How do you design email newsletters that provide value and build trust with your subscribers?

Understand your audience helps you send the right message to the right person at the right time. Which is the core of effective email marketing. Through academics, we know there are MANY ways to get to know your audience: 1. Surveys / questionnaires 2. Website analytics 3. Email analytics 4. Social media analytics 5. Customer data 6. Market research 7. Persona development If we cut the fluff, there is really only ONE way we can truly understand our audience: talk to them. Every week, I try to have 1-3 conversations with my audience: - one-on-one convos - small group convos - happy hour drinks I also engage with them regularly through LinkedIn comments and content. Since 2020, I’ve connected +1,000 people via on- and off-line events.

Knowing your audience needs, interests and goals along their journey will help you create a library of valuable, useful content. Their jobs to be done and questions along the way inform dynamic content delivery that is accurate and timely. Email newsletters created in conjunction with a full digital channel strategy based on how your audience prefers to interact with your brand are most effective.

When Growth Gurus partnered with BBT Club, we quickly recognized the significance of audience-centric content. Rather than dishing out generic newsletters, BBT Club made the wise decision to deeply understand their subscribers. Through gathering insights via feedback forms and analytics, they identified the unique needs and interests of their audience. This data-driven approach enabled the creation of personalized content that resonated with their subscribers, establishing a foundation of trust. When you make the effort to genuinely know and serve your audience, your email newsletters become more than just messages; they become valuable tools that foster loyalty.

Growth Gurus' collaboration with Salty Crush epitomizes the power of purpose-driven email content. Before crafting any newsletter, Salty Crush's primary question was always, "What's our core message?" Whether it was to introduce a new clothing line, share a behind-the-scenes look, or simply engage with their audience, each newsletter had a clear, singular focus. This clarity in purpose not only streamlined their content creation process but also made it easier for subscribers to engage and take the intended action. A well-defined purpose does more than just guide your newsletter; it connects with subscribers in a meaningful way, fostering trust and driving results.

Giving value isn’t always about teaching — it’s also about making things fun. People enjoy fun & entertaining emails because… well, we all like to entertained. So, a great way to provide value is to mix useful info with some fun. This means sharing tips in a way that’s exciting and not just listing them out like a robot. And you can do that by telling stories & then connecting them to the point you’re trying to make.

Actively seeking your audience's thoughts and opinions is one of the most significant ways to provide value to your newsletter because it shows you are listening and making your content relevant to their current concerns and challenges. Actively involving your customers in the content creation process also fosters a sense of community and belonging, which will increase engagement with your newsletter.

In my years of working with various clients at Growth Gurus, the notion of value has consistently emerged as the cornerstone of trust. Every time I've strategised an email campaign, the first filter for content has always been, "Does this add value?" By placing the subscriber's needs and interests at the forefront, I've observed higher engagement rates and deeper brand trust. Whether it's a piece of advice, a nugget of knowledge, or just a moment of entertainment, ensuring that each newsletter offers genuine value is paramount. Over time, respecting and understanding the value quotient has also helped in optimizing email frequency, striking that elusive balance to keep subscribers engaged, informed, and, most importantly, valued.

I like to provide actionable tips right in my emails. There is a place for blog posts and videos, but developing a list of content ideas specifically for email has helped me maintain a robust list and get high open rates. I can often repurpose the content of these emails either as automations for new subscribers or in listicle style posts for my blog. I do both.

Delivering value is about more than just offering advice. Get inside your audience's head. Find out what keeps them up at night. Determine the purpose of each email. What are you trying to achieve? Don't forget to engage with them. Host a live q&a where you can answer questions. You can also learn more about them and what they want to read with a simple survey or online form. Give value in everything you do and say on your newsletter.

Throughout my tenure at Growth Gurus, trust has remained an indispensable element of our email marketing philosophy. Consistency has been the foundation; by ensuring our subscribers know when and what to expect, we cultivate an environment of familiarity. Every campaign I've overseen has emphasized transparency, ensuring that subscribers always have the autonomy to manage their preferences and are aware of how their data is used. But authenticity has been the real game-changer. By humanizing our emails, revealing the personalities behind the brand, and being receptive to feedback, we've fostered genuine connections. After all, trust isn't just about delivering content; it's about building a relationship based on respect and understanding.

A counterintuitive but superb way to build trust is to admit the shortcomings of your product. Let’s face it, no product is perfect. Every product has something that could be better. Talking about these things openly makes you stand out because nobody does this. People appreciate and trust honesty — it makes them more likely to buy.

One of the best ways to build trust with email marketing is to tell people what to expect. When someone signs up for your email list and enters your welcome sequence, tell them how many emails they can expect and for what period of time, and when they can expect to hear from you otherwise When running promotions, tell them what's happening, and don't pretend you're not trying to sell. Give people the option to opt-out. It might seem counterintuitive, but part of building that trust is acknowledging that right now might not be the right time for your subscribers. Question the status quo in marketing tactics, like pretend closing doors on your evergreen programs. Many people can see right through them.

Creating an effective design for your email newsletters is essential. Keep your design clean and straightforward. Your newsletters should look good on any device, whether it's a smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer - most people will view it on a mobile these days! Images should support your content, not overshadow it. Make sure your text is easily readable. Use fonts that are clear and the correct size. CTAs should be easy to find and click on, especially on mobile devices, using images or buttons with text work well. Always test your design before sending it out too! Make sure it looks good on different devices and email clients. Check all the links and the loading times as well.

Don't skim on the design of your email. Involve both the content and the design team. Show them what you are trying to accomplish and let them do their magic. You are always going to be able to optimize the email by gathering analytics, A/B testing copy and subject line, but leave the visual design of it to your design experts.

Having spearheaded several email marketing campaigns at Growth Gurus, I've observed the undeniable impact of a well-optimized design. The nuances might seem minute, but they collectively dictate the user's experience. For instance, incorporating brand-specific visuals, like distinct color palette, immediately establishes a sense of familiarity. Clear headlines and strategic use of subheadings break the content, making it digestible, while the harmonious blend of text and imagery keeps engagement high. It's vital to streamline the layout, ensuring mobile responsiveness. Every component, down to the footer's placement, is strategically chosen, aiming to offer readers both aesthetics and value.

An overlooked aspect of email design is the template. A dynamic template that changes to suit the subscriber's purchase history, who they are, what they desire, and address the challenges that they are facing. For example: if subscriber A purchased product A, remove product A from being ever sold to subscriber A, instead sell product B instead. Or in the header where a tagline may reader "A newsletter for freelancers..." instead for subscribers that are designers it could say "A newsletter for freelance designers..."

first and foremost, start with identifying what success looks like per channel and tactic you are planning on engaging with. We can sit here and argue which email best practice is better over the other but at the end of the day you might find it that your audience does not resonate with any one of them. This is why its key to test your own data so that you can use data driven decision to improve and optimize. Use your email analytics and combine them with the analytics you gathered from your social media platform and dont forget to add any relevant website analytics so that you get a complete road map of what worked (and repeat it) and what did not work (and optimize it).

Did you know waiting too long to send an email to new subscribers who signed up can make them forget they even signed up? I see this happening a lot. A new subscriber signs up when the next newsletter is still a week or month away. Then a week or month later, they receive your FIRST email — your newsletter. They’d be like, “Who is this? Why is this person spamming me?” People have a lot going on, and if you don’t send them a welcome email right after they sign up, they’ll forget about you. So, it’s a good idea to send at least a welcome email to let them know who you are before you send them your newsletters.