Digital Marketing InsightsTuning your marketing to perform.

Maximize the Reach of Your Email Newsletter for Better ROI

Today’s visitors access your company through various channels. Some subscribe to your email newsletter, others read your website, and many participate in conversations in social networks. You know the power of email marketing so let’s take a look at some additional mediums to help get your message to more consumers.

When Email Newsletters Span the Inbox, Online, Phone, and Social

Some of your subscribers read your email newsletter on their desktops and some will read on their mobile devices. But you can also publish newsletters on your website, reference them in blogs, and use them to create buzz in social networks. Here are some email best practices for each medium:

Email newsletter reach

Email Best Practices: Reach Consumers in their Inbox and Beyond

Most email marketing efforts stop at the inbox. Savvy marketers, however, take the opportunity to bridge the gap between mediums sharing their message with a wider range of audiences:

• Go Online - Include links that enable your subscribers to read your email online. Especially good practice when you use several images in emails
• Go Mobile - Ensure your email newsletter template is formatted for various screen sizes, including phones – According to a MarketingSherpa and SurveySampling study, 64% of business recipients regularly view their emails on mobile devices
• Go Social – Whether you market on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, always give choices to your subscribers and visitors to view your email newsletter through their channel of preference

Your Email Newsletter Online

An email newsletter is usually rich in content including long tail Keyphrases. This provides fresh, valuable content to search engines. It also enables you to increase your website’s popularity by providing readers with the opportunity to reference and link to your content from external websites.

Successful online tactics include:

• Creating an online archive to host every outgoing email newsletter in a centralized location on your website
• Blogging about your new email newsletter frequently to attract comments and feedback. Online discussions help gain insights about your users and their email preferences and also get ideas for future email content
• Creating an email newsletter feed in RSS format. Many users read their news and subscriptions in their RSS reader, either on desktops or on mobile phones

Your Email Newsletter on Mobile Devices

Because 64% of decision-makers view emails on mobile devices, this presents a great opportunity for you to stand out. By ensuring your newsletter is accessible and readable on mobile devices you’ll increase your reader base and stand out as a savvy marketer who adapts to new environments.

Here are few tips to help you better engage your mobile readers:

• Reduce images and increase the amount of text
• Code your email newsletter so text-based copy displays first. HTML email newsletters top loaded with imagery display poorly on mobile device screens such as a Blackberry – see below
• Use descriptive ALT tags for images in HTML email newsletters
• Test your rendering capabilities by reading the newsletter on your mobile device
• Take your readers to mobile-optimized landing pages
• If you have the ability to segment subscribers by preference to read emails on the go, target them with an optimized version for the small screen or send in Plain Text format

Email newsletter viewed on a Blackberry screen

Your Email Newsletter via Social Networks

1. In April 2009 CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on the company’s official blog that Facebook hit the 200 million users mark
2. Various analyses of the Facebook demographics indicate large growth in their 35-54 year age segment usage. Mature audiences spend time there. Why not reach them with your valuable content?

Here are a few ways to integrate your email newsletter with bookmark websites and social networks:

• Implement a 'Bookmark This' facility for your online version that enables your readers to share your content. AddThis is an effortless way to add to any website
• Invite readers to follow your company on Twitter with a direct link in the newsletter
• Extend the same invitation from the online version (continue the conversation through other channels) - see below
• Take advantage of blog plug-ins that enable you to update your Facebook or Twitter profile in real-time
• Syndicate your newsletter’s RSS feed through Linkedin MyRSSFeed. You can find this feature under Edit My Profile/Additional Information
• Join LinkedIn groups and submit relevant articles that reference your online version of email content

Email newsletter reach via social networks

All of the email marketing tactics presented above can be very cost-effective. Most importantly, an integrated email solution that spans multiple media channels and devices provides your readers with a richer user experience, improves your search engine visibility and maximizes the reach of your newsletter.

Stay connected with your customers through targeted and engaging emails. Single Entry Point is here to show you how. Contact us for a free email marketing estimate.

Discuss this article on our blog

Mike Lascut is Principal of Single Entry Point^® Marketing, focusing on the search, email and analytics practice and leading the development of the Single Entry Point Email Marketing next generation product. Mike's professional career spans over twenty years, including twelve years of intelligent search and email marketing and over a decade and half of software architecture and development. When he's not pointing businesses in a smarter direction, Mike spends his time pointing his lens at wildlife. Connect with Mike on Linkedin, read his Nature Research Photography blog, or reach him via email or phone.