Web Newsletter Copywriting Tips
Read these 6 Web Newsletter Copywriting Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Freelance Writing tips and hundreds of other topics.
How To Avoid Email Filters
Did you know that over half of all the email and newsletters sent to AOL accounts is filtered out at the server level? In their fight against spam, AOL and every other ISP is filtering out anything that looks like spam...even before it arrives at the recipient's account.
There are plenty of issues to consider when it comes to avoiding email filters, but here's a big one you can address right away: Avoid using anything that might make your communication look like spam, both in the subject line and the body of your text.
• Don't use ALL CAPS
• Avoid words like Free, Special, Offer, Prize etc.
• If you are sending out HTML newsletters, be careful of the file size—keep it small
*Before you send any newsletters or email, you can run them through a SpamCheck service. Creating email newsletters that are 'filter-friendly' is a copywriting skill you will need to acquire sooner rather than later.
Build a Profitable Newsletter & List
There are plenty of people out there who generate a very good income from writing newsletters alone (some don't even have a web site).
To find out what works and how to make it work for you, check out some of the ebooks and reports on newsletter marketing. Whether you want to know how to write a newsletter that sells, build your list, or generate more site traffic, you'll find some answers in one or more of their reports.
How Long Should an E-Newsletter be?
How long should an e-newsletter be? It depends on what your purpose is.
If your purpose is to use a newsletter to grab the reader's attention and then have them click through to your site for additional information, then shorter is probably better. Keep in mind, however, that there are a vast number of marketers doing just this, so your newsletter may soon be perceived as just one more piece of email clutter.
If your purpose is to build a loyal and growing base of readers, go for something a little longer. Put the value within the newsletter itself. Longer newsletters that contain useful information and are well written often build a large and loyal readership. If you have one of those newsletters, congratulations. And, if you plan on writing a newsletter like this, good for you but be patient, it takes time.
The pros and cons of text-only and HTML newsletters
The key to writing email newsletters is to create valuable content that people will look forward to reading. Use your copywriting skills to make every element attractive and relevant. Should your newsletter be in HTML or text-only? That depends.
If the primary purpose of your newsletter is to get readers to click through to pages on your web site, you will almost certainly get a higher clickthrough rate with an HTML newsletter (HTML also enables you to track who is reading which elements in your newsletters and which links they are clicking). Be careful, however, that your ‘newsletter' doesn't end up simply being a promotional email and disappointing your subscribers.
If your e-newsletter carries plenty of valuable content, and your primary purpose is to deliver useful information to your readers and build a long-term relationship, think seriously about a text-only newsletter.
Make the Newsletter Content Valuable
If you want to create a great newsletter that people truly want to read and pass on to their friends or colleagues then you have to write something that is genuinely useful and interesting.
People are deluged with email and e-newsletters. They will often subscribe to more newsletters than they really have the time to read. The result? After a while they start to ignore most of the newsletters that arrive in their inbox and read only those that deliver interesting, relevant, timely and useful information.
Write Your Email Newsletter in a Personal Voice
Don't cut and paste information from offline materials into your e-newsletter and don't write your e-newsletter as if it were a print publication.
Online newsletters give you the opportunity to talk to your readers one-on-one. When they come to you site, they are coming to ‘your' space online. When you send them an e-newsletter, it arrives in their own inbox – which is ‘their' space. Being in their inbox gives you a chance to write to people as individuals. Write in a personal voice and be genuine.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
