Email Newsletter Design Guide
By Hostway
You’ve been collecting customer email addresses for a while, but haven’t
quite made the time to design your first customer newsletter. The good news is
that it’s not very hard to get started. We’ll walk you through the process of
designing your newsletter.
Design Considerations
The design you choose should reflect your goals for your newsletter. Every
business has a different reason for creating a newsletter. To make sure it
achieves your objectives, think about your goal before you do anything else.
If, for example, your newsletter’s goal is to inform customers of sales on
specific items, you will want an image-heavy design with little copy. If you’re
trying to position yourself as an expert in your field, you’ll want a text heavy
newsletter with information articles and tips.
Once you have an idea of your overall content, consider what sections your
newsletter will include. Come up with headings that last beyond a single
newsletter. Here are a few ideas:
- Product spotlight that gives tips on new ways to use your products
- Special promotion just for newsletter subscribers
- Reader survey
- Top 10 Tips
- Customer profile
- Company news
- Letter from the CEO
Take a look at your competition’s newsletter, if you can, to see what other
companies in your industry include. You might get a few ideas you can improve on
for your own newsletter.
Once your section headings are finalized, it’s time to look for a design. If you
have someone proficient in HTML on staff, you can opt for a completely customer
design. If not, you can use a template from the email marketing software you use
to send your newsletter.
Email Newsletter Software—What to Look for
Email marketing software makes it easy to manage your newsletter. Any good
software program will automate the tasks of:
- Handling opt-in subscriptions
- Removing opt-outs from the list
- De-duping your list
- Providing analytics
Additionally, make sure you choose a software package with a good template
library unless you plan to use a custom design. Look for templates that
complement your company color palette and include design elements similar to
your Web site. For example, if you have rounded corners and organic design
elements on your Web site, you should choose a template to match.
Take a look at our
email newsletter checklist for more ideas on your customer newsletter.
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