Starting an email newsletter? Here are 10 tips to get you sending!

Client communication is more important than ever. Creating consistent touch points needs to be a part of your continuing strategy to stay top of mind with clients and prospects.

An email newsletter is an affordable and efficient way to reach your audience, and with the right tools and strategies, you can easily create and send emails to a large list of subscribers at a relatively low cost.

To get started follow these 10 tips:

• Determine your goals: Before you start an email newsletter, it is important to determine what you want to achieve through this marketing channel. Do you want to promote your services, educate your audience, or stay in touch with your existing customers?
• Identify your target audience: Determine who you want to reach with your email newsletter. This will help you create content that is relevant and engaging to your audience.
  • You can segment your clients and prospects into categories, such as Personal Lines and Commercial Lines, and create a different newsletter to appeal to each audience’s interests.
• Familiarize yourself with the CAN-SPAM The CAN-SPAM Act is a set of rules for commercial email. It establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
• Choose an email marketing service: There are several email marketing services, such as Mailchimp or Constant Contact, that can help you create and send your email newsletter. Choose a service that meets your needs and budget. (Many of these services provide valuable tools that make complying with CAN-SPAM much easier, such as unsubscribe functionality and the inclusion of an email footer with required information)
• Create a way for people to opt-in to receive your newsletter, such as a call to action on your website.
• Create engaging content: The key to a successful email newsletter is creating content that is valuable and engaging to your audience. This may include educational articles, industry news, promotions, or other types of content.
• Create a content calendar: Plan out the content that you want to include in your email newsletter in advance. This can help you ensure that you have a consistent flow of content and avoid last-minute scrambling.
• Include calls to action: Encourage your readers to take action, such as visiting your website or requesting a quote, by including calls to action in your emails.
• Test and optimize your emails: Use tools such as A/B testing to determine what works best for your audience. Make adjustments as needed to improve the effectiveness of your emails.
• Analyze and track your results: Use digital tools to track the performance (open rate, CTR, etc.) of your email newsletter and make adjustments as needed to improve its effectiveness. Many email marketing services include tools to help you track various KPIs, including which links in your email were clicked and an indication of if the email was read or skimmed.

By following these tips, you can start an email newsletter that will help you stay in touch with your audience and promote your services. Our Director of Digital Strategy, Kelsey Ramsey, can make recommendations on email marketing services for your needs and budgets, and provide questions to ask when speaking with a representative/doing research on any digital service.