As the former head of marketing for two different tech startups, I\u2019ve learned firsthand that email newsletters can be an incredibly powerful tool in any marketer\u2019s toolbox.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019ve put together a comprehensive checklist to help you get started with your email newsletter strategy.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Drawing on my own experience, as well as expert tips and the latest data-driven insights, you\u2019ll find everything you need to know about drafting, perfecting, and sending your very own email newsletter.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Creating a great email newsletter isn\u2019t just about throwing together some content.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll have to proofread the copy, create compelling calls-to-action, design the email to work for multiple inboxes and devices, avoid spam triggers, brainstorm clickable subject lines, and so much more.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also have to make sure you\u2019re legally compliant. And if you mess up any part of your email, there\u2019s no undoing it once you send it to your subscribers \u2014 so the pressure\u2019s on.<\/p>\n The good news is that if you follow the checklist below, you\u2019ll be able to craft a compelling, effective newsletter.<\/p>\n\n Ready to get started? Here\u2019s everything you need to know to create an email newsletter that\u2019s tailored to your business or personal goals.<\/p>\n The first thing you\u2019ll need to do is choose the best email newsletter platform for your budget, goals, and technical abilities.<\/p>\n HubSpot offers one of the best email marketing tools<\/a> you can use to send optimized, well-designed newsletters. It\u2019s part of Marketing Hub<\/a>, which is a collection of marketing automation software for small-to-enterprise businesses.<\/p>\n Learn the types of newsletters you can send in our free email newsletter guide<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve selected an email newsletter platform<\/a>, it\u2019s time to think about your goals. Outline why you\u2019re investing in your newsletter and how it fits into your larger content strategy.<\/p>\n As marketing expert Ammar Mazhar explains, \u201cWith clear goals, it can be easier to determine the campaign\u2019s effectiveness and make necessary adjustments to improve its performance.\u201d<\/p>\n Mazhar continues, \u201cGoals also help to align the email marketing efforts with the overall business objectives and ensure that the campaign is aligned with the company\u2019s goals and target audience.\u201d<\/p>\n Your newsletter\u2019s primary goals might include:<\/p>\n Driving blog or website traffic You should also define some key performance indicators, or KPIs, for each of your goals. It\u2019s important to go beyond \u201chow many people opened my email\u201d and instead come up with KPIs that are closely tied to your overall business goals.<\/p>\n To be sure, email open rates can be a great indicator of a newsletter\u2019s performance \u2014 but they shouldn’t be the only number you track.<\/p>\n According to a 2023 HubSpot survey<\/a>, one in three marketers report that click-through rate is one of the top two metrics they track when measuring the performance of an email campaign. If you\u2019re not sure where to start, here are some more email marketing metrics<\/a> that may be worth considering.<\/p>\n\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t designed your own emails before, I recommend looking into pre-made templates, which can save you a lot of trouble down the line. And if you\u2019re using HubSpot, you can easily access pre-made templates right in the email tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of course, once you\u2019ve got a template, you\u2019ll need to come up with some content.<\/p>\n Depending on your goals and your newsletter\u2019s cadence, you might need to be proactive about finding content. If, for example, you only intend to send a newsletter once per month, bookmarking relevant links throughout the month can be a good option.<\/p>\n I always recommend sifting through your company\u2019s blog, social media accounts, lead-generation offers, internal newsletters, and training documents for inspiration.<\/p>\n Need some inspiration for the content you can include in your newsletter? HubSpot\u2019s Email Newsletter Lookbook<\/a> highlights some of the best email newsletters across industries to help you plan out your email newsletter.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n No matter how good your template is, creating a great newsletter will require some personalization. In HubSpot\u2019s Marketing Hub<\/a>, you can adjust your template by clicking on elements and editing the specifications on the left-hand panel.<\/p>\n Personalization doesn\u2019t mean that your template should be flashy. Even newsletters with minimal text and color formatting can perform well. Rather than adding lots of unnecessary custom features, the best designs make it easy for recipients to scan the email and click on interactive elements.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> I like to use HubSpot\u2019s AI Email Writer<\/a> to help me design newsletters. This tool can generate a first draft of your copy, and you can then select a template that suits your needs.<\/p>\n Another key component of an email newsletter template is mobile responsiveness.<\/p>\n Most internet users are on a mobile device<\/a>, making mobile-friendly email design non-negotiable. So, as you personalize your template, make sure that it looks good, no matter the screen size.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n When you send a regular email, you don\u2019t usually have to worry about its size. But when it comes to email newsletters, it\u2019s important to make sure you\u2019ve optimized factors like the height, width, and resolution of your email.<\/p>\n Most providers default to a newsletter size<\/a> of 600 pixels wide, with another 30 pixels of body padding on all sides. Unfortunately, when this adjustment happens, the content inside your newsletter might not look very good. As such, it\u2019s essential to ensure that your newsletter design fits inside that standard 600-pixel width.