Tools of Engagement For Your Email Newsletter
Your email newsletter should provide benefit-oriented content that engages the reader
Successful and well-read email newsletters promote two-way communication and community-building with things like surveys, polls, links to discussion boards and ways to provide feedback to/communicate with the editor(s).
There should be a balance between editorial and promotional content—60%/40% is the rule. The newsletter should be a manageable length to read online, usually 2 to 3 printed pages.
Content and Tools of Engagement Checklist
- The email newsletter provides benefit-oriented content that is written in an engaging manner.
- The email newsletter includes engagement tools for readers, things like surveys, polls, links to discussion boards and ways to provide feedback to or communication with the editors.
- The email newsletter follows the 60/40 rule, with at least 60% of the content being editorial and no more than 40% being promotional.
- The email newsletter is a manageable length to read online—2 to 3 printed pages.
Case Study: Wine Spectator’s Sips & Tips
The editorial content in Wine Spectator’s Sips & Tips email newsletter is superb. There’s no question that readers, even those who aren’t paying subscribers, get value. There are links to free online tools (like the Wine Spectator reviews database) as well as articles and videos. At 64% editorial, 27% promotional, 9% housekeeping, it follows the 60/40 rule very well.
My favorite engagement tool, of all those I’ve encountered, is here – it’s the “What am I Tasting” challenge (screenshot below). Wine Spectator provides a “tasting note,” basically a description of what you would taste if you were sipping a wine. You are then challenged to guess “What you’re tasting” from a list of multiple choice answers.
“What Am I Tasting” Engagement Tool
The screenshot is from the Website; the link to it should be more prominent in the email newsletter – this has real viral possibilities for their target audience. It would be even better if you could challenge folks you know to a friendly competition.
How are you using email newsletters to interact with your audience? Let us know in the comments.
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July 1st, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Good suggestions on increasing engagement for newsletters. What about Websites. A recent poll shows people are spending less and less time on newspapers’ websites. How can we, who publish newsletters, keep people engaged longer on our Websites?
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:48 am
As always, great recommendations. Do you have any suggestions on what day of the week is best to send a weekly newsletter?
July 7th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Hi Guys:
Emails sent mid-week and mid-day generally have the best email open rates, email click thru rates and Revenue per M for emails that include direct response offers…
There are lot’s of ways to keep readers on a website longer that probably don’t matter nearly as much as converting visitors into free email subscribers… Today users look to websites for quick answers… 3 to 5 pages per visit is good… If you want to build a relationship, get permission to push content to the user by converting them to an email subscriber… Subscribers return again and again… they buy your premium information products and support your sponsors…
Lower pages per visit and higher bounce rates overall go hand in had with a site that the search engines favor with a lot of referrals.. Mequoda.com gets 58% of its traffic from search engines and has a 68% bounce rate and a 6% ECR (Website to Email Conversion Rate)… these are numbers a publisher can make money with…
Websites answer quick questions… Email builds relationships, brand preference and customer loyalty.
Don