By: Alex Malone

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In the dynamic landscape of digital communication, the effectiveness of a newsletter depends on more than just the content—it's also about strategic optimization and understanding your audience. Read on to learn more about some of our best tips for stepping up your newsletter game and connecting with your readers.

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1. Experiment with send times

First things first (I’m the realest 🎵), you need to understand your audience. For example, they may work a 9-5 job, in which case it could be beneficial to send your newsletter out at the end of the workday. Recognizing those traits and nuances about your audience will help you better adapt your newsletter to your readers, which could lead to a better open rate or even raise engagement. 

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2. Clean up and organize your subscriber lists

One thing that may be heavily skewing your newsletter performance metrics is the quality of your email subscribers list. We recommend routinely going through your list to remove any duplicates, contacts who haven’t opened your past couple of newsletters and emails that return hard bounces. Once you’ve cleaned your list, we recommend dividing your list into categories. This allows you to craft and send highly relevant, targeted content to a specific group of subscribers. By organizing your list and generating tailored content for each segment, you’ll begin to see more accurate data, improve performance and gain a better understanding of your audience's behaviors. This, in turn, reduces unsubscribes and increases conversions.

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3. Keep it simple, stupid

Chances are, unless your email is personalized to each reader, long-form content won’t bode well. Although your readers could find the information valuable, your newsletter may be one among tens, hundreds or even thousands your audience receives each month. Your readers need to understand the point of your newsletter as soon as they open it...arguably, even before. It’s important to always keep your content simple, casual and digestible. Focus heavily on the user experience when outlining and crafting content. Check out this article to find additional tips on designing your newsletter.

P.S. If you’re receiving thousands of emails a day that you don’t read…you are allowed to unsubscribe. 😉

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4. Test subject lines with A/B testing 

A/B testing is a great way to determine what content resonates the most. Take two small samples of your audience—Group A and Group B—and send Group A your first subject line option and Group B your second. Whichever receives the higher open rate, use that version to send the newsletter to the rest of your subscribers. 

A/B testing can go beyond just your subject line. You can test everything from section placement, to word order, section length and more!

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5. Test section locations

Have you ever noticed how when Instagram introduces a new feature, they often replace the location of a very common feature with a button to the new one, leading users to unwittingly click on the new feature? No? Just me? Okay…well, take my word for it. Or TechCrunch’s. 

Albeit slightly sneaky, you can make similar changes to your newsletters. For example, is there a section or topic that you’ve found your readers are most interested in? Consider moving that section to the bottom of the email to see if that will push users to read the content above it. Keep in mind any major changes could create a bad user experience, so be intentional with those you make and when you make them and ALWAYS listen to your users’ feedback.

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6. Keep it relevant, interesting and valuable.

Retain readership and perhaps even increase your subscribers by giving them the content they want to see. Connect topics to events that are currently trending, include third-party content that aligns with your brand messaging or even deliver exclusive and unique content such as coupons, giveaways, surveys, free downloadables, toolkits, etc. These are all great ways to demonstrate value to your readers and ensure they stick around. 

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7. CYA with a CTA

If you want conversions from your email, you need to have a clear call to action. Whether that’s a button leading subscribers to shop on your website, or a link to a survey you’d like to collect subscriber responses from, make that link or button as clear and concise as possible. This is also a great opportunity to incorporate branding and personality to get your subscribers excited about your content and tie it into the theme of the email.

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8. Monitor those metrics!!!

Open rates, bounces, new subscribers, click maps—the list of metrics goes on. At Slide Nine, we don’t rely on guts and guessing to inform our decisions. We rely on the data. If you don’t already have a simple metrics report in place for your newsletter, there is no better time than now to start one! Most email platforms provide basic metrics, such as open rates or subscriber counts. To measure your newsletter’s effectiveness, you will need to determine which metric(s) will help you meet your growth goals. We typically use a combination when forming client recommendations, but it’s crucial to monitor your newsletter’s overall performance monthly and annually.

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Whether you’re launching a new newsletter or seeking to enhance an existing one, adhering to these tips will set your newsletter apart and enhance its performance metrics. If you’re not sure where to begin, Slide into our DMs and we’ll be happy to help you achieve your newsletter goals.