Most email marketers send out plain text emails with maximum line lengths of 76 to 80 characters. I’m sure you see them all the time. You open up your email reader and the vast majority of the emails you receive use this format.
I’m not talking about the short emails you get from friends, family and other communications. I am talking about emails trying to get you to buy something or click a link. What I am going to discuss here is marketing emails.
The problem with this format is that many people see it as spam, even when they signed up to receive it. Spammers are notorious for using this old style of email.
It is also using old standards that just are not needed anymore. When was the last time you saw an 80-character monitor? Some claim keeping the short line lengths is because it is easier to read. Well, what is the difference between reading an article and an email? Not really anything.
It’s also boring to look at and difficult to draw the reader’s attention to specific things. It’s just not an enjoyable experience for the reader.
Another format of email that is used by a much smaller number of email marketers is the newsletter format.
The newsletter format can contain robust content that is much more enjoyable for the reader. It can contain a header, sections and a footer.
Most readers see the newsletter format as content and not pure marketing.
Now the question is, should you be using the newsletter format instead of the old email marketing format? Do you want to stand out in a crowd by not doing what the majority is? Many times it is better to zig when everyone is zagging.
Let’s explore and look at the benefits of using the email newsletter format.
Using the email newsletter format has many benefits for the sender and the reader.
The newsletter format is much easier for the subscriber to recognize. This helps them to remember that they did subscribe. Readers are less likely to accidentally report it as spam.
An email newsletter can contain content that the subscriber can easily locate what they want to read, watch or listen to. Many readers actually save past email newsletters to reference at a later date.
One technique you can use in an email newsletter is to have a section that gives them a glimpse of what the next issue contains. You can also provide content that has cliff hangers where they can’t wait to get the next email newsletter issue.
One purpose of marketing emails is to get the reader to click a link so they are taken to a website page. The newsletter format is perfect for this. You basically curate the page you want them to go to in the newsletter. They then click the link to view the entire article or sales page.
It’s much easier to do the selling on a website page than in an email.
It’s easier to engage your readers by using the newsletter format. You can add interactive polls, comment submissions and other interactive features directly in the email newsletter.
The email newsletter format is great for non-intrusive advertising. You can use native ads that fit with the content. You can also add product reviews or how-to type articles.
Since you are providing your readers with high quality content and not just screaming buy this, now buy this, oh and buy this, you build trust with your readers. These readers are more likely to trust the links you send them and actually click on them.
So using a email newsletter format raises your subscribers recognition and allows you to provide better and actionable content. It’s easier to engage your reader and get them to look forward to your next email newsletter. The email newsletter format allows for better advertising and builds more reader trust.
So the question is, why are you still using the old email marketing format? Give the email newsletter format a try and see if it works better for you.
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