Newsletter campaigns - do they really work?

[Jack Anderson]

Hello guys! I've searched the forum on the subject and found interesting points on how to put together the mailing list (in case you have contacts from your past employer) or conquer the fear of writing marketing emails. But I would like to ask your opinion about the design of these newsletter campaigns? Do you use ready-made templates for these purposes? If yes, then what services do you use? I just can't get my head around all these offers available on the Internet. That's why I'm asking! Thanks for sharing your opinions in advance!

 

[Alan]

To answer your title - yes email/newsletter campaigns are one of the (if no the most ) most effective (ROI) of all online marketing.

In terms of tools, the most popular is MailChimp, mainly as it has a very generous free level.

 

[Marek Skoczylas]

You can be very successful with email marketing, if you will send your proper offers to the right people

Sending emails to random audience without their permission is just a waste of time, and its against the law

 

[Jack Anderson]

Sending emails to random audience without their permission is just a waste of time, and its against the law

Yes, that's quite dangerous, especially if they haven't given their written/oral consent to receiving the newsletters and so on... As a marketing manager I'm pretty aware of that. But what I was trying to ask is more about how to make an email campaign more visually attractive? I know that Mailchimp offers a wide range of tools, but what if one needs something more specific? Is it good using pre-made newsletter templates from any third-party resources? Have you had any experience with that?

 

[Marek Skoczylas]

If you're looking for pre-made newsletter templates just try getresponse, best email marketing solution in my opinion. You can get free trial for next 30 days. It's very intuitive, easy but highly advanced at once. As far as I remember getresponse was the only one service in 2015 that deliver fully responsive emails.

Since I remember they're always one step ahead the competition

 

[The Byre]

A good newsletter is a great marketing tool, but (just like a press release) you have to have something to say.

The newsletter must contain NEWS!

"Jack Anderson looks to the future!" is not news. It is what is known as a fluff piece!

"Jack Anderson lands large contract" or "Jack Anderson invents new life-form!" is news.

As for software for a newsletter, Adobe's CS2 (more than you need for layout and PDF creation) is a free download. Just register with Adobe and download InDesign and Acrobat Pro (and anything else you might fancy, such as the earlier Photoshop).

 

[Jack Anderson]

If you're looking for pre-made newsletter templates just try getresponse, best email marketing solution in my opinion. You can get free trial for next 30 days. It's very intuitive, easy but highly advanced at once. As far as I remember getresponse was the only one service in 2015 that deliver fully responsive emails.

Since I remember they're always one step ahead the competition

Oh thanks very much! Yes, they look good to me. And I like that they have a free tryout period. I've recently been recommended to have a look at Templatemonster newsletter templates because they have vast selection of responsive themes, so now you made me think which one I should choose. Do you know anything about this templatemonster service?

A good newsletter is a great marketing tool, but (just like a press release) you have to have something to say.

The newsletter must contain NEWS!

"Jack Anderson looks to the future!" is not news. It is what is known as a fluff piece!

"Jack Anderson lands large contract" or "Jack Anderson invents new life-form!" is news.

As for software for a newsletter, Adobe's CS2 (more than you need for layout and PDF creation) is a free download. Just register with Adobe and download InDesign and Acrobat Pro (and anything else you might fancy, such as the earlier Photoshop).

I loved your sense of humour Thing is I'm not very apt with InDesign, so I might consider hiring a professional designer to do things for me, which is, you know, not exactly on the budget. But I guess, I'll have to learn using some of Adobe's products anyway...

 

[The Byre]

Anybody who knows about InDesign could show you the basics in five minutes!

 

[Jack Anderson]

I reckon it's not that hard...) All that is needed is some time and effort in finding tutorials and practicing.

 

[Annie Starks]

Is it good using pre-made newsletter templates from any third-party resources? Have you had any experience with that?

Hey, Jack
I've had some experience, but it was long time ago. But pre-made newsletter templates helped me a lot, since I had little time and great pressure from my client. You definitely can try!

 

[Jack Anderson]

Which service did you use then? I'm just interested to know, because if you have read the discussion carefully, people's opinions really differ... Moreover, they actually recommend different things.

