The use of email marketing continues to grow as many companies recognize the great effect of this direct marketing strategy. For a much lower cost than with traditional advertising methods, a small business can reach their desired audience with a message that is tailored and send directly to the consumer.
Successful email marketing can help to raise awareness of your business and keep you in the minds of potential customers. To help you understand the value of a business email blast, we will try to answer the question, “What is an eblast or email newsletter” and describe some of the factors that make an effective business email.
Related: Email Marketing for Small Business Owners (free eBook)
What is an eblast or an email newsletter?
The email blast definition and the definition of an email newsletter are slightly different, but for the most part, they are used in the same way and they try to engage potential consumers using many of the same tools. For the most part, we will use the terms interchangeably as we continue with this article.
So what is an email newsletter anyway? An email newsletter is very much the same thing as a traditional newsletter, the only difference is that it is transmitted to the consumer through the use of email. The business obtains a list of potential consumers that may be interested in their service, they create a newsletter for that group, and then they send the mass email out to all of these people.
Now, for a lot of people, this may sound like spam, and while there are some similarities, there are also some important differences. An effective email blast/newsletter will actually attempt to offer value to the reader, whereas spam is essentially junk. Additionally, spam is sent randomly to a mass of email addresses with no particular rhyme or reason behind who they send it to; with a business email blast, the whole idea is to target people that, for one reason or another, are assumed to be interested in the topic. Sticking to the fundamental rules for email blasts can help keep them distinguished them from spam as much as possible.
What to include in eblasts/newsletters
Now that you have the basic email blast definition, we can move on to learning a little bit about how to manage email blast marketing.
Here are the components to include:
Clear marketing message
A good email blast will have a clear and focused message. Make sure that the reader knows why the message is being sent and the intention of the newsletter. If the email blast seems to lack a purpose, the reader will just write it off as junk and they will be less likely to take action.
Catchy Subject Line
One of the first things that the reader is going to see is the title of the newsletter. An effective email blast or email newsletter subject line is essential because without one, the recipient is unlikely to read further. For more tips on email subject lines, check out this post on catchy subject lines.
Engaging Subheader
The subheadings in the email blast also need to engage the reader. Many recipients will not actually read the whole thing and instead, they will scan the newsletter. When they scan through the email blast, the subheadings will be one of the parts most likely to catch their attention. Use your subheadings as a way to organize the relevant information in the content of the email to make it easy for your readers to jump to the information that is relevant to them.
Company Logo
Using the company logo and clearly identifying the sender is another good way to make an effective business email newsletter. People like to know who they are getting mail from, and once they are familiar with the newsletter, they might be more likely to read it in the future. Your logo can be at the top of the newsletter and included in your professional email signature.
No Spammy Language
You definitely want to avoid the tactics of spammers and the language that they employ. Loading the email blast with terms like “special offer” or “urgent news” could send up a flag for spam and that will get your email newsletter sent straight to the spam folder. For more information about sending emails that don’t look like spam, check out these email marketing laws for business owners.
Inform, Don’t Advertise
People read and subscribe to newsletters because they feel like there is something that they are getting from the content. If you overload an eblast with pitches to sell products and links to affiliate sites, the reader is going to tune out. Inform the reader and get them to your site by engaging them with a topic that relates to the product or service. Check out these golden rules for email blasts for more information on how to keep your readers happy.
Keep it brief
The recipient of your email blast is unlikely to commit a lot of time to reading what you send. If you keep the content short, make it easy to scan and easy for them to digest, it will be a much better value for both of you. Aim the content toward providing the reader with enough info to get them interested and then encourage them to follow the links to learn more.
Call to Action
There must be a purpose behind your email newsletter. Whether you are promoting a sale or letting people know about an upcoming event, make sure you have a call to action in each of your email blasts. An effective call to action will entice people to take action toward your business.
Personalization
When people read, they read as individuals, not as a group of potential consumers. A business email blast may be intended for a group of people, but it should read as though it was written for the individual reader. Many email programs allow you to customize your emails so that it reads, “Dear [Name]” instead of a generic greeting.
Visual Elements
Adding visual elements to the email newsletter will help the reader to connect with the message and it can also help to illustrate the point even further. Using images and graphics to compliment the text can make it more digestible for the reader and it can be a great way to drive the message home. Additionally, you can use imagery as an opportunity for branding within the email blast.
Regular Delivery
If you want to operate an email blast campaign as a part of your marketing strategy, then you need to send the emails out regularly. If it is too long between emails, then the recipient might not even remember what your content has to offer. However, you do not want to send them too frequently. If the consumer is getting an email from you every other day, then they might get annoyed and stop reading altogether.
Professional Email Signature
A good email blast or newsletter has a professional email signature at the end. Email signatures are not only compliant with CAN-SPAM laws but they also provide a quick and effective way for the recipient to contact you, find your social media profiles, and engage with your business. Email signatures make email blasts more effective for businesses. Check out this blog post for examples of email signatures for you and your business.
To have success with your email blast marketing, it requires much more than putting some content together and sending it to a bunch of people. You need to have the right content and it needs to be sent to the right group of potential consumers. In addition to that, you also need to include the right elements in the newsletters to increase the chances of action on the part of the reader. With a little bit of effort and a thoughtful approach, just about any business can manage an effective eblast campaign.
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