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Email Newsletter Dos and Dont's

Email newsletters are a great cost effective way of keeping in touch with your customers, building their trust in your business, and encouraging business referrals.

To make your email newsletters effective you must follow some simple email marketing best practices. This list of email newsletter dos and don’ts is a good starting point.

	Email Newsletter Dos		Email Newsletter Don'ts
	Do give something of value Rather than bombarding recipients with promotions every time, provide information of real value to them.  Put yourself in their shoes and try to understand their problems, and include content that offers solutions.		DON’T confuse readers For each newsletter, set one specific goal you want to accomplish, then plan the content to help you achieve it. Focus on one main story or a few brief stories with the same theme. Including too much information creates confusion and reduces the impact.
	DO make it personal Not everyone on your list will be interested in everything you have to say all the time.  By capturing details about your recipients (e.g. location, age, preferences) and using it to segment your list, your newsletters will be more relevant and effective.		DON’T send without consent Never send your newsletter to someone who hasn’t consented to receiving it.  Not only is this unethical, it’s also now illegal in New Zealand since the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act came into force in Sept 2007.  Proof of consent must be kept and produced if an audit is requested.
	DO include calls to action Lead your readers towards the action you want them to take (e.g. register now, buy tickets, email us). Where possible include calls to action in several places in the email, especially near the top.  Don’t assume people will read the whole email.		DON’T send too often Remember that yours is one of many emails in your recipients’ inbox.   Sending newsletters every 1 to 3 months seems fairly commonplace.  Another idea is to send newsletters only when you have something valuable to say.
	DO use consistent branding Use a template to give every newsletter a consistent look and feel, and to help readers recognise your logo, colours, etc.  Where links to your website are included, make sure the linked page reflects a similar brand, so people can quickly establish if they’re in the right place.		DON’T get too wordy Starting with the subject line, keep everything short and to the point. Paragraphs should be short but catchy enough to grab people’s attention. Use bullet points and pictures to break up text. Use links to direct people to more detail on the web.
	DO include an unsubscribe Always include an unsubscribe link. It’s not just a courtesy, it’s the law. The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act (Sept 2007) dictates that every commercial email message includes an unsubscribe option, which must be actioned within 5 working days.		DON’T use poor grammar Nothing turns people away faster than an email filled with mistakes. It reflects poorly on the quality and reputation of your brand. Take time to double and triple check your text for spelling and grammar errors.  Scrutinise the copy until you find nothing wrong, then have someone else check it.

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