Six Ways To Find Out If Your Newsletter Is Failing

Newsletters used to be highly valuable resources for businesses. Today, they mostly just clutter people’s inboxes. There are many reasons for this. Marketers are churning out excess messages or generic campaigns that no longer resonate with the audience. There are many other factors that add to the failure of newsletters such as lack of context and the overuse of promotional content.

Read on to learn the six signs of failing newsletters so you’re able to better recognize when your marketing needs a revamp or boost. 

Newsletters Don't Provide Enough Context To New Subscribers 

Most marketers throw their customers into an ongoing schedule of newsletters when they sign up. While it keeps everyone on the same page, this makes new signees miss out on the context. The best way is to start with a brief history of your business. Then move onto top blog posts and so forth. 

For example, GetVero doubled its open rate by using a five-part series of messages for onboarding new registrants. Before sending its usual emails, it first shared top blog posts, steps to use the app, and so forth. 

The Audience Isn't Able To Resonate With Your Content 

To generate an incredible ROI, email marketing will need to build meaningful experiences. A common mistake of poor newsletters is the failure to resonate with readers. Your content must connect with the audience, but more importantly, it must match the goals of the reader. Otherwise, you’ll be looking at high unsubscribe rates.

The best solution is to switch from a sales-oriented perspective to one that focuses on user-experience. Start by sending relevant, unique, and specific messages to your contact list. 

You're Either Sending Out Newsletters Frequently Or Inconsistently 

Inconsistency is another reason for the failure of your campaign. Sending too many emails will irritate readers. Not enough messages will make them forget your brand. The trick is to create a publishing schedule that’s consistent with the promise you gave to the new subscriber. 

In short, you can’t email users as you please and hope to get a response. On the flip side, a consistent email frequency pushes your readers into a habit of expecting your emails. For example, if you promised to message a user every Saturday at 6 pm, do so without fail.

The Newsletter Doesn't Help The Readers 

An average user subscribes to newsletters hoping to find useful information. However, if you bombard new signees with promotional content instead, most are bound to leave right away. The culprit is the pushy-sales voice that you may be using in the email. 

Begin by shifting the focus to the reader’s perspective. If you’re confused, test different versions of emails or conduct surveys to find out what customers want.

The Newsletters Lack Storytelling 

According to Stanford University research, facts and statistics are good but they’re less memorable than stories. Sending well-structured emails isn’t a good strategy to use at every turn. Moreover, dry messages can disconnect readers from your brand quickly. 

The best solution is to tell emotional stories. This will give your content a voice. You can even format statistics into stories and turn inferences into ‘the moral of the story’. Morals can supplement your CTA as well. 

The CTA Isn't Appealing 

It’s common for marketers to use generic CTAs like ‘drop a comment’ or ‘write back’. To create a successful campaign, you’ll need the subject line and CTA to motivate customers into taking action. 

Obscurity is a buzzkill for email users. Therefore, experts recommend explaining what to do in the CTA. For example, if you want them to click on the link under the email to buy a book or connect on social media, use an eye-catchy CTA that clearly states this.

Bottom Line 

Newsletters are dying in popularity because most fail to provide context or match with the goals of the reader. Inconsistency is a bad habit that also ruins most of these campaigns. Marketers can avoid pitfalls by incorporating stories and useful content into their newsletters. Another trick is to strengthen your CTA.