 

[HK Communications]

Hi Jack,
Having set up my PR consultancy last September, I have been sending out prospects, clients and contacts a monthly newsletter containing a post from my business blog, client case studies, a Q&A or general news. It's a great way of remaining in the mind of prospects minds without having to chase them. I produce mine on mailchimp as it looks professional, is totally personalised and allows me to focus on producing great content rather than worrying about design, hiring a freelancer etc.

I would advise the same to you. I have entrepreneur friends who wanted to get their newsletter professionally made, personalised, etc, but in the end, they just procrastinated and didn't get it done! Keeping it simple will allow you to get the best out of it and commit to doing it regularly. You can still make a great looking newsletter on mailchimp, and it allows you to focus on the real value... sharing great content!

 

[Jack Anderson]

Keeping it simple will allow you to get the best out of it and commit to doing it regularly. You can still make a great looking newsletter on mailchimp, and it allows you to focus on the real value... sharing great content!

Hello! Thanks for your advice! Did you use a pre-paid MailChimp account? Or did you just go with the free of cost services they offer?

 

[HK Communications]

I went with the free service, and it's been fine so far. I may upgrade later if required, but for now, the service I'm using is working fine.

Do you already have content from your website/blog you'll condense for the newsletter? It would be good if so, as then you can link your readers back to your website.

 

[Kyle Holmes]

We use mail chimp for all our newsletters and email marketing, with a custom Responsive email template, and we get a good return from this.

As said above if sent the right audience and not just sent to everyone like spam, it can return customers that may have previously moved or even allow customer to bring in a lot more referrals to you.

 

[Jack Anderson]

Not exactly ready with the content honestly, still working on the right verbal presentation of our web design services to potential customers, so for now on I was thinking I should be looking for a proper layout instead... I was thinking vibrant colour schemes would be great to pay attention.

 

[Kyle Holmes]

I would say otherwise to be honest, i believe a clean and smooth light colour scheme works well, the content is the main feature not the design, though the design still needs to look good.

To many vibrant colours and it could distract from the real reason of the email or may "offend" the eyes of some readers.

Content is more valuable than pretty colours, focus on a clean layout and easy to read.

 

[HazelC]

I use mailchimp, my designer created a standard design for me and I add new content to it each month. It looks great and it works - I get 1-3 sales per month and this is often ongoing work too. Works for me, but it depends how good our list is I guess.

 

[Annie Starks]

Content is more valuable than pretty colours, focus on a clean layout and easy to read.

I guess there should be a good combination Otherwise you may spend energy in vain

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

An email newsletter is not a campaign!

I newsletter should be a regular communication with the list, with news etc. A campaign is a specific activity or series of activities to deliver specific results.!

 

[Annie Starks]

I newsletter should be a regular communication with the list, with news etc. A campaign is a specific activity or series of activities to deliver specific results.!

I'd say that a newsletter is a part of campaign

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Yes, it can be, or a marketing campaign can be included in a newsletter.

 

[Jack Anderson]

I use mailchimp, my designer created a standard design for me and I add new content to it each month. It looks great and it works - I get 1-3 sales per month and this is often ongoing work too. Works for me, but it depends how good our list is I guess.

How much did you pay a designer to customize a template for you? I have a list of around 300 emails, which is not big obviously, yet I don't know how many of the emails are actually working (they may get bounced)

I guess there should be a good combination Otherwise you may spend energy in vain

Right you are. I'm looking for it at the moment!

An email newsletter is not a campaign!

I newsletter should be a regular communication with the list, with news etc. A campaign is a specific activity or series of activities to deliver specific results.!

My bad, guess I have confused the terms in the heat of a discussion, but I do understand the difference between a newsletter and a campaign

 

[Kyle Holmes]

I guess there should be a good combination Otherwise you may spend energy in vain

Very true

 

[HazelC]

How much did you pay a designer to customize a template for you? I have a list of around 300 emails, which is not big obviously, yet I don't know how many of the emails are actually working (they may get bounced)

I paid the designer £25+vat for the design - he is a very good designer and I pass a lot of work his way so get that price for all newsletter designs I need for me / clients,

 

[Jack Anderson]

I paid the designer £25+vat for the design - he is a very good designer and I pass a lot of work his way so get that price for all newsletter designs I need for me / clients,

I see, thanks for this update on the price! I guess that's quite affordable considering that you've been using the services of this person for a while.

