Creating an email newsletter is an essential part of your overall marketing strategy that can help you make sales down the line.
Take, for example, an email about seasonal press-on nails that lands in subscribers’ inboxes every few months. These emails lead to impulse purchases, with readers finding themselves with a cart full of festive nail art before they even realize what happened.
This is the magic of the email newsletter—a simple promotion that can turn casual readers into eager customers.
Learn why it’s helpful to distribute a newsletter, how to pick the best email newsletter platform, how to send your first email, and how to assess the performance of newsletter campaigns.
Benefits of starting an email newsletter
Personalized, direct connection
According to research from Bluecore, 68% of consumers prefer to receive emails from brands rather than social media, online ads, and SMS messages. While social media marketing, content, and paid marketing can feel broad, emails can be customized for individual subscribers.
When you send emails straight to someone’s inbox, you forge a direct connection—important considering many buyers want to forge a personal connection with brands before they buy.
Sending emails to customers that provide value—either monetary value through discounts or informational value through compelling stories or information—bridges trust that can eventually lead to purchases.
Ability to recapture interest
If a customer lands on your digital storefront but decides not to buy, there’s a good chance they’ll never return.
However, if you capture their email before they leave your website, you can continue communicating with them through newsletters delivered to their inbox.
Email newsletter marketing is a way to keep the conversation going after a prospective customer has left your site, building consideration for a future purchase.
More control
Compared to social media channels, where your posts can get buried in an endless stream of content, email is an owned channel where you can speak directly to your customers with messages that don’t have to adhere to strict character limits.
Once you have an email list of people who have opted in to receive your updates, you own that list. Email gives you a direct line of communication with prospective customers and a high degree of control over the frequency and complexity of the messages they receive.
How to create a newsletter in 11 steps
- Define the goal of your newsletter
- Determine your email newsletter strategy
- Pick your newsletter platform
- Customize a design template
- Commit to a schedule
- Collect emails
- Customize your automated email flow
- Comply with privacy regulations and email best practices
- Deliver your first newsletter
- Assess your analytics
- Handle unsubscribes and feedback
1. Define the goal of your newsletter
Before choosing your email platform and diving into writing your first mailout, consider the goal of your email newsletter.
You can use email newsletters to build relationships with customers, educate subscribers, drive sales, generate referrals, and gather customer feedback. Select then prioritize a few goals and think about how you can use your newsletter content to reach them.
Understand what type of newsletter content will serve the business goals you want to accomplish, and plan your email marketing strategy accordingly.
2. Determine your email newsletter strategy
Once you’ve identified the high-level goals for your email newsletter, answer more detailed questions that will inform your strategy:
- Target audience. Are you trying to reach prospective buyers or previous customers? Who is your ideal customer? For example, an ideal customer persona might be “tech-savvy millennial parents with young children residing in North America, with a household income of $100,000 or more.”
- Topics. Should your newsletter focus on tips for using your product or trend spotlights? Choose newsletter ideas that align with your business’s goal and keep readers engaged. For a dinnerware business, you might cover how to throw the perfect dinner party or share tips on keeping cutlery scratch-free.
- Email capture methods. How will you add subscribers to your email list? Implement multiple capture points to build your email list effectively. Consider adding subscription forms on your website’s homepage, blog pop-ups, and social media bio links. You can also prompt customers to join your newsletter during the checkout process, capitalizing on their engagement post-purchase.
- Send cadence. How often will you send out your newsletter? Striking the right cadence to send newsletters is one part art and one part science. Stick to sending on the same days of the week, and avoid setting an overly ambitious cadence that you can’t maintain long-term.
3. Pick your newsletter platform
There are several email marketing services with various features, advantages, and pricing plans. While you might not need every available feature to start, it’s worth considering a platform with all the features you’ll require as you scale.
Here are a few features to consider while selecting an email newsletter platform that fits your present needs and can scale for the future:
- Built-in templates and customizable themes. Customize the layout, colors, fonts, and images of your send-outs with drag-and-drop editor functionality.
- Email personalization. Add a personal touch to emails with the ability to include subscriber details in the content of emails with merge tags (e.g., first name).
- Email segmentation. Divide your email subscribers into different lists to deliver more relevant content based on customer segments.
- Email automation. Automatically send subscribers pre-written emails after they’ve taken a particular action (e.g., an abandoned cart email) or have been on your list for a specified amount of time (e.g., a welcome email).
- Email scheduling. Write emails in advance and schedule them for later.
- Email testing. Send yourself test emails before delivering a newsletter to your entire list.
- A/B testing capabilities. A/B testing involves sending one version of a newsletter to half of your list and another version to the other half to see which performs better.
