Marketing

Five Shiny Happy eNewsletter Tips

Exactly how many tips on writing a good eNewsletter did you get this month? 10? 20? Stopped counting? We know, we got them, too. So we’re offering a timesaving page here, with the very best, most important tips only.

1. Keep it short.
   Readers are looking for easy-to-digest bites of information that piques their interest, not a lengthy lecture. Tease a reader with a snappy headline and quick overview, then link them to the whole story.
   
   
2. Grab their attention.
   Draw readers in with compelling and clever subject lines, headliners and teasers. Statistics show that a subject line can make or break your open rates.
   
   
3. Be Big Brother.
   Use a tracking program to get statistics on who’s opening the email, what they’re clicking on and
   the quality of your list. Then revise accordingly. To get a better read on your audience, don’t be afraid to test versions of your eNewsletter to various groups.
   
   
4. Let readers play.
   Interaction is the key to draw in readers. Include a poll, quiz, contest or some other feature that gives them a chance to interact.
   
   
5. Don’t be an eyesore.
   Use high-quality art and photography, and a pleasing color scheme. Ban all clipart. Then test, test, test to make sure your eNewsletter looks good in a variety of mail programs and browsers.

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Katie Dodd is staff writer for Parthenon Publishing and earned her Masters degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She has worked as the Assistant Editor for Residential Lighting, Copy Editor for Country Weekly and has contributed to publications such as American Profile, Performing Songwriter, American Songwriter and the Nashville Scene.