The Email Newsletter 3-Course Meal
Posted by Drew Miller on May 27th, 2009
An email newsletter (aka e-newsletter and eNewsletter) is often the cornerstone of an email marketing program. They are often used by companies to inform and educate their readers on various subjects of interest – anything from fashion to home improvement. Regardless of the industry, most newsletters serve one primary purpose: reader engagement.
Email newsletters typically contain multiple articles in order to appeal to a few different reader tastes. The main goal, more often than not, is to drive readers to your website to engage further with your company or brand. To get the most out of your e-newsletter efforts, plan it out like a 3-course meal.
The Appetizer
When a reader opens your message, you literally have seconds before they make the decision to spend time with you or move on to the next best thing. Using a sentence or two to entice the reader with a tease of what’s to come is one of the best ways to drive clicks. This is your appetizer – hopefully delicious enough to keep them wanting more, without making them full.
The Main Course
If readers click on the link you provided in your email to continue the meal, it means an order has been placed for the main course – your landing page. The obvious objective here should be to keep customers interested, engaged and ultimately satisfied. Make the reading experience easy on the eyes to keep your readers focused on finishing what they started. A landing page shouldn’t be a buffet of distractions, it should leave them licking their chops, using a wet wipe and singing to the tune of “mmm, mmm, mmm”.
The Dessert
Dessert is the ultimate customer temptation and should follow the main course quickly before second thoughts pop up. Of course its not for everyone, and should align appropriately with the overall goals and objectives of your eNewsletter. But for those who do see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the prospect of getting readers to buy after a satisfied main course is a good one. The verbiage at the end of your landing page, overall design, navigation choices, etc. should all lead your customers to a product or offering that is too tempting to pass up.
It’s important to remember that no 1 meal fits all. We all have different appetites so do some testing before you offer something that might give your readers food poisoning. By planning your email newsletter like a 3-course meal, you will be well on your way to a more satisfied, more full customer.
Very nice. Thanks for this.