How To Effectively Promote Your Email Newsletter

written by: L’ren

There are various channels that you can utilize to market your business, services, and products online. Online marketing has boomed over the years, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Between multiple generations using their mobile phones for hours on end as well as a large portion of the business world moving more and more to remote atmospheres, a vast portion of our society has a large presence online. When you consider that the average person spends 5 hours a day checking their email, whether business or personal, you want to make your email newsletter work hard and stand out among the crowd.

You invest in your content creation, whether that’s blog posts, social media announcements, or regular Google My Business updates. There’s a common phrase used in the marketing industry: Spend as much time promoting your content as you do create it. Herein lies the importance of promoting your email newsletter at every possible opportunity.

Writing a killer email newsletter is just half the battle. It won’t be your all in all. If you are geared towards increasing your ROI and your brand awareness, you must be diligent about letting people know about your newsletter as well as making it the most click-worthy envelope in someone’s inbox.

Let’s dive into a few tips and tricks on how to get the word out about your newsletter so your content can start working double time for you and your business.

1.      Increase Email Newsletter Sign Up Forms and Visibility on Your Site

For any successful email newsletter campaign, having a sign-up form on your site is a must. While some sites opt for a pop-up form (often associated with a discount code of some sort or some other incentive) this may not be the most SEO-friendly or user-friendly solution to increasing your email list. A pop-up is attention-grabbing sure, but it may distract the user from what originally landed them on your site which may increase the closure rate of the pop-up and/or bounce rate as they leave your site to find what they are looking for somewhere else with fewer distractions.

Pop-ups are also not the most SEO-friendly as Google bots and other search engine bots don’t have a way to close the pop-up and often cannot read the content on the page while the pop-up is in place. If you are heart set on the pop-up approach, consider having it appear once the reader has scrolled down your page a certain amount or the time on the page reaches a few minutes. These options have a better SEO-friendliness factor as well as user-friendly rating as they are not immediately deviating from the content on the page.

Having a section of your site, whether it’s in the footer, on its own page, or on a sidebar form on your blog page are all good places to entice your website visitors to stay up to date with your latest and greatest email blast. You don’t want your users to have to search for the sign-up form. Make it prominent and well known in several spots on your site while including a clear call to action (CTA) that entices them to give your business their coveted email address.

2.      Make Social Announcements About Your Email Newsletter

Social media posts are often short and to the point, trying to engage with the audience without losing interest. Social media business profiles don’t have nearly as much traffic as they used to with recent algorithm shifts but this doesn’t mean that this marketing avenue isn’t still worth your time.

Your email marketing campaign is often more in-depth and provides a larger bite on content than your social media posts. You can incorporate announcements about your email newsletter in your social media post calendar. You can also include a link to your email newsletter sign-up form in your social media bio.

Reaching your social media audience may grow your email list and help consistently reach them with new offers, information, and promotions. Utilize your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and/or Instagram to hit your target market right in the inbox.

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3.      Mention Your Email Newsletter in Interviews

Another great avenue to promote your newsletter is in public relations. PR can be a complete game-changer for your business and no one if going to know your business better than you or your own team. If you play your cards right in PR, you can maximize your coverage and reach new audiences.

Media exposure can help you promote your business in the best light and spread the word about what you can do for your customers or clients. In addition to spreading the word about your business, what if you also entice this audience to also subscribe to your newsletter?

During an interview, prepare a few different angles to incorporate mentioning your email newsletter. Now, if you are on a podcast or webinar, it may be a little easier to slip into the conversation about your ongoing email marketing efforts and the benefits the audience would receive from signing up to be part of your email list. However, if your media outreach is more traditional in print form or a short 30 segmented radio or tv slot, this may take some more strategizing on how to effortlessly slide information in about your email newsletter.

If you are focusing time and energy to create a captivating and engaging email newsletter on a consistent basis, make sure you are making it noteworthy in every media opportunity. An interview is here then gone but an email sign up is forever (or until the time they unsubscribe, that is).

4.      Make Physical Notices for Your Customers

If your business is an establishment where you have foot traffic, customers come and go, then utilizing your work atmosphere is often an underappreciated but highly effective place to advertise your email newsletter. The possibilities of where to promote it in your physical location are endless!

First, anywhere your address, phone number, or website is listed, including information about your email newsletter and how to sign up. This could be on your door front, on business cards, on a sign at the front desk or cash register, and so on. Considering the front desk or cash register areas, you can also use chalkboards, printed materials, LED tickers, a button on the cashier’s apron, a bumper sticker on the cash register itself, or at the bottom of each receipt. Whatever feels like it is “on brand” for your establishment is the best way to go. You don’t want it to feel forced or out of place, so finding the right ways to promote your email newsletter is crucial to appealing to your customer or client’s eyes.

Now, there are a few ways that you can display your email newsletter sign-up. You can provide a link on the materials, a QR code that takes the customer right to the page, an old school approach with a pen and paper list, a tablet next to the cash register, or in a designated area where they can enter their information right there, or you can even make it part of the check-out process (especially if you have a loyalty program where they can earn points, create an account, etc.).

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5.      The Power of Word of Mouth

Never underestimate the power of word of mouth! Word of mouth is one of the oldest and longest-standing effective marketing tactics in the book. One of the best ways to promote your newsletter is through your current readers. If you share content that they enjoy, there is a good chance they may share it with other like-minded friends and family. However, it is up to you to remind them to do this. Most people don’t often think to share much beyond memes these days so including intriguing CTAs that get them to forward your email is vital.

In every email blast, consider adding a blurb or note encouraging them to share what they just read in your email. It can be something as simple as, “If you have enjoyed our newsletter, consider forwarding it to a friend or relative.” Or something like, “If you found this email valuable, consider sharing it on your social media account.” To further grow your list, make sure each email has a link that makes signing up for your newsletter as simple as possible.

Every successful newsletter contains a good dose of intrigue and strategy, not just in the context of the email but also in the way that it is promoted. If you are spending precious time and effort crafting a beautiful and delightful email campaign, make sure you are also dedicating time and effort to promoting it as well. We hope you find these tips useful and apply a few new strategies to your current campaign and promotion efforts.