Othman Laraki, director of growth at Twitter, announced the new newsletter-type email with a post on the Twitter blog. He stated that the emails are designed similar to the “discover” tab for the recently updated iPhone and Android Twitter apps. Which of the people you follow shared a particular story will be displayed below each story, showing you who it was popular with. Also, you can see related tweets from the people you follow and tweets can be sent directly from the email.

Note that not all of the tweets in the digest email will be from people you follow. Some will be tweets that were popularly retweeted by the people you follow.

If you don’t enjoy this new Twitter feature (or are annoyed that Twitter didn’t ask your permission) there is a link at the bottom of the email that will allow you to unsubscribe. Alternatively, you can change the option in your notification settings directly on Twitter. I’ll let the emails come for a few weeks before I decide whether or not I enjoy them. Of course, if they begin putting ads into the emails, the entire feature is a no-go for me.

When you send an email to a person, the process is easy. You put their email address in the “To:” box, and maybe CC: it to some other people. What about if your subscriber-base is over a thousand? Chances are your client won’t be able to handle such a large sense. This is when you go shopping for an email marketing/software service.

Here’s a list of some of the more renowned companies, with a small list of features you can expect if you decide on one of them…

Arclab – With Arclab you’ll be able to build your newsletter subscriber list, they also provide templates if you’re having trouble on the design side of things. It works every type of mail account, and supports SSL and StartTLS. Like most services, they also provide single and double opt-in options for signing up.

Active Campaign – This service provides a slew of import options, allowing you to setup your initial list of subscribers with a bit more ease. They also provide the option for designing your own subscription forms.

Amailsender.com – Like the services mentioned before, you can manage your larger subscriber lists. This service sets the distinction that you can manage these lists on-line, taking out a couple of unnecessary steps with the offline route. They also provide a single, and easy-to-use interface, allowing those who are less versed in mass email sending a better option.

Arial Software – If you are the owner of small business, this company might be the route you want to consider for your subscriber management. This service offers a built-in HTML editor, and without monthly fees like some services like these offer.

However, there’s a problem. You’ve discovered your newsletter is ending up in spam/junk folders for your subscribers. So what was the point of putting all that work into your newsletters if only a very small percentage of people even had the opportunity to look at it? This is why it’s absolutely vital that you put deliverability before everything else when sending your newsletter.

Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind when making sure your email newsletters are being received by your subscribers.

– Avoid spam trigger words and phishing phrases as much as possible. Here’s a list of trigger words & phrases to avoid. It should be noted that this list doesn’t represent every single trigger word in existence. However, it provides a good barometer of what you should stay away from when coming up with email subjects and content.

– Always, always, always include a text version of your email. HTML emails might look pretty, but having them be your exclusive mode of access hurts you on two fronts. First, it increases your chances of ending up in a spam folder. Also, if you send HTML-only you’re missing out on subscribers who need text-only in order to read it.

– Keep your text-image ratio in mind. The more images you have in your newsletter, the more likely you are to show up in a spam folder instead of an inbox. Optimally, you don’t want any images in a newsletter. However, for aesthetic purposes, images are needed. Don’t make your newsletters image-only, and make sure you have a healthy amount of text to coincide with the images you do have.

If you have a narrowly focused topic, then constructing a newsletter becomes a bit easier. However, simply stuffing your newsletter with content isn’t enough to engage with readers. Even if the content is relevant, no one wants to just read through paragraphs, especially if it’s content they read on your website anyway.

With the advent of social media, newsletters have the opportunity to take on a whole function. Newsletters provide a means to reach people at a level no website ever could. Therefore, it’s the perfect opportunity to push your social media platforms, and engage deeper with the reader.

There are a few ways in which to do this, many of the strategies depend on what sort of content your newsletter concerns.

- First, highlight the social media platforms you use – even the smaller ones. If people are opening your email, then it suggests they want to develop a relationship with you or a company. How can they do this if all you provide them is blocks of content? Instead, use a great deal of space to provide readers a way to follow you or your brand on social media platforms. Twitter and Facebook are the most obvious choices, but if you have website that’s image intensive then you can invite them to follow you on Flickr or Pinterest.

