#58. 3 Golden Rules Of Effective Email Newsletters People Actually Read | Podcast

Vira: 0:16

Ladies and gentlemen, today we will be talking about newsletter, so stay tuned.

Alissa: 0:44

Hello. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Email Einstein. Vira and Alissa here, very excited to be back. Some transparency here before we get started. Vira has been away for like the last two or three weeks on vacation. She’s been traveling the world and I missed her. I missed recording podcasts with her and I missed her. So I’m really happy that she’s back.

Vira: 1:05

I missed you too. Happy to be back.

Alissa: 1:07

So this is a nice little treat for us to be back and recording podcasts together again. But anyways, as always, Vira and I, we are two email marketers at an email marketing agency called Flowium. And we are both super passionate about email marketing. And because we love what we do, we want to share our insights with you. Flowium is one of the fastest growing email marketing agencies in the world. We specialize in providing a premium, full service, e commerce email marketing experience for all of our clients. Our service is tailored specifically for your business and is designed to help increase your online retail revenue. We deliver the right message to the right person at the right moment. That’s what we’re all about here at Flowium. And today’s episode is an oldie but a goodie. So Vira, take it away.

Vira: 1:55

Yay. I’m so happy to be back. In fact, it’s already like 6pm in Ukraine because I’m still in Ukraine. We’ll be traveling back to Canada in a few days and my mom is cooking downstairs. So I’ll try to make this episode short and sweet just because I want to go and eat my big fat Ukrainian dinner. Oh, it’s the best. I’m like in my old room and mom is cooking for me again. Weird feeling, but I enjoy it a lot. Yeah. So ladies and gentlemen, today we will be talking about newsletter. And that’s interesting because actually we will be developing our own Flowium newsletter very, very soon. So this episode will be a good reminder, I guess for us. And we will be talking about what is newsletter like, how to make a good newsletter. Because done well, an email marketing newsletter is like expert in the field of anything and people love good newsletter. People trust good newsletter. So we’ll be talking about what makes a great newsletter. So stay tuned. But before we go there, I know Alissa has a pretty cool Pro Tip of the week. Alissa, what do we have?

Alissa: 3:07

I love it. Pro tip, pro tip, Pro tip, Pro tip. Okay, so our Pro Tip of the week is to keep the subject line very concise so it stands out in mobile. And this is something that Vera and I have talked about in past episodes where I think the statistic Vira, correct me if I’m wrong, It’s like over 80% of people who are viewing emails are viewing it on mobile. So we’ve talked about redesigning for mobile and optimizing for mobile not only your website, but also all your emails and everything. So you don’t have a huge amount of space on mobile to really draw in your subscribers when it comes to them receiving your emails. Ideally, you really want to try to keep your subject lines as short and sweet, but also as compelling as possible, so it makes readers want to know more. Ideally, you want to use no more than 25 characters, so then that way you’re keeping the subject line about five or six words long. I know this is hard for those of you who like to be very wordy, but short and sweet usually seals the deal. So make sure that you think about how to keep your subject lines short, enticing and captivating all at the same time. So some things to kind of consider as you are going through that subject line creation process. Make sure that you use numbers, symbols or emojis. Consider leveraging the power of personalization so using the person’s first name and then also utilize the pre header. That’s a big one as well. That preview text that people don’t really focus on, make sure that you utilize that as well. If there’s a further point that you need to get across, and especially as we’re getting closer and closer to the data privacy changes that are coming up with Apple and then Google in a couple of years time. Now is a really good time for you to be testing your subject lines as we start to get into the world of inaccurate open rates. And a really good thing for you to do is not only test the subject lines when it comes to rendering on desktop, but also test them on mobile as well and see what does really well. So give that a go, making sure that you’re keeping your subject lines short and sweet so that they stand out in mobile. That’s your pro tip of the week.

Vira: 5:11

That’s a good one. I feel like every episode we talk about mobile, but I mean it is big right now and definitely make sure to keep your subject line for like five to six words long. I know you have more space, but that’s for desktop. For mobile, five to six words and you’re good for sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay, cool, so let’s talk about good newsletters and what makes the newsletter a great one. So number one thing that makes a good newsletter is actually making sure that you add value to your customer and that you add value to their inbox no matter what. What’s your sort of like opinion of newsletters and emails in general? I guarantee that there are at least a few or like at least one newsletter that you enjoy receiving. And this newsletter is probably the one that adds the most value to you. And the only emails that are annoying or the ones that we don’t actually want to receive are emails that don’t fit your current needs or don’t fit your situation or they are like too generic or they are not valuable to you and that’s definitely not something that you want to do. Like for example, I love Netflix, obsessed with different like TV shows and everything. And I love receiving their newsletter and getting like updates on all of the latest TV shows added to Netflix. Alissa, do you receive one as well or not the Netflix one?

