Are you interested in starting a newsletter and sending regular email campaigns to your prospects and existing clients? If that’s the case, then you’ve come to the right place.
Sending regular or periodic emails in the form of newsletters is one of the surest ways to transform your prospects or casual website visitors into lifetime paying customers. For marketers, sales don’t just happen after pushing out a single marketing campaign.
It takes about 5-7 strategic follow-ups before you can successfully close a sale or deal. This is where regular email newsletter activities come into play.
In this article, I will guide you on how to start an email newsletter with a few clicks, and also provide you with the necessary tools to get started. This guide is suitable for both WordPress site owners and those who don’t have websites.
Let’s dive in!
What is an Email Newsletter?
An email newsletter is an electronic piece of information sent out periodically to members of a society or organization, a group of people, customers, etc. An Email Service Provider (short form of ESP) enables you to electronically send out single and bulk messages or marketing emails to a list of subscribers you have collected.
Brands often use subscription forms on their websites or landing pages to collect emails from prospects and send periodic emails throughout the buyer’s journey to becoming a lifetime customer.
These emails could come as a daily, weekly, or monthly newsletter as the case may be.
Below is an example of a pop-up newsletter subscription form on a website.
Why Do I Need An Email Newsletter For My Business?
Aside from using regular emails for transactional purposes, every businessperson needs an email newsletter up and running for marketing campaigns.
Businesses demand consistent communication between all parties involved. There can’t be a thriving business without a piece of well-crafted information passed across between a buyer and a seller. So setting up an email newsletter to ensure continuous incoming sales is vital to the growth of any online or traditional business.
As a marketing professional, you need to set up an email newsletter platform to grow your email list, convert new leads, reach out to existing customers, share your latest products and services, and so on.
Who Are Email Newsletters Best For?
Since email newsletters are considered to be electronically used, virtually every business should use them. Maximizing its usage can be time-saving, affordable, and very effective when combined with other marketing methods depending on the type of business one is into.
Email newsletter users include:
- eCommerce business owners
- Agencies
- Associations and clubs
- Non-profit organizations
- Religious organizations
- Schools and higher learning institutions
- Freelancers
- Service professionals of all kinds
- Bloggers
- Publishers
- General SMEs
Recommendable Tools Required For Starting An Email Newsletter
Suppose you plan on sending bulk emails to communicate your business to prospective and existing customers effectively. In that case, you will need some set of online tools to start your email newsletter.
These tools let you appear professional in front of your audience or leads when sending out newsletter campaigns.
In this section, I will list the tools into two categories for different users – A and B.
Category A: For WordPress Website Owners Or Users
I recommend HubSpot Email Marketing For WordPress. Hubspot is a complete email marketing solution with rich tools which include CRM management, customizable signup forms, Automation, smart contact segmentation, unlimited integrations, etc.
Here’s a detailed review of the HubSpot WordPress plugin.Category B: For Non-Website Owners or Users
1. A Domain name and custom email: Essential
2. I highly suggest you opt for an all-in-one email marketing service provider from any of the companies listed below. They offer all the essential tools required to effectively launch and expand an email newsletter. You may consider trying out one or two of these providers to make a comparison.– Hubspot Email has free email marketing tools that let you create personalized and targeted emails. It also has fantastic features for starters like free CRM and free landing pages.
– GetResponse has a free plan for starters with excellent features but no CRM.
Creating And Sending Your First Email Newsletter (5 Steps)
If you’re a small business owner without a website, one way to start collecting leads and expanding your audience is by creating a landing page with embedded signup forms. Landing pages are crucial for website owners as well as those without websites.
Below are the necessary steps you need to take or things to put in place to enable you to start sending out your first email newsletter.
Step 1. Create a Landing Page With An Email Subscription Form
Landing pages are similar to website pages. On a landing page, all you need to add is your introductory offer, about you and your offer with crisp images, and finally, a signup form to collect leads. Landing pages are quite easy to design. Most email marketing service providers offer free readymade landing pages as well.
For example, when you sign up with HubSpot, you can easily create a free landing page.
In likewise manner, if you don’t want to design a landing page from scratch, you can choose one among the readymade templates and modify it to suit your offer.