- Campaign measurement and analytics. View metrics like the open rate, click-through rate, and number of unsubscribes for each newsletter you send.
Shopify Email is email marketing software made for commerce. If you’re an entrepreneur on Shopify, you can use Shopify Email to easily design emails without having to write a line of code.
4. Customize a design template
Most newsletter platforms offer customizable templates and themes so you can adapt the specific color scheme, layout, and font to match your brand’s colors and fonts. For example, Shopify provides numerous templates for every purpose from product showcases to holiday promotions.
Our Place makes stylish cookware, including its famous and photogenic Always Pan that comes in unique colors ranging from spice to sage. Its email newsletter uses a modern and color-rich theme reminiscent of its website so it instantly stands out in a sea of emails.
Choose a layout and design theme that resonates with your current brand identity. Most email marketing platforms allow you to upload your brand kit so you have your company colors and fonts handy in the email builder.
5. Commit to a schedule
Consider how often you can realistically send out newsletters consistently. To start, it can be helpful to commit to sending weekly or bi-weekly newsletters on whatever day of the week that’s most convenient.
Artisaire, a Canadian company that sells handcrafted wax seals and stamps, sends out a weekly newsletter filled with inspiration and exclusive offers plus updates about the brand.
6. Collect emails
Capture newsletter subscribers where people already interact with your business—such as your website and social media accounts—by embedding sign-up forms and sharing links to sign up.
Adding an email sign-up form on Shopify and other websites is generally simple and doesn’t require any specialized coding skills. Here’s how to go about it:
- Embed your sign-up form on your website. Create a pop-up that triggers when someone lands on your page and add a permanent form in your header or footer. Craft compelling copy that lets subscribers know what they can expect from your newsletter and consider incentivizing people to sign up with exclusive content, discounts, or contest entries.
- Embed your sign-up form during checkout. Once a website visitor has checked out and purchased an item, prompt them to sign up for your email newsletter with the information they’ve provided. This can help you send customers educational information about using the product or help incentivize further purchases, recommendations, and referrals down the line.
- Share sign-up links on social media. Add a link to subscribe to your newsletter in your company’s Instagram bio or include it in the About section of your company’s Facebook page. Alternatively, if you’re using a Link in Bio app like Linkpop, add your newsletter subscription link to the list of links.
7. Customize your automated email flow
While your timely newsletters will change week to week or month to month, a handful of emails—like your welcome email and unsubscribe email—remain the same and go out automatically when subscribers take a specific action.
For example, a welcome email thanks new subscribers for signing up, sets the stage for what readers can expect, and shares any relevant links.
Teddy Fresh, an LA-based streetwear company founded by YouTuber and artist Hila Klien, welcomes new subscribers to its list with a branded introductory email and links readers back to the website.
Ensure that each touch point with readers feels authentic and connected to your brand. Aside from welcome emails, you might ask new subscribers for their birthday and send an automated birthday discount to each subscriber on the date they provided.
Other automated emails to set up include:
- Abandoned cart email series
- New customer email series
- Repeat customer email series
- Ecommerce email receipts
- Re-engagement email series
- Product inventory updates
- Survey or feedback emails
📚Learn: 6 Newsletter Examples: Why They Work and What You Can Learn
8. Comply with privacy regulations and email best practices
Email addresses are the digital equivalent of phone numbers, and as such, there are laws in place to protect individuals’ privacy.
Email regulations vary by country; reference the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, CAN-SPAM in the US, and CASL in Canada when building an email list.
In short, some best practices to follow are:
- Subscribers must be opt-in. Sending email communication to people who have not opted in is not GDPR compliant and widely considered spam. Even customers who provide their email for a purchase must explicitly opt in to receive newsletter communication unrelated to their order.
- Do not purchase email lists. Growing your newsletter audience by purchasing email addresses is not considered “opt in” and is not compliant with GDPR.
- Emails must contain an unsubscribe link. Subscribers must be able to opt-out of receiving email communication from you.
- Include your business contact information. Attach the contact information of your business in the footer of each email to comply with anti-spam legislation.
Failing to comply with GDPR and other privacy and anti-spam legislation can result in fees and penalties for your business.
Additionally, reports of spam can result in your emails being marked as junk or having your account disabled on certain email newsletter platforms.
9. Deliver your first newsletter
When you’re ready to send your first email, follow these steps:
- Set your sender name and email address. Send your first newsletter from your company name (a great choice for newsletters that are largely informational or promotional) or from an individual’s name (great if you’re sharing the behind the scenes of your business or aiming to forge a more personal connection with your audience). Alternatively, a no-reply email address (e.g., noreply@litejournal.co), will prevent readers from replying to you directly.
