Updated November 2024.
The question, “Are email newsletters really necessary?” is asked each year. And each year, the response is, “Absolutely!”
That means 2025 is no different. Don’t just send out drab, robotic messages. Make the most of your digital communications by establishing a brilliant email newsletter strategy in the new year.
Email newsletters have consistently remained important for brands and businesses despite changes in digital marketing. Why? Subscriber newsletters offer personalization, control, and tailoring that other communications can’t. How? Segmenting your audience means you can send targeted content that is engaging. The expectation is that if you give a company your email address, you’ll receive something relevant and exciting.
“Who says email footers have to be boring? Stop underutilizing that valuable real estate.”
If it’s time to improve your email newsletter strategy, we have some advice to help you get back into the swing of things. Here are 5+ ways to boost your open and click-through rates.
1. Inject Your Brand’s Personality Into Your Email Newsletter Strategy
Why personalize your email newsletter? Some of the most engaging emails are the ones where you feel you’re talking to an actual person over a cup of coffee. Achieve this by sharing real-life experiences from you or someone on your team. Talk about yourself. Give readers a behind-the-scenes peek into your business. Don’t just reiterate content; give your thoughts and opinions. Declare your perspective and elaborate on it authentically.
2. Crowdsource Content from Your Readers
Just as much as your readers want to hear from you, you need to hear from your readers. Don’t rely on surveys measuring what people do and don’t like about your communications. Instead, create interactive forms and polls requesting input on specific topics. Repurpose this tactic on other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to solicit honest feedback and expand your view on different subjects and trending topics. Your readers will feel appreciated, and maybe you’ll even learn something in the process.
“Plans are nothing, but planning is everything, right?”
3. Use Your Footer to the Fullest Extent
Who says email footers have to be boring? Stop underutilizing that valuable real estate. Once your readers have reached the bottom of your email, reward them with something unique, fun, and creative—not just the unsubscribe link. Are you promoting a subscription or a new service? Pop it in the footer. Do you want them to share your newsletter with their friends and colleagues? Pop it in the footer. You’re wasting that space if you don’t give subscribers one last chance to connect with you. This is a quick way to improve your newsletter.
Search Engine Journal Newsletter
4. Change Your “Sent From” Name
Inboxes are flooded daily with emails from brand names, but they’re not usually inundated with emails from humans. While we want subscribers to know who is contacting them, why not add your name to the “sent from” section? For example, instead of saying “Betty Boop Boutique,” say, “Kendall @ Betty Boop.” You can switch this up with different team members depending on your email content. And don’t forget to add your icon, which appears in most email clients next to your “sent from” name. This campaign strategy tip boosts open rates with a dose of personality.
5. Plan Your Email Calendar (Seriously!)
Plans are nothing, but planning is everything, right? Improve your email newsletter strategy when you take the time to seriously think about the content you will discuss each week or month, what email segments you will send them to, the best days and times to schedule your emails, etc. It’s your chance to reduce uncertainty in your readers and give yourself room to breathe when feeling completely overwhelmed. You can always refer back to your plan, take a deep breath, and focus on your email subscribers’ needs.
Bonus: Improve Your Email Newsletter Strategy with Snappy Subject Lines
Always test your subject lines and preview texts to get people curious about your email. Don’t give away the newsletter’s content. Instead, be mysterious and enticing, encouraging subscribers to open it. Give them a bit of the punch line, but don’t finish it. And don’t be afraid to experiment with emojis in your subject line, too. It can be an effective and attention-generating technique to boost email open rates. Because who doesn’t love a shooting star or megaphone? Try something like:
- Sneak Peek 👀: You Don’t Want to Miss This
- This Month’s Insider Tips—Just for You!
- Come Back—We Saved Your Favorites
And voilà—you’re ready to take your newsletter to the next level this year! Get out there, use your personality and all the underutilized resources of your email scheduling platform, and consistently connect with your email subscribers. You’ve got this.
Need some help curating the best content so you can improve your newsletter this year? Chat with the Kudzu team about how we can start crushing your marketing goals. Let’s get growing!
Courtenay is the agency’s Creative Content Director. Her talents include short and long-form blogs, video and radio scripts, social media strategy and implementation, email marketing, and word chopping. Give her 1,000 words and she’ll give you back 500.