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One audience and one target only

No matter what the size of your business, a newsletter can't be all things to all users. Even heavy hitters like Amazon and Tesco don't blanket everyone on their mailing lists with the same email campaign. Instead, they pick a particular audience and set a measurable goal for that specific group, and then focus the newsletterís content towards achieving it.

So instead of cramming everything in one monthly mail-out that doesn't get read or acted on by anyone, choose one small segment of your audience and set the specific goal you want your newsletter to achieve. For example, receiving a £5 donation once a month from stay at home moms, or getting university students to join in outdoor fundraising events, are much more achievable and measurable goals than getting the entire general public to know, understand, and support your organisation.

Forget design - it's content that matters

While the look of your e-newsletter should match your brand and website, that's as much effort as you need to put into the design. Because there are so many different mail clients and devices to read email on out there, your meticulously designed e-newsletter might not look the way you intended.

Beyond this though, is the fact that people expect newsletters to be content rich - they want information, deals, tips and tricks - because thatís where they deliver their value. But that doesnít mean your e-newsletter should be packed with text either - get straight to the point, only write what you need to deliver that value, and then save the rest for next month.

Don't ignore bounces

When your e-newsletter can't get to its designated recipient, it's called a bounce and you can either get a 'soft bounce' which might mean the person's inbox is full or something equally harmless, or you can get a 'hard bounce' which can mean you've been blocked by the recipient or that their email address is no longer valid.

Either way, don't ignore bounces because in their least harmful form they'll screw up your statistics and make your goals harder to track, and at their worst, too many hard bounces can result in your email address being blacklisted by a internet service provider. As for how to manage them, first figure out why the bounce is happening by checking your e-newsletter statistics (a must-have for any e-marketer) and then solve the problem by either removing the address or amending the e-newsletter itself.

e-newsletter Quick Wins

• Keep subject headings fewer than 35 characters and make them inciting and to the point.
• The majority of your key messaging should appear within one screen (i.e. donít make them scroll down to see it). On a typical email client, this means a page depth of about 400px.
• Common spam sins to avoid:
  
  • WRITING IN ALL CAPS
  • Using too much punctuation!!!
  • **Using $pecial characters**
  • Not naming the person you're writing to (e.g. Dear Customer instead of Dear Mr. Simpson)
  • Hyperlinking the words Click here (a big mistake to make on a website too!)

Courtesy of: Lindsay Herbert, Strategy Consultant at Precedent Communications