Instead they’re the way you help keep customers engaged and encourage them to take action; from making a purchase to reading the latest blog that you’ve posted.

So if you are thinking about creating a newsletter, you should also know about the various components that go into it. Want to get started? Read on to find out about newsletter design ideas that will engage your subscribers.

What components need to go into a newsletter? 

Make sure it catches the eye and relates to your brand 

When you are considering newsletter design ideas, make sure to choose one that catches the eye. And connect it to your brand identity. This means including the logo, the right color scheme and personality so that it stays consistent with your website and your online presence. 

You should have a consistent header, footer and contact details. Be sure to use high quality images that are relevant, to attract the attention of your readers. And optimize your newsletter to be read across any device.

The subject line should be clear and compelling 

The subject line that you use in your newsletter is your best chance to grab the attention of the reader and compel them to read it. It needs to be relevant to your target market and also has to use actionable language. For example, you can say things such as – save 50% just today, limited time offer, and don’t miss out. The subject line also has to be clear, personalized according to the first name of the recipient and impactful. 

The recipient name and their email address

Try and make use of the personal email addresses of the people that you would want to connect with, as opposed to simply sending it to a generic email or a department email. This will help you build more trust and will also give you better open rates. 

Your emails should be personalized 

If you want better interaction from your customers, you also need to start personalizing the emails you send. You addressing the customer by their name and including something that is very specific of interest to them will help. You can do this by segmenting the database that you have. Divide it according to the areas of interest, the type of customer and their location for instance. 

Actionable language and CTA 

CTA (call to action) and actionable language are both a must have. Let’s be realistic. In many cases, your audience will simply scan through the newsletter. So make sure that your CTAs are placed in the newsletter and that they stand out clearly so that the person reading it will be compelled to click on that button or link.

Keep it short and concise 

If there is too much copy in your newsletter, the chances are that the person reading it will click delete. Keep the text short and to the point whenever possible. Make the content powerful and striking so that the person reading it will want to carry on reading it and click on the CTA. Always also write in second person using words like you and your.

Add your social sharing and unsubscribe links

Your readers should have the option of sharing the newsletter on their social media networks. Make sure that they can do this. You should also have an email forward link included so that readers can get sharing. On the flipside, you don’t want to turn your customers away by spamming them. And that is why, an unsubscribe link is important. Having an unsubscribe link is also a legal requirement so do not skip that.

Monitor, measure and test 

You will need to monitor, measure and test the metrics of your email campaigns to make sure that you’re using the best newsletter design ideas. Some of the metrics that you can test for are: 

• The quality and size of your database 
• How many active and inactive subscribers you have 
• The open rates
• What the click through rates are 
• ROI
• The number of bounces
• The number of spam reports
• Opt-outs
• How many forwards there are

Statistics that you need to know about email marketing

If you are going to run a newsletter campaign, you’re going to want to know how much bang you’re getting for your buck. So we’ve got some stats to help you see the bigger picture:

Now, let’s take a look at the newsletter design ideas that can help your business. 

According to Digital Marketer, there are 4 main types of newsletters that you can take on for your email marketing. 

The featured article or letter from the editor style newsletter 

This would be ideal for the 

• Brands that need to make a point.
• Companies that want to take a stance on some current incident of importance in their industry. 
• Businesses that have the resources and time to create a newsletter that will be a value addition. 

You will definitely need a great content writer to get this type of newsletter done. It has to make a point and a strong one at that. The length of this newsletter can be about 200 – 2000 words and it really is based on the topic that you are discussing.

You will need to ask yourself 4 main questions to make this newsletter happen. 

• Why will this topic matter and relate to my readers?
• Does this bring any value to my subscribers?
• Is the topic relevant to your industry? 
• Can this keep people who are reading engaged?

The Link or Curated Content kind of newsletter 

This kind of newsletter is perfect for:

• Brands that want to give their customers quick value 
• Businesses that may not have a lot of resources in terms of money and people 

The style definitely means that your writing is much shorter than the style mentioned above, but that does not mean that the content has to be of low quality. However, in the case of this style of newsletter you will need to provide context for each and every link that you put up. You cannot simply direct customers to a link without telling them why you think they should click on that specific link. The links that you offer can be your own or related to external sites. 

The blog newsletter 

This is a newsletter style that is very much useful for brands that

• That have a dedicated blog and a content collection 
• Want to drive traffic to the content that they create 

This type of blog will simply have one goal. You want to drive as much traffic as possible to your websites and the content that you have created. This will need to come with really short writing that packs a punch and will also want to make people click on the links that you want them to click on.

The hustle newsletter  

This type of newsletter design works best for: 

• Brands that have dedicated content creators who can produce a high volume of pieces, tailored as needed.
• Companies that have a focus on affiliate marketing
• Businesses looking to establish themselves as a subject matter experts/industry experts

This type of newsletter design will link internal and external content. The common thread will be that they’re all focused on the same niche. This content-heavy newsletter can be thought of as being made up of a series of shorter “letter-to-the-editor” type pieces.

Start exploring your own newsletter design ideas

Ready to start a newsletter for your brand too? It can be a lot of work but if you keep doing your research you’ll be engaging your subscribers in no time. Start small, experiment, and analyze how your audience responds. Then tailor your designs and content accordingly. 🙂