- Feature a Q&A, using questions posted on social media. Questions are a brilliant way to engage with readers; inquisition requires a deep level of engagement. If readers are hoping to find answers, then they are more likely to open a newsletter and keep it open to read. Using your social media platforms as a place to have users ask questions has a two-fold benefit. First, it provides a reason for people to follow your on these platforms and gives your newsletter content worth engaging in.

- Along with Q&A’s, you can feature conversations in your newsletter. I don’t mean to copy and paste direct posts from social media or chat logs. However, when determining your style of writing in a newsletter, keep things conversational. Regurgitating information, or simply posting news isn’t enough. Write in a way which allows users to have a reaction, or provides them a reason to engage with you beyond the newsletter itself. Providing in-depth opinions, or simply asking questions yourself is a good way to heighten engagement with readers.

Hopefully these tips provide a good base of the direction you should be going with your newsletter. Just remember that people are social beings, and providing them opportunities to become engaged in a newsletter will provide you with happier subscribers. In turn, this leads to a larger viewership and greater conversions.

Businesses of all sizes need to use this tool in a way that does not harm their business, or reduce their profits because of a bad newsletter design or meaningless text, so here are a few tips that will help a business’s newsletters get read, business-to-business or business-to-customers:

The layout is one of the most important aspects of a newsletter email. The layout should not be too simple (just text or just an image) nor too complex (too many images and text.) This makes your newsletter look spammy, therefore, try to find a middle ground that suits the type of business you perform. Here are a couple of very useful techniques:

The title is indeed the most important aspect of a newsletter for it is what separates your email from those of junk mail and spams. Try to use the title as an attention catcher. Many businesses use the name of their business in the title. In many cases, this is a big mistake because some readers might not be aware of this business and disregard the newsletter based on that. Another reason why using the business’s name in the title is a bad idea is because it tells the reader that this is a useless update, or even spam id they don’t know this particular business. Therefore, use a shorter version of the title of the content for it is very relevant and grabs attention, or just be creative and straightforward with this section. An example for Applebee’s coupon: 3 Appetizers for 2 only at Applebee’s (this is one of the cases where using the name of the business is relevant.)
The content definitely depends on the type of business performed. However, a general rule of thumb is to never forget the human aspect. The following are some useful tips and techniques for the content section of the newsletter:

While there’s no magic formal for coming up with engaging content to include in your newsletter, there are a few hints to get you started in the right direction. Many experts will give you general directions like “have fun”, “make it interesting”. Well, obviously. These tips are of a more technical nature.

- Your email subject is part of your content. In many ways, this is the most important content you’ll feature in your newsletter. Without an engaging subject, the rest of your content is meaningless. Most importantly, don’t sound spammy. This can be harder than advertised, as even creating an interesting subject can sound like spam.

Remember your subject matter, and the subscribers you’re sending two. If you keep both of these elements in mind, generally the title of your email will automatically come to you. Another good rule of thumb is think of what you generally toss away as spam when you’re cycling through your email.

- Use images sparingly, but don’t be afraid to use them either. We’re a very visceral society, and we love pretty images. We’d must rather “see” than “read”; it might be a sad truth but you’re out to make money. The problem with images in emails is more of a technical nature, as many clients won’t automatically load images for readers.

Some of the best newsletter campaigns are nothing but images, and most of them provide readers eye candy to keep them interested. If your content can rely on nothing but images, it’s worth the negatives to create it like so.

- Get to the meat of your content as soon as possible. A good exercise to try and is create an email where more than likely people won’t have to scroll to take everything. Give them little, and many times you’ll find more people will be interested. Keeping it simple in email can many times provide greater conversion, as readers won’t feel overwhelmed when looking through your offers.

When businesses decide to offer newsletters, they tend to do the opposite.  There’s usually little if any actual NEWS and the whole thing tends to look and read like a poorly disguised commercial.

So, this got me thinking:

• What if you treated the people who read your current newsletter, as if they were already friends?
• What if you sent them actual news and asked how THEY are?
• What if you sent it NOT on some bullshit automated schedule, but only when you had something of value or interest to share?
• What if some of them contained NO special offers or sales pitches?
• What if some were just offering to help?

Business is all about people

Is it possible that this approach would help you develop a deeper, richer relationship with your readers, than the usual; “we call it a newsletter but there’s no actual news, I just want to sell you stuff,” approach?  Because if it did, it could massively improve how they felt about you and your business.