- Select your recipients. If you’ve segmented your list and broken it down into more targeted cohorts, select the correct list for your specific sendout.
- Craft your subject line and preheader text. Keep your headlines and preheader text short, snappy, and revealing of the value a subscriber will get from reading. Test how your headline looks on mobile where words are cut-off if a line is too lengthy.
- Test your email. Most email newsletter platforms let you send a test email to yourself before you send it out to your wider email list. This is a helpful feature for catching any lingering spelling errors or spotting formatting problems. Make sure to check how formatting appears on both desktop and mobile.
Draft your content
With your business goals and audience in mind, here are a few tips for drafting your first newsletter:
- Start with a strong opener. Just like any other piece of writing, capture the attention of your reader immediately to keep them scrolling to the end of your email.
- Keep your sentences clear and concise. Use simple language and pay attention to sentences that are too long or complex.
- Drive traffic to your website with a call to action (CTA). Prompt subscribers to read more or buy on your website with a CTA button within your newsletter.
- Use skimmable formatting. Break up long chunks of text using headers and eye-catching graphics.
- Add personalization where possible. Use merge tags within your newsletter platform to address subscribers by their first name and add personal touches of your own with a memorable sign-off.
If possible, get someone to edit and proofread your newsletter before pressing Send to get the message just right.
10. Assess your analytics
Twenty-four hours after successfully sending your email, it’s time to check the analytics.
The majority of email newsletter platforms measure the performance of your send-outs, providing important email marketing metrics like open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribes, and more.
Here are a few metrics worth tracking over time and paying attention to:
- Open rate. The percentage of subscribers who open your email newsletter.
- Click-through rate (CTR). The percentage of subscribers who click on a link in your email newsletter after opening it.
- Unsubscribes. The percentage of subscribers who opt out of receiving additional emails from your brand.
What constitutes “good” open and click-through rates will largely depend on your industry. For instance, the ecommerce sector has a 29.81% open rate rate, on average.
Track how much traffic your newsletter drove to your website, as well as any sales your email generated.
Use your early results to keep experimenting with different content types and layouts.
11. Handle unsubscribes and feedback
A smooth unsubscribe process respects your subscribers’ choices while gathering insights to improve your email marketing efforts. If you make it hard to unsubscribe, subscribers will get frustrated and you may get spam complaints.
Here are some tips for handling unsubscribes:
- Make unsubscribing easy and accessible. The unsubscribe link should be clear and easy to see in every email, usually in the footer. It should only take a click or two for readers to unsubscribe
- Analyze reasons for unsubscribes. Offer a quick survey to understand the reasons behind an unsubscribe. Common reasons might be that they received too many emails, the content is not relevant or valuable, they’ve changed their interests or circumstances, or they’re experiencing email fatigue.
- Use feedback to improve content and delivery. Every unsubscribe is an opportunity to learn and improve. By accepting feedback, you can create a more engaging newsletter that attracts and retains subscribers.
Build your very own email newsletter with Shopify
From organic social media to paid advertising, there are a multitude of ways to speak with prospective customers and stay in touch with previous buyers.
However, having an email newsletter lets you deliver a message directly to a subscriber’s inbox, opening up a continuous channel of communication to share useful information, build awareness of your products and services, and forge a connection that can lead to buying.
By collecting the email of a website visitor or a social media follower, you can begin a conversation that turns a passive browser into a loyal customer.
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How to create a newsletter FAQ
Can I create a newsletter for free?
Yes, you can make a newsletter for free using platforms like Substack or Mailchimp.
Why should I create an email newsletter for my business?
An email newsletter offers a direct way to speak to prospective customers and previous buyers. By maintaining communication—sharing useful information, providing product updates, and offering occasional discounts—you can build brand affinity and drive repeat business.
What is the best platform to create a newsletter?
Look into email newsletter platforms that have a range of features, like customizable templates, email personalization, segmentation, automation, scheduling, testing, and campaign analytics.
Shopify Email, Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Campaign Monitor, MailerLite, and Brevo are all good options to consider—and they integrate with Shopify stores.
How do I create a professional-looking newsletter?
To create a professional-looking newsletter, customize popular templates, changing the fonts, colors, and layouts to reflect your current brand design.
How do I grow my email newsletter list?
Grow your list by embedding newsletter sign-up forms on your website and within your online store checkout flow. Additionally, share your newsletter sign-up link on social media.
Send your newsletter consistently and provide value to subscribers so they’ll forward it to their family, friends, and colleagues or spread it through word of mouth.
