Your Newsletter? It Could Be Better…
Everyone knows the value of having your very own newsletter for your product. Engagement, growth etc but many of these product newsletters make very simple mistakes that make them unfriendly and a pain to read. Here are some quick tips.
Avoid Grids
Keep it simple. No one wants to read a 3 column grid of content with various sections and subsections and a header image for each. A basic single column layout with items listed one after the other is best. It looks great on all devices and it’s the easiest to skim. The occasional two column section? Sure, but keep it there.
Take a look at the Verge’s newsletter below. It’s super simple, nice to look at and, you can’t help but skim through and possibly find something interesting.
Lists
Lists are your friend! Long paragraphs are the enemy. If you’re newsletter focuses on sharing interesting links adjacent to your product, get on with the links and keep the paragraphs to a minimum. Your newsletter’s value is the content you’re sharing.
The Verge’s newsletter is also a great example of how to use lists.
Less Images
Images are great, everyone loves them but when you’re newsletter is dominated by images and you’re business isn’t photo related it’s annoying. Not to mention the time it can take for every image to load. On a poor connection, it just creates more reasons to close your newsletter and read something else. So keep the images to a minimum unless they’re the draw of your newsletter.
Personalized Greetings
‘Hey, John, It’s 2017 and I think you still believe that I someone wrote this just for you’. That’s what personalized greeting say. Don’t waste both of our time, just get on with the content.
Excessive HTML
Your newsletter is not a website. Bringing your website design to email is a tempting idea but it just leads to a confusing mess with tiny touch targets on mobile. A full nav bar is far from necessary. Not to mention the extra time it takes to render and someone becomes way more likely to tap ‘Delete’.
Content is King
The main value of any newsletter is the content it delivers. Whatever design you go with should make that content easily accessible and scannable. A few simple tweaks could make a lot of difference.
What frustrates you the most about newsletters?
