{"id":930,"date":"2018-03-28T10:59:06","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T08:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getanewsletter.com\/en\/?p=930"},"modified":"2024-08-14T09:13:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T09:13:42","slug":"5-ways-to-write-an-engaging-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getanewsletter.com\/en\/blog\/5-ways-to-write-an-engaging-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"5 foolproof ways to write an engaging newsletter used by top coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may remember from <\/span>my previous post<\/span><\/a>, my first attempt at email marketing was a <\/span>complete disaster<\/b>. I made several mistakes that meant my newsletter wasn\u2019t, and simply <\/span>couldn\u2019t be engaging<\/b> \u2013 meaning I couldn\u2019t make people open it, let alone read it. Here are a few cardinal errors I made and how to avoid them to write really engaging newsletters.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I know <\/span>everybody <\/span><\/i>is writing about it, and\u00a0you don’t have time to read<\/strong><\/em> so instead of reinventing the wheel and writing another looooong blog post, I summarised the advice on <\/span>how to write engaging newsletters<\/b> offered by top marketing coaches such as Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute, Neil Patel of Quick Sprout or Dan Norris of Content Machine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01. Send it only to people who *really* want it<\/span><\/h6>\n

In<\/span> my first attempt at email marketing <\/span><\/a>I confused cold mailing (sending spammy messages to poor souls whose emails I found online) with newsletters (providing value to people who want to listen to you in the form of an email). I sent mail to people who didn\u2019t ask for it. How often do you open emails you didn\u2019t anticipate or ask for? Now, can you guess what my open rate was? <\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the answer to this? Obviously, <\/span>send your newsletters only to people who have signed up for them<\/i><\/b>. Not to people that provided their email address at checkout, to get a freebie, survey results, or for any other reason. I know that may sound harsh when you are only collecting your first subscriber list and are strapped for these emails, but trust me – the people who don\u2019t want to get your newsletter won\u2019t read it, and the \u2018dead souls\u2019 on your mailing list may adversely affect your <\/span>spam score (see below)<\/i><\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

An option that will <\/span>nearly double your newsletter open rates from 16 to nearly 30%<\/span> is a <\/span>double opt-in process.<\/b><\/p>\n

Double opt-in means <\/span>the subscriber needs to form another actio<\/b>n<\/strong> (e.g. click on \u2018confirm your subscription\u2019 in the welcome email) after first providing their email address to you in order to be enrolled in your subscribers\u2019 list. <\/span><\/p>\n

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If you want to read more about <\/span>successful double opt-ins<\/b> and <\/span>how to create them<\/b>,<\/span> read this post by Neil Patel about it. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

2. Have a clear plan and state it before people subscribe <\/span><\/h6>\n

Before you write your first newsletter, you have to have a <\/span>*<\/span>clear* <\/i><\/b>agenda<\/b><\/a> of\u00a0what the whole newsletter is going to be about – think in a series of 6 or 12. No, you don\u2019t actually need to have the whole series *written* before you send the first email, just <\/span>know what you are going to write about <\/i><\/b>and<\/span> communicate it clearly with your readers<\/b> *before* they subscribe:<\/span><\/p>\n

This ensures that the subscribers really know <\/span>what they are (proverbially) signing up for. <\/i><\/b>\u00a0Making an informed choice means they will be literally waiting to read your next newsletter because they know what they will learn from it: <\/span><\/p>\n

Newsletters are also an excellent way to both <\/span>promote and <\/span>deliver an online course – <\/b>read more about how to use them for this purpose if you are in the education business. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Have a compelling subject line <\/span><\/h6>\n

HubSpot has written a pretty exhaustive<\/span> post on subject lines<\/span><\/a> (that may be a tad <\/span>*too exhaustive* <\/span><\/i>if you are anything like me, aka have the attention span of a goldfish)…here are some \u2018golden tips\u2019 I squeezed out of it especially for fellow-fish (wink wink): <\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Keep it <\/span>short<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Tell them <\/span>what\u2019s inside<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Make it <\/span>actionable<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Tell them it\u2019s <\/span>urgent<\/b>. <\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Make it <\/span>personal<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Be <\/span>funny<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Good news: your subject line doesn\u2019t need to meet <\/span>*all* <\/i><\/b>of these criteria at the same time. <\/span><\/p>\n

    For example: <\/span><\/p>\n

    Emilia, your free e-book is inside. <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Grab 20% off your next course before 31 March, Emilia <\/strong><\/p>\n

    4. Write things you *yourself* would like to read<\/span><\/h6>\n

    Hopefully, you <\/span>know your target audience well <\/b>and you are \u2018one of them\u2019. You understand\u00a0<\/span>their <\/span>needs, problems,<\/b> and <\/span>what they want to read about<\/b>. I recently <\/span>interviewed a wildly\u00a0<\/span><\/a>successful doctor-turned-online marketer<\/span><\/a> empowering female entrepreneurs in their marketing efforts, who grew a 12,000 audience in just a year. Asked how she writes her newsletters so that people actually want to read them (and e<\/strong><\/span>ven pay for them!<\/b>), she replied simply:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2018I write things I would like to read myself.\u2019 <\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

    Would you like to read salesy offers from unknown businesses? Of course not. So, what do people usually like to read?<\/span><\/p>\n