<\/p>\n Email height (or rather, length) is a little more flexible: Ultimately, your email can be as long as you want it to be, and email clients are unlikely to distort its design.<\/p>\n That said, if your email goes on forever, people are much less likely to click through to your website or other CTAs. Moreover, email clients with sensitive spam filters might flag your email as spam if it\u2019s excessively lengthy.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not sure how long is too long, a rule of thumb I\u2019ve found helpful is to make sure it doesn\u2019t take your recipients more than a second to scroll through to the end of your email. I also recommend sending yourself an email preview and downloading it to check the size \u2014 here\u2019s what that looks like in Gmail:<\/p>\n\n Generally speaking, if the download is under 100 kb, it\u2019s unlikely to be clipped by email providers like Gmail or Yahoo!.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time for the fun part: filling your template with words and pictures. This will be the meat of your email newsletter, so it\u2019s worth spending the time to perfect it.<\/p>\n Ben Berkley<\/a>, managing editor for The Hustle<\/a>, says it should be clear to your audience what kind of value to expect from the newsletter \u2014 but make sure your content isn\u2018t predictable. This way, readers never know what they\u2019ll get, but \u201cthey know it\u2019ll be worth their while to read through it.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not sure where to start, this comprehensive guide<\/a> offers some helpful tips and tricks for crafting email newsletter copy. I also love these email newsletter examples<\/a>, which you can look through for inspiration.<\/p>\n But in general, I\u2019ve found that keeping the copy short and sweet is an effective way to encourage click-throughs (though there are certainly plenty of exceptions).<\/p>\n In addition, including plenty of imagery can help support your copy and engage your readers. You can also consider leveraging generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help you craft a first draft.<\/p>\n In fact, a 2023 HubSpot survey of marketing professionals found that 43% of global marketers believe that generative AI is helpful for writing copy for emails.<\/p>\n Most importantly, don\u2019t forget to edit your email content thoroughly. You might even want to share it with a teammate for a once-over, to get a fresh set of eyes and catch any errors you may have missed.<\/p>\n After all, once the email is sent, you can\u2019t fix those embarrassing typos \u2014 so it\u2019s definitely worth double-checking everything before clicking send.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n When I get an email newsletter that feels like it\u2019s been written just for me, I open it, click the links, and share it with my friends. When it feels like a trusted friend or mentor took the time to put together a thoughtful piece of content with just the things I\u2019m interested in, it\u2019s a recipe for engagement.<\/p>\n As senior content writer Rebecca Riserbato<\/a> explains, \u201cOne of the main benefits of email marketing is that your content can be highly personalized to your audience’s needs. Your emails might have variations, including different images or subject lines to increase your engagement. You can even create segmented lists based on geography or engagement levels.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what does it take to craft a newsletter that feels truly personal? Here are three of my favorite strategies.<\/p>\n The first strategy is to segment your emails into multiple groups. This will enable you to choose content that\u2019s specific to each audience, rather than sending everyone the same thing.<\/p>\n As digital marketing expert Maggie Douglas describes in her comprehensive review<\/a> of email segmentation, \u201cIf you get your email marketing segments right, your customers will receive relevant emails packed with information that they actually want. That personalization leads to more conversions, more purchases, and happier customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Next, use personalization tokens<\/a> to greet individual recipients by name, congratulate them on an anniversary or birthday, or reference particular topics you know they\u2019re most interested in.<\/p>\n If your marketing software supports personalization tokens, this is generally fairly straightforward to implement \u2014 and it can significantly improve your conversion rates. In HubSpot\u2019s Marketing Hub, you can add personalization tokens by simply clicking \u201cPersonalize\u201d in the top navigation bar.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> I don\u2019t like to use too many personalization tokens. It\u2019s all about balance: A bit of custom content is good, but you don’t want to creep out your recipients, especially because data privacy is an increasing consumer concern<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finally, leveraging smart content is another great way to personalize your emails. Smart content makes it possible to show one piece of content to one segment of your audience, while showing other pieces of content to other audiences.<\/p>\n For example, a smart CTA could enable prospective customers to see a CTA for talking to a sales rep, while existing customers could see a CTA to get tickets for a customer-only event.<\/p>\n Neither audience would want to see the other audience\u2019s CTA, and with smart content like this, you can show each person only the CTA that\u2019s relevant to their needs.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Most of us tend to focus on the body of an email, but the subject line and sender are just as important. I\u2019ve even found that sometimes, those two key items are even more<\/em> critical, since they determine whether a recipient will even open the email.<\/p>\n As far as the sender, there are a range of approaches to consider. Some marketers like to stick to their company name, while others prefer to use their own name. Whatever you choose, make sure it\u2019s easily recognizable, so your recipients aren\u2019t confused about who you are and why they\u2019re getting your email.