SKIP TO CONTENT
animation of a pile of letters falling on santa claus

how to stand out in a user’s inbox

May 2, 2019

written by
Bri Martinez

sliding into your inbox like…

It’s a no brainer that email is a user’s preferred method of communicating with businesses. Let’s face it, it’s a great way to reach your audience and get them to take action on whatever your end-goal is, whether that’s pushing a limited offer or promoting an event.

However, it’s also pretty obvious that companies are really taking advantage of this marketing tactic left and right. So you’re not only fighting for attention against legitimate brands but also some dangerous scammers. Knowing this, how do you stand out from all the noise in a user’s inbox? How do you get the clicks to avoid ending up in the dreadful Spam box?

Don’t fear, we’re here with a few tips on how to make your newsletter more engaging for your users.

1. Be all about that brand

To start, it goes without saying that your newsletter should be consistent with the rest of your brand. Making sure your brand is recognizable to users helps maintain engagement and also instantly gain trust. Your fonts, imagery, and color should all be consistent with the rest of your brand. Don’t confuse users by shuffling templates on a whim or doing something “fun” that’s off brand with no direction. Keep 1-2 templates that are regularly used in rotation to raise familiarity with them. Consistency, consistency, consistency.

2. Subject line

The subject line is your first impression, so it needs to be eye-grabbing right? Make sure that you write something that allows users to be curious enough to want to click on the email. Asking them a question pertaining to what your email is about is one way to get user engagement along with putting the offer directly into the subject. And if you’re trying to push offers, use a tone of urgency. 15% off until Monday!

3. 📬💛 🖤

It’s a challenge keeping your subject line short and sweet and that’s where emojis come in. With the popularity of emojis being embraced by marketers, 56% of brands using them in subject lines get higher unique open rates. We’re not saying that your subject line should be in pure hieroglyphics, but we encourage you to get creative with them. Maybe tie it back to your company and create an extension of your brand through it.

4. Tone and voice (Narrative)

Ever go to a store to purchase something and the salesperson tries to push more onto you? No one likes that. Creating a conversational tone and voice is a great way to keep readers interested in your content and to entice them into clicking to learn more. This also can be tied back to your brand’s voice to maintain familiarity. Again, consistency is key (are you tired of us saying this yet?) for growing connections.

5. Educational vs. self promotion

It’s not about you. Be less about yourself and more about how you can benefit the reader. Providing information on how users can get the most out of your products or services should be 90% of what your newsletter is about. If you’re trying to sell something to them, why should they care? Everyone is trying to sell something so be different and provide them resources that further explain. Give insights on why it matters and why they should consider clicking for more info. For example, if you’re a tea company promoting a new product, tease the user with some information on what the health benefits are, or how using it as an iced tea this summer can further enhance those summer party vibes.

These are just a few tips that can make your newsletter more fun to click on. We have a ton of other recommendations such as using effective imagery and graphics, guiding readers with a strong call-to-action (CTA), having a consistent post schedule, etc. that can help make your newsletter the best it could ever be. What’s most important is to make sure you’re putting thought and strategy into it.

If you feel like it’s time to rethink your newsletter approach, or want to start one, get in touch with us for more information.