6 tips to create an authentic newsletter people love to read
In a world where the average email open rate across all industries is about 35%, I consistently get an email open rate of between 60% - 80%. I’m not really a figures person, but I’m pretty blown away by this one, and I am immensely grateful to have such an engaged email community.
The thing is, I never purposely set out to get these open rates, I set out to build an interesting, useful and authentic newsletter that people love to read. And I obviously managed to do that, because I frequently get lovely responses and comments from people saying how much they enjoy my emails. Comments like:
“p.s. love receiving your emails, it’s a little bit of sunshine in my inbox””
It is true that I currently have a fairly small email list (growing it is my current challenge), and as it grows these figures might change. However, I have had so many people go out of their way to tell me how much they love my emails, and that it’s one of the few emails they actually enjoy receiving, that I know I’m on the right path.
I don't share this to brag. I share this to tell you that it is possible to build or grow an authentic newsletter that actually engages your audience.
There are a few main principles that have guided me on my own journey of building an email community, which I’ve pulled together for this blog post.
So here we go - your 6 tips to create an authentic newsletter people love to read…
1. Be the change you want to see
This is possibly my guiding beacon - and if there's only one point you want to take away, make it this one. I believe that the key to writing emails that are truly authentic to you, and are enjoyable to both read and write is to build them around your own values.
To show up in the ways you want to show up in the world, and not emulate the things you personally don't like.
To do this, I ask myself:
What do I like about other people's newsletters?
What do I not like about other people's newsletters?
What do I feel is missing, that I want to create?
This is how my ‘Friday Funtimes’ emails started. I was looking through my own inbox and felt really strongly that there weren't enough emails being sent simply for the fun of it. To just spread a bit of joy and light. I wanted that in my own inbox, and so I decided to start doing it myself.
2. Follow the fun
I love writing emails to my community - I genuinely really enjoy it. Sure I have my moments where I just don't 'feel it', I don't have the creative juice, or I have an existential crisis with my business as a whole (why didn't anyone ever tell us that was a thing?! 😂) - but on the whole, writing my emails is fun, and therefore usually pretty easeful too.
When something feels good for you to do, it's much easier to show up for it, and ultimately probably more fun to read!
3. Make it work for you too
I'm not worried about being rigidly consistent with my emails. My aim with my newsletter is simply to show up on a semi regular basis. It is true that you do need to actually show up to stay in people's minds, but I don't subscribe to the idea that you have to be super rigid about it. I see people who send emails daily, some 3 times a week, some weekly, some monthly - and they can all work as a strategy.
I write emails weekly-ish not because I feel I should, but because that is what feels good and manageable to both me and my audience. It fits with the time I have available, and the energy I have. It's often enough to keep me connected to my community, but not so often I feel I'm venturing into inbox overwhelm (if someone regularly sends me 3 or more emails a week they usually get an unsubscribe pretty quickly).
I also actually have the creative urge to write that often, and so I have the enthusiasm for it. Sometimes I have the urge to write more often, sometimes less, and I flex to fit that energy.
4. Offer value
I didn't set out to get such high open rates, I set out to create interesting emails that actually offer people value.
When I say value, that includes selling. Selling is important, and has value in itself (in fact, I wish small businesses would sell to me more often… I want to know what you're all up to!)
To me, value means giving someone a reason to keep opening my emails. I think people know that they are likely to get something from my emails when they open them - a little anecdote, an interesting link, a thought provoking prompt, some business tips, something that makes them smile, a creative invitation, a new workshop they might be interested in... value comes in many different ways.
It doesn't have to be much, but I think it does have to add to people's lives in some way, and help them discover something about you, your business, themselves or the world.
5. Use content pillars
If you've not heard of content pillars, I can very much recommend doing a bit of research. In a nutshell, content pillars are overall themes or topics that you focus your content around.
I have 3 content pillars:
Creativity
Small business + websites
'The Good Life'
I make sure that any email I send covers at least one, ideally two, and sometimes all three of these content pillars. This way, people can consistently know what to expect from me, and it helps keep me focussed and on track.
6. Make things easy to digest
The majority of my emails are fairly concise, and it’s something I actually get a lot of people saying they appreciate. In a busy world where we can be overloaded with emails, it can be a relief to receive something fairly short and sweet. On occasion I'll send a longer email, and when I do, I try to break it up into shorter sections with images or headers. It makes it easier for people to digest, and quickly skim over to see if they want to diver deeper into the email.
I think the most important thing really is to try not to worry about whether you’re doing things ‘right’, and instead focus on what feels right to you. Other people don't have all the answers - including me - so take the advice that feels good and leave the rest.
Above all, trust yourself and your own ideas, be open to trying new things and see how it goes!
And if you’re feeling in a tangle over where to take your newsletter, which platform to choose, how to set it up or integrate it with your website, you can always call on me to help you out!