Email Newsletter Resource Center Blog

Make your email newsletter templates mobile-ready

Posted on by Editor

We’ve listed some best practices for creating mobile-ready email newsletter. Why should you make sure your email template is mobile-ready?

By 2015 most folks will view email on mobile devices. In 2011, nearly 30% of the US online audience is using mobile devices to read email; so, it’s a good policy to insure your email newsletter template is mobile-ready.

To make sure your email newsletter is accessible to mobile readers, follow these guidelines:

Use basic HTML along with a plain text copy of each message. A text-version insures all mobile-based subscribers receive a readable version of your email newsletter.
If you don’t want to include a text-only version, keep graphics to a minimum and place links to articles hosted on your blog or website. This way you can monitor the click-throughs to each article.
Include a strong call-to-action to measure results of text-only emails. This way you can measure the number of subscribers who take the action you promote, as a way to gauge performance.
Use a top email service provider and auto-responder. The top providers use systems to detect the user’s viewing platform. VerticalResponse offers a good set of e-newsletter templates that are mobile ready; learn more at this link. Visit this link to see our current list of recommended email newsletter service providers.
Set the max width of a line to 25 characters to avoid excessive wrapping on a mobile screen.
Leave plenty of space between hyperlinks. Mobile readers use a touch screen to access an active link and can have a hard time getting through hyperlinks placed too closely together.
Test your email template across multiple clients. Set-up accounts on gmail, hotmail yahoo mail and see how the template looks through your smartphone using those clients.

Posted in Email Newsletter Templates, Templates for mobile | Tagged create email newsletter templates for mobile, mobile email | 1 Comment

Email Newsletter Best Practices for 2011

Posted on by Editor

Visit this link to see email newsletter best practices for 2012.

Use an email service provider with the latest tools for mobile delivery and social media. We recommend iContact. You can try iContact free for 30 days at this link.

Email Newsletter Best Practices for 2011

In 2011, email newsletters will remain a great tool for keeping in touch with an audience. While this form of communication has been around for a long time, some elements of creating and delivering email newsletter are changing. Consider the following to keep your email newsletter content and delivery systems up-to-date in the 2011.

Get ready for mobile readers
If 2010 was the year social media took off, 2011 will be the year for mobile communications. Make sure your email newsletter is viewer-friendly for readers using smart phones and other mobile devices. Reduce very large graphics. Write shorter articles. Use bit.ly links. You may need to create new email newsletter templates to accommodate a new mobile-friendly design.

Connect your email newsletter to social media platforms
1. Create an industry group on LinkedIn. In your LinkedIn profile, create a link to your email newsletter sign-up page.
2. Promote email newsletter sign-ups on your blog. If you get a lot of traffic to your blog, this can be a great channel to capture new subscribers.
3. Integrate your corporate Facebook page with your email newsletter. You can do this by simply adding a box that allows visitors to sign-up for your email newsletter. Also, make sure to add a sign-up box to your individual Facebook page, which you use for business.
4. Create a link to your e-newsletter sign-up account on your sign-up page on Twitter.
Use social media to develop the most relevant content
Social media is a wonderful two-way communications channel. You can use social media monitoring tools to identify the topics that most interest your subscribers. You can us these channels to; pinpoint your blog topics that get the most response, monitor most popular blog posts in your industry, look at the keywords people use to find your site in a search, etc.

Develop an editorial calendar and dynamic content idea platform.
You should plan several editions ahead to ease the production process. You can use many online tools to capture ideas for articles. Google trends, for example, can often tell you how popular a subject is at certain times of the year. You can also use RSS feed captures to pull together current-relevant news. If you need help developing a content idea platform, contact the Email Newsletter Resource Center.

Create content that provides value.
Do not use your email newsletter to deliver only sales messages. Make sure every issue is full of valuable content. A good rule-of-thumb is to use a 60/40 split, with 60% of the content pure value and only 40% a sales or marketing message. Valuable content can include tips on how to do something, results of an industry survey, information on useful industry resources. Engage your audience, ask for their input, articles, comments, etc. and publish reader responses in your next edition.

Make it easy for readers to buy what you sell.
Yes — do not over do the sales pitch; but, do not under do it either. You are undoubtedly trying to sell something. Make sure your marketing messages include a call to action, such as “sign up for this informative Webinar”, “download our white paper”, etc

Repurpose your content
You spent time to develop your email newsletter content. Look for ways to reuse the content in other communication channels. Send Twitter alerts about the most topical information. Create blog posts or news releases for high-value information. Make sure to change each re-purposed version of an article slightly. If you reprint an article verbatim in your blog and on your Web site, you will lose SEO points for duplicate content.