Alissa: 7:01

Sorry, I just sneezed then.

Vira: 7:05

It was like a dramatic entrance. Yeah, I was just like talking about like receiving a Netflix. Netflix newsletter?

Alissa: 7:10

Yeah, the newsletters. I do, I do. Because I want to know what’s going on on Netflix because my husband and I are addicted.

Vira: 7:18

I know, same, same. But my husband, for example, he doesn’t care a bit about Netflix and Netflix TV shows and stuff like that. And he subscribes to all this newsletters about like cryptocurrency and e commerce and stuff like that. And I don’t care about the blog’s daily brief, you know, that my husband is getting. And I would never want an email telling me anything. It’s. It would be like an instant unsubscribe. So does this mean that the blog’s daily brief doesn’t benefit all of their subscribers? No, of course not. I am not someone who enjoys their emails, but my husband, someone who is. So it all comes down to Understanding who your customer is and what do they want to get from you. So think about all of the information that your customers are interested and think about their desires, their needs. You can do basically anything as long as it delivers the value that it adds value to your customer. And like for me the number one sign of a good newsletter is that you want to share it with your best friend. And that’s exactly what I do practically every Tuesday when I receive this newsletter called Intelligent Change. They have, there is this company who has like a ton of different self development tools. They are selling this like physical notebooks and different stuff. And every Tuesday they have the digest of different gross minded articles, videos, books, podcasts and stuff like that. They basically understand that your time is valuable so that each resource that they give they fit my needs exactly. That’s why I love this kind of newsletter. So they basically have like a variety of five actionable resources. Something that would benefit me, it will not necessarily benefit Henry or it will not necessarily benefit my husband, but it will fit me my needs and it will definitely benefit me as the reader. So give your readers something that they want to read or something that they didn’t even know they needed. Creating an email newsletter free of grammatical errors or like broken links is important, of course, but providing actionable, helpful information is even more important. So it all comes down to who your customer is, what they want, and basically how you can improve their journey even more, so, yeah.

Alissa: 9:50

Awesome.

Vira: 9:54

The tip number one, make sure you add value.

Alissa: 9:56

And I love that, I love that phrase, give your readers what they didn’t know they needed. I love it. all the time from some emails that get sent over to me and I’m like, wow, I think I need this thing. But I didn’t even know that I needed it. Or like, wow, this is such useful information. Like why didn’t I think to research this on myself? And it’s so like you get the email and you’re like, wow, this brand like gets me. They know me.

Vira: 10:40

I know, yeah.

Alissa: 10:42

Just sofoolish, but it’s great. It works really well. So your step number two on how to create an email newsletter that people actually read is to keep readers reading with great newsletter copy and even better design. And this is definitely something that we’ve addressed in the past. But it’s always good to remind, right, Remind and remember about the things that really matter to people as they are receiving your email newsletters. So the fact of the matter really is, is that you can have the absolute best Written newsletter copy. And it can be magnificent, wonderful, 10 out of 10 on the grammar scale, 10 out of 10 on the wow factor. But if it’s difficult to read, it will be very difficult for your subscribers to actually stick around as they’re going through your email. You want to write it in a way that’s captivating and kind of keep piques their interest enough where they continue reading through the entire newsletter. This isn’t to suggest that poor design really like overpowers or mutes stellar copy, but finding a really good balance between the two is super important when you’re creating a high quality email newsletter. And honestly, sometimes the design side of things needs to be more simplistic than what you think so that the copy can really shine and do its work. And I think when people hear the word copy or like, oh, I have to review copy or I have to write copy, everyone’s kind of like so boring. But like, think of it like reading a book. Like before this like digital age that we now live in, our go to entertainment was to read a book. And you can remember, everyone can remember at least one book they read. Whether you are a current reader or you had to read in school, you can remember one book that you read where the copy was really great, right? So that is possible in email. And it is also possible to make your copy fun. So you can mix product mentions with some jokes in your email newsletters. And the typical shopper, they’re not rushing to their inbox to hear from e commerce brands. So it’s all even lower for fashion brands because most messages from fashion brands look like catalogs. And if I’m not mistaken, I don’t receive any more catalogs in the mail, as I’m sure a lot of you don’t. So if catalogs were went out of style, I don’t know why you would try to send one via email when things get ignored even easier than when it arrives in your mailbox. Because you have to empty your mailbox or else the mailman comes and knocks on your door and says, hey, listen, you gotta empty that thing out. So you have a better chance of your catalog being viewed if you mail it than you do via email. So don’t turn your emails into catalogs. And a lot of the messages and actually there’s a brand that I get a lot of these kinds of emails where it’s almost entirely full of product photos and there’s hardly any text. And the goal is very clear for them to get a sale. And every single CTA that’s found in that email leads directly to the online store for that particular product. Which is fine if it’s like a sale email or a product launch, but it’s not so great when it’s supposed to be informative and maybe even entertain me as the customer. Like, I want to be engaged and I want to feel like you care about me and you’re not just trying to pull money out of my pocket. You know, there’s a really good example from Chubby’s, and we actually hosted their copywriter. Oh, my gosh, Vera. What’s his name?