Why does that matter?  It matters because business is all about people.  People do business with people they like.  People recommend people they like.

Now, if for some reason you think you absolutely have to send glossy, salesy-looking newsletters, how about offering a more humanized version too; just for those who would like to connect with you on a more personal level?  It’s just a thought.

What do you think?

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2) Consider the “F” reading pattern
When people skim through an email, they follow an “F” reading pattern. This means that they read the first line of each paragraph and scan down the left side looking for interesting information.To get the maximum impact from your text, keep your paragraphs brief – 3-4 lines, lead with key information, and leave white space between paragraphs.

3) Use of Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks serve 4 purposes in an email

• • Keeps your newsletter brief and to the point.
  • Sends your readers to your fabulous website.
  • Helps you figure out what interests your readers.
  • Helps you figure out who is interested.

First, providing a link to “more detail” allows you include only the most pertinent information in your email. Once you’ve captured their interest, the link sends the reader to the correct landing page of your website for more information. An important caveat: Make sure that the page they land on has the promised additional information.

Second, the readers use of hyperlinks is recorded in your email Click reports. When no one clicks on a link, you know that the information fell flat.  On the other hand, if a very large group clicks on a given link, you will know to spend more time on that topic. Further, a well planned set of links may help you segment your list based on the links they use.

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Keep in mind that directly after the brick-and-mortar stores enjoy their Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving, of course — the Internet enjoys what is now referred to as Cyber Monday. For those who may not know, Cyber Monday is the first Monday following Thanksgiving, and it’s quickly been acknowledged as the biggest online shopping day of the year.

This means any effective email campaign targeting Cyber Monday needs to be active before Thanksgiving, which brings us back to EMR’s list of resources that was made to assist you with an effective holiday season marketing effort. The list is as follows:

• Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season 2011: the big 51 page report from Chad White…full of information on what top retailers did last year, plus advice on how to approach timing, frequency and an array of seasonal email tactics.
• Planning for the holidays: a long list of questions to ask when reviewing what you did last time…thus laying the foundation for this season’s campaigns.
• Holidays ahead of time: advice for (small) business on what might go into holiday emails, with an emphasis on standing out from the typical “X%-off” promotions.
• Holiday retail email ideas: tips, suggestions and warnings on how to ramp up your email marketing in time for Q4 and then make more use of the seasonal opportunity.
• Top 10 steps: ideas for planning and preparing campaigns in advance of the holiday season.
• Top 12 dates: list of key dates and events around which to plan appropriate holiday messaging.
• A holiday marketing story: access a 10-page download outlining specific tactics and approaches to follow to get the most out of seasonal email campaigns.
• Here come the holidays: suggests you get optimization and testing done before the holiday rush.
• Holiday preparedness: 4 tips to help ensure seasonal success isn’t hampered by delivery issues.
• Holiday season will be bigger: brief tips on the overall approach to take to Q4.
• Retail email campaign planner: access a free and cute .pdf holiday campaign calendar off this (sales) page.
• Holiday email trends: offers predictions on the tactics retailers will favor and/or should take a closer look at.

As the publication points out, this list is by no means comprehensive, but it is a great starting point. EMR also indicates they will be adding more resources to the list, so keep it bookmarked if you need further direction. Now get to work on that killer holiday season marketing campaign because time’s running out and Christmas will be here before you know it.

You can use them to share information, give tips and offers.

But generating great content on a regular basis can seem like a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be. All you need is:

• A great looking template
• A simple process to write content-rich material that can be repeated again and again

The template you use should reflect your business image. Something in line with your website’s design would be ideal. Just make sure it’s a clean, unfussy design that won’t detract from the information it contains.

But what about the simple process I mentioned? Well, below is an example to show how easy it can be to write your newsletter when you have a system in place.

Newsletter writing process

This 5 step writing process is a great way to kick start the creative process every month. The number of topics you pick will determine the length of your newsletter.

1. Choose 3 topics for the main body of your newsletter
2. Choose 3 topics for your side bar
3. Interview industry experts or research a specific topic
4. Write and edit your articles
5. Proofread your newsletter

1. Main topics

These articles will make up the body of your newsletter. You can choose as many topics as you like, but the more you have, the longer your newsletter will be.

