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• October 7, 2009

Designing effective eNewsletters

Get your message across immediately with our tips on creating effective e-newsletters.

Some of you may find the idea of designing your own email newsletters (eNewsletters) a little bit daunting, therefore over the next few issues of enlighten we will cover some of the basics to help you on your way to designing successful and effective eNewsletters.

Get your message across immediately

Given that an inbox can be such a cluttered and distracting environment, your reader may only look at your subject line before deciding whether or not to read it .

• Show your readers straight away why your email is worth reading.
  
• Include their first name and your key points in the subject line.
• Summarise the contents in a short paragraph at the beginning of your email. This is particularly important when you consider preview panes, which may only show the first few lines of your message.
• Consider using a table of contents to allow readers to access the information they want.

Get the permission of your readers

In accordance with the law (in your country), you must gain the permission of your readers to send out bulk emails.

• People tend to forget that they gave you permission so it's a good idea to consistently remind your readers how they subscribed if you don’t send emails very often.
  
• A short message at the top of your email can help people remember, and make them more likely to read on. Let them know where they signed up and how they can unsubscribe. This can go a long way towards reducing potential spam complaints and unsubscribers.

Make your content relevant

It is important that the newsletters you send out have information that is relevant and valuable to your readers. Be selective who you send information to and make sure this information will be useful and relevant to them.

Make it easy to unsubscribe

• Ensure your unsubscribe link is clear and prominent on the email ensuring your readers don’t have to go hunting for it.
• There's no point emailing people who are no longer interested in your content. If it is no longer relevant to them, let them unsubscribe easily.

Stay tuned...