The fact that website owners use newsletters to engage their customers is no longer a secret. This has been proven as a great way to build a good relationship with your customers or anyone on your mailing list contact. Sending a newsletter is simple, but making sure people read it is not. As you check your newsletter’s analyses, you would often find the open-rate is way lower than the delivered-rate. And don’t get us started on the click-through rate. This indicates your newsletter is not doing what it’s supposed to. Whether your customers are ignoring it or it simply doesn’t reach them in the first place, it’s still a big issue you need to fix. So, what’s going on? Why isn’t your newsletter being read?
You send it too often
This is the most common mistake made by website and business owners. The idea of sending a newsletter is to gain attention which later on followed by engagement. However, sending too many newsletters or too often might end up annoying your customers. It’s no different from sending your colleagues a text message. Once is considered caring. Two or three times are thoughtful, but over and over again every single day? That’s excessive.
Scheduling your newsletter is an important part of your business strategy. Make your newsletter exclusive. Once a month is a save number. It’s enough to remind your customers to revisit your website without compromising your exclusivity.
You’re in the spam folder
Another reason you don’t want to send your newsletter too often is to avoid getting reported as spam. Once your customer marks one of your newsletters as spam, your future newsletters will be sent directly to their spam folder. And if more customers flag your emails as spam, the bigger the chance you’ll be marked as spam by the email platform itself. This will affect not just your current customers, but also your future mailing list contacts. Sadly, it’s like digging your own newsletter’s grave.
The email subject is not engaging enough
Since the newsletter becomes one of the common tools used by website owners, your newsletter is competing with others in your customers’ inbox. So, it is important to create a subject that will catch your customers’ attention. Instead of writing a simple subject such as “Our New Products in December”, write something more inviting like “Ready for Christmas parties? Here’s what you need to have!”
Be more bold and sassy, yet keeping everything simple and straightforward. You can also use automatization by adding your customer’s first name on each subject. It doesn’t hurt to be friendlier with your customers.
You made the wrong impression on your first newsletter
You’ve spent money on ads and created a great opt-in page. And it worked! Your customers signed up to your website and waited for the first newsletter you promised them. A few days later, the newsletter arrived and it didn’t meet their expectations. Then, why should they open the next ones?
It’s important to send the right message from the very first newsletter. What did you offer your customers on the opt-in pages? Make sure to give exactly that. Use proper language, context, and be direct. They’re reading an email, not a page on your website. And to keep them interested, use eye-catching visuals.
There’s nothing special with the content
Unfortunately, no matter how well-strategized your newsletter is, you won’t get enough attention when your email content is not interesting. This is also why the first newsletter you sent is very important. Make a statement from the very first connection and maintain that level of interest, if not improved.
Instead of just notifying them on your recently published articles or new arrival products, how about informing something they will not find on your website? Perhaps a heads-up for the upcoming events?
Your customers don’t find it useful
If you’re not into sports, will you open any email regarding the latest scores and statistics? And if you don’t like reading, will you care about a list of this month's New York Time’s best sellers? Chances are the answer is no. Your newsletter’s subject can be as engaging as possible, but if your customers are not interested in the topic, why would they read it?
If your business offers vast services and products, it’s best to sort your mailing list contacts based on their interests or preferences. This way, you won’t send a recent Baby Stroller Catalog to your single male customers. Specify each newsletter accordingly so it will reach the proper target. This way, you will get a higher open-rate and even click-through rate!
It’s not so different from the previous ones
This is often neglected, but it’s one of the main reasons why your newsletter not getting the engagement it should have. Sending weekly or monthly updates to your customers is a good strategy. However, if last week’s email is no different from this week’s email, what’s left for them to read?
Even though it’s the same monthly newsletter format, use a different style for your email’s subject. After using “What’s new on our website” in June, try something like “Don’t miss out on this month’s offers” for July. Mix things up to keep your customers interested.
Conclusion
What’s good of a newsletter if it’s not being read? It will only sit there in your customers’ inbox with the rest of their emails. Your newsletter doesn’t deserve to be sitting unread, let alone being thrown away into the spam folder.
Strategize your newsletter system better to make sure your open-rate is higher than 24%. That’s the average number you need to achieve to avoid being flagged as spam. It’s time to make your newsletter exclusive, engaging, and useful! Keep these in mind while composing your next newsletter.
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