Newsletter | How to Build?, Types, History of a Newsletter and for Marketing Websites. E-commerce Portal

Newsletter: What is a Newsletter? A Newsletter is an electronic or a printed report that contains news or information about an organisation or a business and is typically sent out to its subscribers, shareholders, employees, or members. Most newsletters share a business’s turnover or other related topics of interest. However, some newsletter which is delivered via Email can be considered as spam if the mail is sent unsolicited.

Brief History of Newsletter

The history of newsletters can be traced back to the Ancient Roman Empire, where newsletters were exchanged between officials. During the Middle ages, merchants exchanged newsletters with other merchants. Newsletters were also sent out by traders over the ages, covering many topics from the price of goods and factors influencing trade to political news and related events. In a sense, newsletters could be seen as a forerunner for modern newspapers. The first-ever newspaper was printed in 1609 by Johann Carolus, called the “Relation of Strasbourg”. From a marketing perspective, newsletters are primarily targeted towards existing and potential customers. This form of marketing is called direct-to-consumer advertising or DTCA.

Newsletter for Marketing Websites and E-Commerce Portals

Today, any individual with a blog or an e-commerce portal can promote their business by using newsletters. It can also be used to promote campaigns or for ensuring regular contact with customers and persons of interest. Newsletters are also effective at attracting traffic towards a website, thereby attracting possible leads. Newsletters can be a very effective marketing tool as well as a cost-effective alternative to traditional marketing if done correctly. The following are some guidelines for owners of blogs and e-commerce websites to promote themselves.

Building a Newsletter

Newsletters require you to be well-versed in HTML. Besides these criteria, most newsletters follow specific formats that may change depending on the use-case or other requirements. Following is a generic template that can be used to build a newsletter.

  • Inserting the Sender: Recipients of the newsletter must know the sender else they might move it to the trash or not even open it at all. This is due to the fact that a typical customer’s inbox may have hundreds, if not thousands of emails and it might get tough to tell apart from your mail from the rest.
  • Mention the Subject: Having an effective subject line is the difference between the recipient opening the mail or ignoring it. Try to write a subject line that arouses curiosity or interest in the reader. Hence, this is one of the most important steps in drafting newsletters
  • Content of Newsletter: Tailoring the content of the newsletter to your readers is important. Remember that the main purpose of the newsletter is to inform – and also create opportunities for your blog or website. Hence, add content that the reader wants to hear and also try to inform how they are benefiting from your blog or website.
  • Delivering the Newsletter: After creating the newsletter, you must send it and the only way to send it is through email marketing tools. Also, ensure that you have incorporated tools that enable capturing the contact information of the recipients – such as forms.
  • Analysing Data: Undoubtedly, the most important step is segmenting data to form a clear picture of your customers/ clients/ recipients and their interests or needs.

Newsletter – Automation

Automation is quite important in today’s fast-paced world. Hence, you need to use a marketing automation tool, as it can help bridge the gap between customers and the business. For instance, when a customer selects and places a product in the shopping cart of an e-commerce website, they might get email reminders asking to reconsider those products for purchase. Scenarios like these can be automated and may help turn a potential lead into your customer.

Types of Newsletter Automation

Besides the scenario stated above, newsletters can be used for many purposes and are classified based on these purposes:

  • Daily Newsletters: As the name implies, daily automated newsletters are sent on a daily basis. This ensures that people who might not visit your blog or website on a daily basis may start visiting more often after receiving the newsletter
  • Weekly Round-up Newsletters: Not all individuals may have the time to visit your blog on a daily basis, hence, a weekly round up newsletter is the best alternative to engage with your audience.
  • Personalized Newsletters: Personalized newsletters are quite popular and the chances of engaging your audience is quite high, however, this type of automates tends to take up much more time and effort than the rest
  • Newsletters Informing Updates In Your Products: If you have an app, this type of newsletter automation works best. Informing the customer or user about the new changes in the app is an effective method to increase customer engagement.

Conclusion on Newsletter

A newsletter is a powerful tool not just for businesses, but for all individuals who own blogs or websites. It enables you to engage with your customer better and create new opportunities for yourself while being efficient and cost-effective.

FAQ’s on Newsletter

Question 1.
What is a newsletter?

Answer:
A Newsletter is an electronic or a printed report that contains news or information about an organisation or a business and is typically sent out to its subscribers, shareholders, employees, or members.

Question 2.
What is the purpose of a newsletter?

Answer:
Most newsletters communicate the aspects of a business or other related topics of interest. Ultimately, newsletters can also help organizations to find new leads or customers.

Question 3.
What is a newsletter example?

Answer:
Before the internet, newsletters were printed copies. Today, most newsletters are sent online as it is cost-effective and more impactful.

Question 4.
What do you say in a newsletter?

Answer:
Tailor the content of your newsletter to your readers. The main purpose of a newsletter is to inform and also create opportunities for yourself through new leads or customers.