Ensure you add a pop-up or standard subscription form as well. This is where your prospects will add their email address for signup.
To customize your landing page even further, you can add a custom domain to its default URL to make it look more professional.
Email marketing platforms like HubSpot, ActiveCampaign and Getresponse can let you do all these for free. However, you will need a domain.
Samples of Landing Pages we created for some of our clients with Getresponse
Step 2. Choose An Existing Email Template or Start From Scratch
Once you have started generating leads with your landing page, the next step is to send them your first newsletter. This newsletter could be a welcoming email or an introductory offer.
With ready-made templates, it becomes easy and fast for you to create targeted emails for your leads. You do not need a designer or developer to create a great-looking newsletter.
Your preferred email marketing provider such as HubSpot already has some existing email templates that you can use, or you can start with a plain template.
Most beginners usually choose to use the existing email templates and customize them to their preferences, which is highly recommended.
Getting familiar with your email marketing dashboard and learning how to replace existing images, add new images, and perform other necessary tasks is important.
Step 3. Use Drag-And-Drop Builder To Create Your Email Newsletter
Almost all email marketing platforms now use drag-and-drop-building features for creating and sending email newsletters. Beginners can find it very easy to use as long as they can use Google Docs or Microsoft Word.
The drag-and-drop builder or editor lets you add and customize your content, with columns, styles, and other features to create an appealing newsletter.
Step 4. Import Existing Contact List (optional)
Perhaps you may already have existing email contacts you want to start sending newsletters to, you should import them into your dashboard before sending out your first email campaign. All ESPs allow you to do this.
Before you go ahead to import your existing contacts, you should validate or clean your contact lists to avoid email bounce or any form of penalty on your account. This is a standard practice you should always do whenever you want to start sending newsletters to your contacts for the first time or want to start resending after a long time (let’s say a year ago).
If you plan on using an email newsletter for your business, you should grow your email list from scratch to achieve a maximum conversion rate.
Step 5. Monitor performance and carry out A/B Split tests
It is crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of your email newsletters once you’ve sent them. This way, you can keep track of how engaged your subscribers are.
Additionally, conducting A/B split tests frequently can help you improve future newsletters for better conversion rates.
FAQs on How to Start & Grow an Email Newsletter
Email marketing is a well-established technique for establishing and maintaining regular communication with both existing clients and new prospects. It allows you to reach out and expand your audience.
If you’re seeking a professional approach to raise awareness among your prospects and move them from the awareness phase to the conversion phase, you should begin using email newsletters as soon as possible.
While some email marketing providers offer forever-free plans, most email marketing platforms give 14-30 days of free trials to send email campaigns and other forms of newsletters. After that, you will be required to upgrade your account to either monthly or yearly subscriptions.
I recommend HubSpot. HubSpot has free plans for small business owners. It is also the cheapest and most cost-effective email marketing and CRM service provider in the market. Both WordPress and Non-WordPress users can use HubSpot. HubSpot’s subscription plans start from $20 per month (paid annually) and $30 per month (paid monthly) on unlimited contacts.
No, it’s not advisable to use a free email address to start an email newsletter. If you plan on sending out email newsletters and want to ensure that they are delivered to the intended recipients, it is highly recommended that you authenticate your email address.
Beginning in February 2024, Google and Yahoo will enforce authentication requirements that will impact email senders using free domains (such as Gmail, Outlook, and Hotmail).
These requirements are meant to help reduce spam and improve email security for bulk senders. If you have not yet registered a domain name, you can do so by clicking on the provided link.
Get Started With Email Newsletters Right Away!
Starting an email newsletter is a necessity for any online business that wants to be successful in today’s world. Studies have shown that every $1 spent on email marketing returns $42. That’s 3X more than social media.
If you plan on building a growth marketing strategy that works, consider sending strategized and impressive email campaigns, automation, and much more. About 70% of your ROI solely depends on it!
I hope this helps you on your journey to creating an email newsletter for your business or general use.
Need a Pro Help?
If you need help with starting a professional email newsletter, feel free to hire an email marketing expert to get the job done for you with ease.
Disclosure: We get commissions for purchases made through referral links in this post.
