Resources > The Benefits of Different Types of Email Newsletters

The Benefits of Different Types of Email Newsletters

By Jani Kumpula
Senior Webmaster/UI Designer, L-Soft

Email newsletters are used in all types of organizations, from corporations to education, government and non-profits. Let's take a closer look at different types of email newsletters and how each can support your communication goals.

Different Types of Email Newsletters

In general, email newsletters can be divided into three main categories depending on their purpose, with different levels of customization and sophistication involved.

	Announcements: Sometimes you just need to get your message out. Email is an ideal channel to disseminate not just urgent alerts but also pre-planned announcements, for example conference schedules, meeting minutes or other reports. There is usually little or no need for customization, and response tracking is not critically important.
	Outreach: Email outreach campaigns can take many forms. Monthly customer or member newsletters, for example, allow you to stay in touch with your audiences and nurture quality, long-term relationships. Targeting and customization can be used to increase relevancy, and email tracking gives you valuable insights about campaign performance.
	Marketing: Email newsletters are often used for marketing and sales purposes. You can use existing customer data to carefully tailor your messages to each subscriber's interests. Your open, click and conversion metrics provide in-depth data about the effectiveness of your campaigns, allowing you to refine your marketing strategy for improved results.

Use Cases and Inspiration

	Communications Director: Shelley – Alumni Engagement Shelley uses email newsletters to engage alumni and boost donations to the university. The newsletter is customized for each recipient and features tailored donor messages, general university news and region-specific reunion invitations, all based on data from the alumni database.
	PR Coordinator: Ethan – Public Outreach Ethan at a city transit agency sends email alerts about delays and other interruptions in the city's bus and subway system. When subscribing, people can select the bus routes and subway lines of interest to ensure that they receive the most relevant alerts. Announcements about upcoming system expansion planning meetings are sent out monthly.
	Research Director: Barbara – Member Communication Barbara at a non-profit medical association sends monthly email newsletters informing members and practicing physicians of legislative developments, the latest medical research and other current news of interest. Each newsletter links to a landing page where all research reports are conveniently available to download.
	Marketing Manager: Andre – Customer Communication Andre at a major media company sends email bulletins containing the most important news of the day to subscribers every morning as well as breaking news alerts whenever they occur. All mailings are tailored to each subscriber based on their profiles and news of interest and help drive traffic to the news website throughout the day.

Best Practices for Sending Effective Email Newsletters

Permission: When it comes to email newsletters and outreach campaigns, ethical practices are crucial. Always obtain explicit, prior consent from subscribers before adding them to your email lists. Also include a one-click unsubscribe link in every message so that subscribers can easily leave if they choose. This is not just a best practice but a legal requirement in most jurisdictions.
Templates: Create visually appealing and consistent newsletter templates with your logo, colors and graphic profile that makes your brand stand out. This will also help subscribers quickly identify you as the sender. Also remember to inform and educate all of your departments and end users about where to find and how to use the templates in all of their communications.
Tracking: Utilize open, click and conversion tracking to assess the success of your campaigns. These insights allow you to learn more about your audiences and to make adjustments to improve future campaigns. If you're using personal tracking, which allows you to get details about exactly which subscriber clicked on which link, make sure that you have obtained permission for this in jurisdictions that require it.
Targeting: Use your subscriber data to segment, target and tailor your email newsletters according to each subscriber's interests and preferences. Beyond the basics of better open, click and conversion rates, using targeting and customization to bring relevant, relationship-building content to your subscribers can also enhance your overall ROI.
Triggers: Set up follow-up messages that are automatically sent out in response to specific subscriber behavior. For example, if a subscriber clicks on a link from a previous campaign, you can trigger a reminder message to be sent out after a certain amount of time has passed. Automatic triggers take targeting a step further and allow you to take advantage of real-time data about your subscriber interests.

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