresh, engaging and relevant to your customers. See the Business Victoria resource Write a Content Marketing Plan for more information.
- Visit the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website to learn more about the Spam Act and make sure you’re not sending spam emails.