Vira: 13:54

Eric.

Alissa: 13:56

Oh, ERICH. ERICH. ERICH. Eric, technically, but ERICH. So Chubby’s is a brand that does count on emails to drive sales, but it doesn’t write strictly promotional messages. And if you haven’t subscribed for Chubby’s emails yet, make sure that you do, even if you’re not going to actually buy any of their products. Sorry, Erich. This isn’t a great, like, promotion for people to buy things, but their emails are really top quality in terms of how they write their copy, because it’s written in a way where, like, I’m not a Chubby’s customer, but I do have their emails. And when I receive their emails, I always open their emails because I want to see the copy that they’re writing because it’s actually very fun and very engaging. So what they do in their messaging is they keep the content on brand and very entertaining. And so what they do is they mix product and humor into their messages. So they’re still kind of semi pitching their product, but also joking along with you at the same time so it doesn’t feel forced or weird. Weird. Or you don’t feel under pressure to buy anything. And a lot of their photos show people wearing chubby shorts, but also, like, striking goofy poses or doing funny things. So then that way the product is placed in the image, but it’s not necessarily the central focus of the image, which is great. And a lot of their descriptions are full of jokes. So instead of using a typical buy now cta, they use fun, playful messages like couch side is the new court side. Or slam bam on their buttons. Okay, maybe that’s not technically a call to action. Like, what does slam bam actually mean? But piques your interest enough where you’re like, hey, you know what? I’m going to click on that because I want to know what’s up. And the other thing to note is Chubby’s most hilarious email is actually their weekly weekender newsletter. So it does. I love it. Yeah. And Vira, I know you, I know you love this email too. That comes out and it does include product mentions, but it’s a lot more focused on silly and fun content that isn’t related to the brand at all. So there was actually a weekender newsletter that went out back in January 2020 that shared tips for crushing the weekend, which included Dr. Trying six pack abs on your dad bod and jamming out to the Bee Gees, which, by the way, I love. That’s a good one. So. And that’s a lot of fun, right? It just, it helps you as the customer connect to the brand. And you want your customers to connect to the brand too. Like, who doesn’t want to be part of the Chubby’s crew because they have a lot of fun. They grill on the weekends, they draw six pack ABs on their dad bods, and they also jam out to Bee Gees. So even though the Chubby’s newsletters are not geared towards sale, they still delight shoppers. And customers will often go out of their way to post screenshots of the messages on Twitter to share in the praise and share in the jokes with their followers. And that’s awesome. Chubby’s is a really well known brand and I don’t think it’s because they sell the best shorts on the market. Maybe they do. I’ve never actually worn a pair, but it may not even necessarily have to do with the quality of product itself. But it’s probably likely because they just have such a fun way of engaging with their customer base. So definitely keep that in mind when you’re writing copy. Because it’s not all about writing a novel, it’s about finding ways to engage with your customers and connect with them in a way that doesn’t make them feel pressured to purchase. And then just to touch on design really quickly. Good design does not just mean pretty pictures. There’s an aspect of readability that needs to come into play when you are designing an email. You want your readers or subscribers to digest your content and so you need to make it easy to do so. So making sure that you’re including bullet points, subheadings, colorful CTA buttons. It will make the newsletter a lot nicer to look at and a lot nicer feel as overwhelming, making sure that your layout is appropriate, so placing the critical information at the very, very top. And because people’s attention spans dwindles over time, you put like your least important points at the bottom. Because not that they’re not important, but they’re just not as important as those major call outs at the very top. You also want to make sure that you’re breaking up the copy so that it’s digestible into smaller fragments or sentences, paragraphs, bullet points, however you want to do it, just so that your subscribers can still get the message, but they don’t feel overwhelmed, like they’re read reading a three page novel. And a really actually nice hack on how to break up chunks of text is using the zigzag or Z pattern in your template. So where the Z starts, you put some copy in there and then on the next part of the Z, you put some copy in there. And then as you zag down, zag down, zig down, move down, then you put some copy in there and then on the other end of the Z as well. So then that way it’s a lot easier to look at. This kind of a design arrangement is actually how most readers or subscribers look at email as well. So it just fits in with kind of like the muscle memory that people have when they view emails. So definitely try that and it will help your subscribers make it to the end so they actually digest all the content. So that’s just a little bit about how to keep your readers reading your entire newsletter. Make sure that you make your copy fun, find different ways to engage without being too salesy, but then also making sure that your design and the way that you format your email falls in line with how people will naturally look at the email.