<\/p>\n Subject lines are a little trickier. Brevity is important, and an immediately actionable value proposition can also make a subject line more click-worthy. A study from GetResponse<\/a> recommends keeping your subject lines under 70 characters.<\/p>\n But sometimes, a surprising or unusual subject line can also be a great way to catch people\u2019s attention: For example, a subject line that just reads \u201cNot Cool, Guys\u201d can be very effective in driving clicks.<\/p>\n This article offers over a hundred subject line examples you can use for inspiration, but at the end of the day, these are all just a jumping-off point for your own creativity. So start with these ideas and best practices, but then run A\/B tests to see what resonates the most with your audience.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n There\u2019s more to an email than what most of us see. Including a plain text version as well as alt text for any images is critical to ensure your email is accessible to all readers.<\/p>\n Alt text is the text that appears when a picture fails to load properly, and it\u2019s also the text that is read aloud for users who rely on a screen reader.<\/p>\n Since some of your users may use screen readers, and since not all email providers load images correctly, it\u2019s vital to ensure you\u2019ve included clear, useful alt text. That way, even if recipients can\u2019t see the images, they\u2019ll be able to follow the email content.<\/p>\n This is especially important if your email includes image CTAs. After all, if you\u2019re relying on an image to drive clicks, your conversion rates will suffer without alt text.<\/p>\n In addition, some email clients are unable to display HTML design elements correctly. To ensure users with these clients can still read your email, you\u2019ll need to create emails that look great in plain text, too.<\/p>\n That means checking to make sure links are easy to click, and that it\u2019s clear what your email is about even without photos and formatting.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Alongside marketing considerations, it\u2019s also important to make sure that your emails are compliant with any relevant laws and regulations. For most organizations, the two most significant laws that marketers need to worry about are CAN-SPAM and GDPR.<\/p>\n CAN-SPAM<\/a> is a United States law that requires marketers to include a footer in their email newsletter with their organization\u2019s mailing address and an easy way to unsubscribe from future marketing emails. <\/p>\n GDPR<\/a> is a similar but more comprehensive European privacy law that requires (among other things) that marketers only send email newsletters to people who have explicitly opted in to receiving them. In other words, wherever you collect email addresses on your website, you cannot automatically check the \u201copt-in\u201d box for users who live in Europe \u2014 they must deliberately check this box themselves. <\/p>\n As Denys Kontorskyy<\/a>, formerly a content writer for email delivery platform Mailtrap, explains<\/a>, \u201cJust like with any law, you face a penalty when [email marketing regulations are] not followed. In this case, it\u2019s usually \u2026 a hefty fine.”<\/p>\n On top of that, Kontorskyy says, you\u2019ll end up on various blocklists that will damage your reputation with email service providers and customers. \u201cSo before you send anything to the people from your email list, it\u2019s important to understand what can be included and not in your emails,\u201d Kontorskyy says.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Email providers don\u2019t all read email code the same way. An email that looks fine in Gmail in Chrome might look terrible in Outlook<\/a>, for example. As such, I always recommend testing emails in the most popular browsers and email providers.<\/p>\n (Pro tip:<\/strong> According to Statista<\/a>, the three most popular email services are Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Microsoft Outlook.)<\/p>\n If you have HubSpot, you can test your emails for different providers directly in the email newsletter tool. Alternatively, you can create email accounts for yourself on various providers\u2019 websites and install different web browsers, and then test each one manually.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The moment of truth! Ensuring all your email recipients have subscribed to receive this email and your email has all the branding and legal compliance it\u2018s worthy of, it\u2019s time to click send. Then, wait for the data to roll in.<\/p>\nHow to Start an Email Newsletter<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Step 1. Choose an email newsletter platform.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 2. Define your newsletter’s goal.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n Generating leads
\n Acquiring more email contacts
\n Promoting your products and services <\/p>\nStep 3. Choose a template and gather your content.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 4. Personalize your template.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 5. Monitor your email newsletter size.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 6. Add your body content.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 7. Add personalization tokens and intelligent content.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
1. Segment your emails.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. Use personalization tokens.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Leverage smart content.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Step 8. Choose your subject line and sender name.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 9. Include alt text and plain text.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 10. Make sure you’re legally compliant.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 11. Test different browsers and email providers.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 12. Send your email.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
Step 13. Analyze and iterate.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n