At first, starting a newsletter and adding it as part of your marketing strategy can be daunting.

You have to ensure you proofread your copy, create CTAs that are effective, use an intriguing subject line, create a responsive design, avoid spam triggers and play by the rules of email law. All of these key email components must be right. If you make any of these errors, you cannot go back and fix what went wrong.

Use this article as your guide to ensuring nothing is missed out on your first email campaign, and make sure you get started on the right foot.

Understand the goal of your newsletter

Your newsletter needs to be clear and have no mixed messaging, so knowing what you want to achieve from your newsletter instead of setting one up for the sake of it is critical. If you aim to increase traffic to your website, update customers on the latest news and information around your business, or generate leads, you need to have a goal.

Also, remember to link the goals of your newsletter to your overall marketing goals. This way, you can achieve success in both areas.

Understand what content you plan on using

Now you know what you want your newsletter to achieve, you can decide what content to use to achieve your goal. To increase sales directly, most of the content should be offers and products or services for sale. To website traffic, putting a link to a piece of content that will interest your audience would be more effective.

Create an easy to navigate template

No one enjoys opening their emails to see a messy newsletter that is unresponsive and difficult to navigate. Users are more likely to unsubscribe or leave emails unopened. Make sure that you design a template with the customer in mind.

Use personalization

Make your newsletters feel personal to each audience member. Automatically apply the customer's first name at the start of each and produce videos, blogs, and articles that will engage your audience. Offer incentives or content that other customers may not receive to give the newsletter added value.

Ensure your CTAs are clear.

Without clear CTAs, goals such as increasing website traffic and purchases from the newsletter will most likely suffer. Make sure that you are directing the audience clearly to where you want them to go. The content will draw your audience's attention, allowing the CTA to direct them towards acting on that draw.

Make sure you are legally compliant.

Before sending your email, make sure you look out for CAN-SPAM and GDPR. CAN-SPAM requires you have a footer in your email with your address and an easy way to unsubscribe from your emails. GDPR requires that email marketers only send newsletters to people who have manually opted in to receive them.

Test

Send out a test email, and look at how your template looks on different devices. Your newsletter may work on a laptop, but mobile devices may format your email differently. You need to ensure the responsiveness of your template is effective across multiple devices. Remember to test your links to ensure that they all work and go to the intended locations.

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