Vira: 18:55

Cool, cool, cool. Yeah. And I know that our designers internally are using that zigzagging principle as well. And it does work. And just like you mentioned, Alissa, the design shouldn’t necessarily be like very, I don’t know, crazy or something. As long as it’s readable, as long as the email is readable, as long as you deliver the value, it all that matters. Basically, yeah. Okay, cool. Tip number three. And it’s kind of the random one, but I like using it for my clients and every time we send this kind of of email, it works like magic. So tip number three, provide exclusive content and brand newsletters. That recent blog post or like social media post or something, they are great, but they do not necessarily get as much attention as when you’re sending some sort of like exclusive content available only through your newsletter. And that’s something that I started doing with my clients. If you want to see how it’s done, subscribe to Progressive Nutracare or Seer custom newsletters. This two newsletters are really, really Great. And what we have started doing is that we have started doing the behind the scenes sort of stories. So sometimes we do meet the team and where we introduce someone on our team and tell their story and where they are coming from and what are the hobbies and stuff like that. And you wouldn’t believe how much people enjoy this stories. But also like giving the behind the scenes on how the product is made. For example, for one of my clients, Tionik, we did this like trip to our factory kind of email where we actually show how the product is made, how it’s packaged and stuff like that. So that’s another excellent idea for you to try and I’m saying excellent just because we received so much feedback when we are sending this kind of emails. So readers love backstage stories and they love exclusive looks, looks at like work in progress. They are more likely to trust your business if they know that you are real, that your factory is real, that real people are working there. Also you can include some like visual content. You can include like funny images off your team or photos or something from your office. And by the way, Chubby’s does it to you all the time. Maybe you can do a behind the scene look at your overall company or maybe insights into your company’s history or team Spotlight is actually another great thing that you can do. Or actually customer Spotlight. That’s something that we talked with you Alissa a lot about on our previous episode. So yeah, definitely try to make this newsletter as exclusive as possible. So people have the reason to subscribe to your newsletter, but also so they have the reason to stay on your newsletter as well. And again if you need like more inspiration, a lot of companies are doing that. But with one of my clients is your custom. We just like recently we sent the story of one of our, one of our customers who like used their products and then we repurposed it for the newsletter and it was a hit. So go ahead and give it a try.

Alissa: 22:06

Love it. And I love that. I love that the exclusive content is part of what makes people feel so important and so engaged to your brand, which is so important. So yeah, I love that. Okay guys, there you have it. Three key, major key, high key ways that you can create an email newsletter that that people will actually read. And this is something that people don’t really take to heart. So make sure that as you’re listening to this stuff, a lot of this is probably information that you’ve heard in the past. It’s so important to keep in mind and always when you’re writing these emails or creating these emails, put yourself in the reader’s shoes. If you have the fully created product at the end and you’re looking at it and you’re like, yeah, I wouldn’t want to read this or I don’t even have the patience to read it myself, it’s probably not a good email that will engage your customers or your subscribers, so just always keep that in the back of your mind. Thank you again so much for listening to our podcast episode today. We had such a great time recording. As always, please don’t forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends if you find that you’re getting some pretty solid insights and values from our episodes. As always, if you like what we do, please leave us a review. And if you do leave us a review, make sure that you screenshot it and then share it with us vira@flowium.com or alissa@flowium.com for your free pair of Flowium socks. And as always, if you are interested in getting some more advice on how to establish a solid email marketing strategy for your e commerce store, make sure that you come check us at flowium.com/contact. You can sign up for a free consultation. Someone from our team will give you some insights on what you are doing and how you can improve.

Vira: 23:45

And come back next Tuesday because we will be talking to our very own SEO guy. Well, he’s not our very own, but he’s the person who handles flowium SEO and he’s an SEO wizard, honestly. So next week we’ll be talking to Vincent. He’s amazing and a spoiler alert. We have already prerecorded that episode and it’s worth listening to. So come back next Tuesday to learn more about what is SEO and why is SEO important for E commerce and how to know whether your E commerce business would benefit more from PPC or SEO. All that good stuff. So come back next Tuesday and we can’t wait for you to listen to that episode. Thank you so much for listening and we hope to see you back next week.

Alissa: 24:31

Thank you guys. Bye bye. Bye.