Make sure your Email Service Provider (ESPs) accommodates social and mobile technology
Email delivery is changing and must accommodate social media and mobile integration.
In our experience two of the leaders in delivering email newsletters to mobile are iContact (learn more about iContact at this link) and VerticalResponse (learn more at about VerticalResponse at this link). The best ESPs will have the technology you need to do this. If your system provider is not ready, now is a good time to shop around. Read our complete reviews of the top email service providers.

Ensure your sending platform integrates with the latest technology
Systems, such as Goodmail’s CertifiedEmail, are coming online to help end users take back their inboxes from the spammers. ISPs are also tackling spam by evaluating the reputation of the sender and observing how their customers interact with email. Look at some new tools, such as Mailbox IQ, to measure how your audience engages with your email e-newsletters. Make sure your current ESP or in-house email platform can accommodate these new tools.

Encourage readers to pass it on
Make it easy to for your recipients to forward and share your email newsletter with their networks. Research shows that enabling readers to share an e-newsletter with their friends and colleagues boosts email distribution by 40% or more.

Posted in Email Newsletter Best Practices, Uncategorized | Tagged email newsletter best practices, tips for improving enewsletters 2011 | 4 Comments

Email Newsletter Templates | Should you build or buy?

Posted on by Editor

If you are looking to start an email newsletter or re-fresh your existing e-newsletter campaign, you need a template. Using a template, enables you to build a consistent look with each edition. As you begin the process, you need to decide whether to build your template in-house or purchase a ready-made template. Each option has advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Creating Your Own Template

More control over the design and features.
Any third-party template you use, even from top providers, will not be exactly what you want. You inevitably need to compromise a little on the look and features included.

Transferring designs can be difficult
You may decide to move from one email service provider (ESP) to another. If you have used one ESP (such as Vertical Response or iContact) and decide to move your campaigns to another company, you may find it hard to move your design

Disadvantages of Creating Your Own Template

Designing for multiple email systems is complicated.
If you have a very large subscriber list, your email to must work on many email platforms (aka email clients), from Outlook to Gmail. If you do not have a knowledgeable tech staff, this can be difficult task. Each email platform has its own protocol for displaying email elements.

Each email client may have different SPAM Triggers.
The best ESPs have automatic flags to tell you when an email is likely to get rated as SPAM by the recipient’s email

Managing bounce-backs is time consuming.
Nearly 30% of people changing their email every month. On a large list, you’ll get a lot of bounce backs. These systems will also identify the hard bounces so you can follow-up. If you have a large list, processing bounces can get very tedious.

Not Handling “remove me from the list” request has consequences.
To adhere to the CAN-SPAM act, you must delete people that request removal. If you don’t do this, you are in violation. ESPs have systems to handle removal requests automatically.

Advantages of Buying Templates

Some pre-made templates are free.
Many ESPs have a deep library of free email newsletter templates. Of course, to use the free template, you must subscribe to their system. Monthly fees typically range from from $10 to $25. So, while the template is free, you do pay for the service. We think the top ESPs are a good buy with the range of features they offer.

ESP designs will work for common email clients.
To keep users happy, the ESP must design a system that works across a range of email platforms (Outlook, MS Exchange, Gmail, Ymail, etc.)

ESPs automatically handle of bounce backs and remove me requests.
The best email service providers have robust technical systems in place to automatically process a hard bounce and requests for removal from the list.

Integration of social media is easier.
Many email service providers include social media features in their email newsletter templates. You can easly include quick links to your LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Disadvantages of Buying Templates From an ESP

You will not have total design control.
As mentioned above, no third-party design will be all things to all people. You will probably not find a design that provides exactly what you want.

Transferability to another system is complicated.
Should you want to move from one ESP to another, you may need to adapt a new design with the new provider.

Our recommendation: Select a good email service provider and use their email newsletter templates.

Over the years our team has handled email newsletter design and delivery in-house and through third-party systems. Based on years in the trenches and the pace of changes in technology, we believe you are better off using a solid ESP. Visit this link, for our reviews and recommendations on email service providers. technology landscape, it is just much, much easier to use a solid ESP.

Posted in Email Newsletter Templates | Tagged email newsletter templates, free e-newsletter templates | Leave a comment

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