Email Marketing

Tips: make your email newsletter engaging

Keep it relevant - use it to tell people about things they'll be interested in. For example, if you've extended your business premises, that's only interesting to you. But if it means you can offer a wider range of products, that's interesting to the reader.

Tailor it to your audience - you could consider sending different newsletters to different kinds of customer to make them more relevant to each type of reader.

Attract attention with the subject line - many people will choose whether to read an email by looking at the subject line in their inbox. Grab attention with a subject line such as "Exclusive benefits this month". Don't go overboard - messages with subject lines such as "The best products ever" are likely to be treated as junk mail and deleted before being read.

Get straight to the point - don't waste people's time with long stories - get them interested and encourage them to click on a link to your website to find out more.

Use simple language - write simply and clearly so readers immediately understand what you're offering and the benefit to them.

HTML? Text only? Or both? - using HTML can make your newsletters look like web pages, offering you the ability to use your logos, pictures and graphics. But some email programs won't read it correctly, so it's best to offer a text-only version too. Encourage recipients to choose the best format for them when opting in to your newsletter.

Offer exclusive benefits - offering special benefits that recipients can't get anywhere else can encourage them to read your newsletter more regularly.

Get the frequency right - only send newsletters when you've got something relevant and interesting to say.