At the foundation of any great newsletter campaign is an even better email strategy. Since most newsletters are delivered via email, it only makes sense that the way you market through newsletters should mirror the way you market via email.
That means that many of the elements of a great email campaign apply to newsletters. Today, I want to take a look at newsletters specifically in the travel (more specifically, travel planning) niche. While the headings below might look familiar, I’m going to give some specific pointers on how to turn your newsletters into powerful marketing tools.
What Are Your Goals?
Since all marketing initiatives have goals and milestones built in, it’s important to know and understand what they are before beginning to write your newsletters. Every part of your marketing strategy must work together to achieve them if you want your open rates to remain high (or improve over time).
In terms of travel industry content marketing, BeezContent can help you plan, develop, and execute a successful email campaign using key elements like newsletters. If you’re feeling stuck or just think you could be doing better, you’re probably right. We can show you how to do it and get results.
OK, that’s enough with the sales pitch. Now for the meat of the message …
1. Compelling Subject Lines
Since I’ve touched on this subject so many times, I’ll be brief about it here. If your email or newsletter subject lines aren’t winners, they’re killers, pure and simple. Your subject line is your first and best line of defense against the delete button. Make the message interesting, and people will, at very least, click through to see what you have to say.
When they do, be sure the messaging of the newsletter coincides well with what’s been promised or alluded to in the subject line. I cannot express more strongly how important this one thing is. Get it right, and your odds of success are favorable. Get it wrong, and the numbers will most assuredly speak for themselves.
So, how does one write a good subject line for a newsletter? Here’s a hint: Save it for last. Pore over all the various points or sections in your newsletter, and then develop a subject line that both teases the content and directly involves the reader.
2. Personalized Messaging
From your subject line to the body of the newsletter to the call to action that motivates the reader to click through for whatever purpose you choose, the messaging has to help readers feel like the information in the newsletter has been selected just for them. Newsletters are the one area of marketing where it’s actually fine to talk about yourself, your company, any current promotions, etc. Newsletters are promotional, but they’re tools for relationship-building first and foremost.
The personal touch comes in finding points of relatability with the reader and focusing the body of the newsletter on things that are likely to appeal to them. If your company is organizing a customer appreciation event or just looking for people who want to save money booking trips in the off-season, the way the information is presented matters. Present it in a way that immerses the reader in the event. Don’t just talk about it — talk the reader through it.
What’s going to happen at that event? Why should the reader care? Keep the emphasis of “we” and on “you.”
Wrong: “We’ve worked hard to present the best annual customer appreciation party ever.”
Right: “This year’s customer appreciation event is one you’ll be talking about for years.”
3. Strong, Actionable Text
The goal of a newsletter is to give readers a clearer impression of what your company looks like and the kinds of things it does. This is not the place to offer advice or present content with a heavy spin toward marketing.
The motivation to act should come from the information itself, not from obvious sales language or editorial content. Save the former for your actual email campaigns and save the latter for your blog. Right now, your job is to paint a picture of your company that makes people want to work with you.
4. Even More Actionable Calls to Action
Calls to action should relate directly to the content of the newsletter. Writing about an upcoming event? Provide all relevant information (date, time, place, etc.) with a call to action to attend. Reporting on someone on your staff retiring? Follow through with a call to action to “meet the rest of your upbeat staff” by clicking through to your website.
Don’t worry about selling anything except that yours is a warm, friendly business that values its customers. Reporting milestones like positive personnel changes, expansions, and new services are all acceptable subjects for a newsletter, but keep the messaging informational. Again, use email blasts and sequences when you want to sell something.
5. Minimal Sales Language
I’ve already touched on this a couple of times already, so let’s punch it home: Don’t try to sell anything with newsletters. Treat them like what they are: news. Local news anchors don’t interject advertising language into their stories, and neither should you. Using a newsletter to sell is a surefire way to lose readers. Remember, talk to your audience (not at it) and keep the messaging informational.
Final Takeaway
Newsletters are relational tools, so use them as such. You have plenty of other avenues for trying to sell. When used correctly, your newsletters will boost sales without you ever having to manipulate anything. Use all your content marketing tools appropriately, and conversions will come.