 

[HazelC]

I see, thanks for this update on the price! I guess that's quite affordable considering that you've been using the services of this person for a while.

It really is

 

[woodss]

Just to touch on a point above where someone said it's illegal to send random e-mails - that isn't strictly true.

Business communication is fair game - you can send to non-personal addresses such as "[email protected]" unsolicited, but not "[email protected]" unless they've specifically opted in. The e-mail must also be business related.

You MUST also allow someone to un-subscribe from every e-mail.

http://www.lawdonut.co.uk/law/sales...tising/your-email-marketing-and-anti-spam-law

An email to [email protected] or [email protected] is clearly to the corporate subscriber. But what if you are emailing 'Pauline Manager', an employee at a limited company, at a work address such as [email protected]? The email will be opened by Pauline, who is an individual.

This is permitted if the email is work-related (eg promoting office furniture to a facilities manager) but not if it is personal (eg promoting family holidays to the sales team at a recruitment company).

This view is bolstered by the legal argument that the law defines a ‘subscriber’ as "a person who is a party to a contract with a provider of public electronic communications services for the supply of such services". Since it is ABC Widgets that is the party to the contract with the telecoms provider providing the work email address, not the employee, the argument is that the email is being sent to the company - the ‘corporate subscriber’ - and no restrictions apply. It doesn’t matter that the email can only be accessed by the individual employee.

 

[jsonline]

Yes they do as part of a wider marketing mix!

 

[Jack Anderson]

Oh, thanks very much for sharing this! I didn't really get into legal details of this process but I think sending emails to company addresses instead of personal addressed has a merit to it as well as letting people unsubscribe.

 

[Annie Starks]

Which service did you use then? I'm just interested to know, because if you have read the discussion carefully, people's opinions really differ... Moreover, they actually recommend different things.

Sorry for delay with answer, but if you still need a good recommendation based on personal experience, here it is http://www.templatemonster.com/newsletter-email-templates.php

 

[Jack Anderson]

Thanks Annie! I've actually selected several newsletter templates from different resources. I like the selection of free themes they offer at http://www.creativebloq.com/career/11-free-newsletter-templates-71510393 And I've looked through this one you mentioned and liked this one http://www.templatemonster.com/newsletter-email-template/55479.html
But don't you think it's expensive to sell a basic html newsletter theme for 14$?

 

[Annie Starks]

But don't you think it's expensive to sell a basic html newsletter theme for 14$?

Maybe... Maybe. Actually I have a discount there like a loyal client.
Free solutions are good when you don't care about unique and up-to-date issues ...

 

[Steve Alphabet]

Make sure it works on mobile – some of the cheaper templates are cheap for a reason

 

[Paul Cardall]

have I got this right - You're a marketing manager for a business offering web design services - and you're working on creating a newsletter template before designing your own web site?

 

[cracklepop]

I paid the designer £25+vat for the design - he is a very good designer and I pass a lot of work his way so get that price for all newsletter designs I need for me / clients,

You did well on the price young grasshopper

 

[CyberHour.com]

You can't really call an email newsletter a campaign, the idea of the campaigns is to get brand awarness and new customers. With newsletter you are communicating with your exist customers.

What we currently do is sending weekly newsletter with special limited time promotions.

We are using our own network to send those mails but you could use mailchimp, they are leading SMTP provider and with their free plan you can send 1000 emails to your mail list .

 

[Rockpapercopy_biz]

Newsletters do work for me. I often get customer inquiries, which don't turn into leads right away. However, after signing up to a mailing list, the same people contact me for the business few months down the line. You just need to be present in their mind and wait for the right moment when they are looking for a product / service you are offering.

 

[Ricky D]

Be careful when signing up to alot of providers that charge based on the size of your list, i have used both mailchimp and aweber. Both had alot of spam sign ups, pushing the cost of the monthly payment up.

If you do go with either try to minimise the amount of spam signups with some sort of anti spam solution (captcha).

 

[aManHasNoName]

They definitely work, if you know how to execute effectively.