They don’t have to be long articles (approximately 300 – 500 words) and can cover things that have happened in the news (or your industry) recently, what’s happening now and what’s coming up.

2. Side bar

The side bar is for quick bits of news so they’re not as in depth as the main topics you’ll write about.

It also gives you the opportunity to add regular pieces such as a book of the month, announcement of forthcoming events, tips, and offers.

3. Interviews and research

Conducting an interview or writing a research-based article can add real meat to your newsletter.

The interview would act like a magazine Q&A session. In it, you could get an expert’s insight into a particular hot topic that your readers are interested in.

The same can work for the research article. Find out what’s important to your readers and write about it. But make sure you include links to the external articles you used for your research so they can read around the subject if they want to.

4. The writing process

This is the part many people dread. But writing well rounded, interesting articles is easy.

Make sure you write in the second person (i.e. ‘you’) to instantly build rapport with your readers. As mentioned above, use hypertext links to direct your reader to more information. This will add value to them and show you really do understand your subject.

Another important feature within your newsletter is your call to action. It could be a link back to your website, an instruction to email for more information or a competition. If you want to make your newsletter marketing a two-way street, you must ask your reader to do something.

Of course, they can only get in touch if you include your contact details. Never hide away from your customers. As with your website copy, make sure your postal, email and phone details are easily available otherwise it looks as though you have something to hide.

The final part of the writing process involves leaving your newsletter alone. Put it to one side for a few days before reviewing the content to make sure it provides the messages you wanted.

5. Proofread

This is the final and most important part of the process.

The last thing you want to do is hit send only to find a glaring typo.

Putting the newsletter aside for a few days before reviewing it will help with the proofreading process. Ideally, you should get someone else to proof it for you. But, if that isn’t possible, giving yourself a few days grace before checking it through should help you spot any mistakes before you send it out.

Over to you

Done well, a regular newsletter can help build and cement relationships with your customers. By adding value and maintaining regular contact, your newsletter can encourage sales.

Do you send out a monthly newsletter?

Have you found it beneficial?

Do you have a process you follow each month like this one? Please leave a comment below and share your newsletter experiences with us.

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They provide a way for you to keep in regular contact with your customers.

But what do you put in them?

Keeping your subscribers engaged and interested in your monthly mailings is essential. But how do you achieve that?

Timely

To ensure your content resonates with your reader, try to tie it in with topical events or seasonal subjects.

So in the summer months don’t start talking about Christmas!

By making your content relevant to what’s going on around you, you are showing your readers that you are a company that thinks – you’re not just emailing them to get them to buy. You will be providing timely and useful information.

Solving problems

Your newsletter shouldn’t just be about selling.

Adding an article that talks about ‘how to’ achieve something, how to solve a problem or one that offers general advice about something your readers are interested in, will add value to your relationship with them.

By offering this type of information they are more likely to remain subscribed to your newsletter. Plus talking about your field in this way will position you as an expert. So when they need help – guess who they’ll turn to?

Short and sweet

How long should your newsletter be?

It’s best to keep it short – no more than 400 words or so. That way you’ll keep your readers attention right to the end.

Send them something that goes on for eternity and they’ll delete it because they won’t have time to read it.

But it’s not only the length of your newsletter than should be short. By keeping your sentences and paragraphs short too, you’ll make it easier to read.

And of course, don’t forget your strong headline. If that, and the first couple of sentences don’t grab their attention, you would have lost them.

Link

OK, so you’re keeping your newsletters short but this month you want to talk about something in more detail because you feel it’s particularly important to your readers.

That’s where linking comes in; write a short piece outlining the main issues and then link out to more information. This could be a blog post or article you have written or an external news story.

This technique keeps your newsletter short and sweet and still provides your readers with the information they need.

Have fun

Your newsletter also has to be enjoyable to read.

That will not only come down to its content but also how it’s written.

Be human with your writing; conversational copy is far more readable than formal, staid language. Inject a bit of humour if you can and keep it light. Above all, let your personality shine through.

Newsletters are an amazing tool. They enable you to keep in regular contact with your customers and enhance that relationship by offering news, tips and offers.

Do you send out a regular newsletter? If so why not leave a comment below and tell us how you use it. You might have more tips for us all to follow.

Check out Freelance Copywriter’s Blog for more articles by Sally Ormond