If you’re like most people, you probably receive email newsletters from time to time.

Some, you love: as soon as a good one lands in your inbox, you open it up and start clicking away at what’s inside.

Others, you could take or leave: you might keep one of these in your inbox, saving it to read for a later time, like when you’re waiting for the bus to arrive.

And then there are the ones that you delete immediately upon receipt, not even bothering to see what’s inside.

We’re going to go out on a limb here and guess that you want your newsletters to appear in the first category. Here are 8 tips that will make your newsletters shine.

Target, Target, Target

The first step to a killer newsletter is making sure that the people receiving it actually want to read it.

Your readers should see value in what you send out. If they do, they’ll engage with the content and will be thrilled to keep receiving updates. If they don’t, they’ll unsubscribe, missing out on future newsletters and emails that they might have found interesting and useful.

Curating your list of recipients can be a mind-numbing task, but categorizing your contacts means that you can control who receives what. Targeted content will keep your contacts happy.

Content is King

No matter how you organize your information or how nicely you design your newsletters, nothing will help you if your content is a snore.

Why are you sending out this newsletter? Do you have important news to share? Are you offering your readers a reward or a deal? Are you launching a new product? Don’t send newsletters for the sake of sending newsletters: instead, send them to share valuable content.

An Eye-Catching Title

Coming up with the perfect subject line can be tricky. You want your subject to entice people to open up the email, and you want it to describe what kind of content is inside. The shorter, the better: many mobile screens only display the first 30 characters in a subject line (including spaces).

Short is Sweet

Resist the urge to send a novel-length newsletter. No matter how compelling your content, most recipients will get bored partway and will skip out before reaching the end. Keep your content short and punchy, and provide a link for readers to click if they want to find out more about a particular topic.

Stick to Your Brand

Every aspect of your newsletter – from tone to design – should reflect your brand.

Newsletters are an extension of your brand, so be consistent and use this opportunity to showcase your stuff. Make sure that your logo, contact details, website, and social media links are included.

Mind Your Grammar

Double and triple check the content of your newsletter for spelling and/or grammatical errors. If English was never your forte, find someone who can edit your content. Careless mistakes reflect poorly on you and your business.

Pictures: A Fine Balance

On the one hand, visual content is good: photos can convey a ton of information, and they make a newsletter look good. On the other hand, too many photos will clog up your newsletter. Emails that load slowly and that hog inbox space are major no-nos. Use some pictures, but be aware of their sizes.

Be Mobile Friendly

Your newsletter might look spiffy on your computer screen, but make sure it looks good from a mobile screen, too. After all, that’s where many of your readers will be opening it up. If they have to scroll horizontally or if formatting becomes a jumbles mess, your email will be sent straight to the trash folder.

Need help crafting the perfect newsletter? Get in touch – we’ll help you create a killer newsletter.