Email Newsletter Design — Why You Need to Throw Out the Newsletter and Think About Your Audience

April 27, 2016

No matter what type of business you run, email marketing presents a unique opportunity—and you probably think you need a fantastic email newsletter design to get the most out of it.


If you’ve gone about your list-building methods properly, you’ve got a list of interested leads, people who aren’t ready to buy quite yet, but who love your products, dig your services, and want to learn more about what you’ve got going on.


Sometimes, these people just need a little push—this is where your email newsletter.


Careful Now—Don’t Get Spammy

Notice I said little push. Email has undergone an interesting transformation now that it’s fully integrated into the business world. Email that’s too spammy faces a great deal of hurdles to make its way to you.


And if you’re spammy enough, for long enough, your emails are going to start bouncing harder than Jennifer Lawrence’s knees on the red carpet.


Jennifer Lawrence Bites It


So, you don’t want to oversell—but you do want to stay top-of-mind. This is one of the real opportunities of email marketing—even people who are deleting your emails (because they don’t have the time to read them) remember that you emailed them.


Which means that, eventually, they’re going to open one of those emails.


And you need an awesome email newsletter design just waiting for them.


Is Creating a Compelling Email Newsletter Design the Best Way to Reach Your Audience?

This all depends on your brand and your audience (and if you haven’t already done so, download the brand and audience persona worksheets).


And let’s back up a bit—I want you to throw out that term “newsletter.” It’s outdated, to say the least.


Few people are interested in an actual newsletter, a mishmash of random content slapped together haphazardly that summarizes the goings on of the past month.


That’s appropriate for a school, a homeowner’s association, or a tiny town—not a business.


And you know what? While we’re at it, get rid of “blast” too—you’re not shooting these people in the face with your emails.


Your emails need to drive traffic, and maybe even sell—a little bit of human interest is ok (if it fits with your brand), but don’t waste those valuable emails in ways they’re not meant to be used.


Usually, there’s so much content in a newsletter that no one is going to take the time to go through it all anyway—users want useful content targeted to them.


So give them what they want. Rarely is that a traditional newsletter—often, it’s a handful of content (an article and a video, for example).


Add a few blurbs that create interest and have compelling calls to action, and boom—you’ve started driving traffic to your website.


But only if you’ve got a design that fits your audience and your brand.


Email Newsletter Design


So What Should Your Email Newsletter Design Look Like?

There’s really no broad answer to this. Maybe your audience wants a simple, single column layout because they’re busy people with no time for frills.


Maybe your audience loves gorgeous pictures of your amazing products (complete with lengthy explanations) because they’ve got lots of time and disposable income on their hands.


Maybe they actually do want a newsletter—but does your brand support that? Does it fall in line with the kind of company you are?


If your email list is comprised of an audience who’s mostly family and friends, then maybe a newsletter format is appropriate.


So don’t get stuck on the design—there’s not a single template that’s going to act as a magic cure-all for your email problem, an incredible email newsletter design that will bring people flocking by the dozens.


Instead, think about what the people on the list need.


And give it to them.

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