In four steps to an editorial formula for your perfect digital newsletter

Many entrepreneurs use it on their website: being able to subscribe to a newsletter. And rightly so, because newsletter subscriptions are an ideal way to generate leads and to bind customers. On one condition: that newsletter must be and remain interesting. Leads that you have once lost due to a bad newsletter, you generally never win back. The step-by-step plan below helps you with a clear editorial formula, so that your newsletter collects leads and keeps them warm instead of being rejected.

Step 1: Determine goal and target group

Do you want to inform your customers, collect leads or work on your image? It is good to have a clear view of the main purpose of your newsletter. The goal that you pursue largely determines which content you need to convey in your newsletter and in what way. If you want to improve your image, you will have to work a lot with creative, inspiring content. If you want to collect leads, attractive promotions and promotions are more suitable.

Parallel to the purpose of your newsletter you must determine the target group. Is the target group of your service or product not to be classified under one name? Then investigate the possibilities of sending different variations of your newsletter, based on different target groups. You address the 60-year-old, experienced entrepreneur differently than the 20-year-old starter.

The AVG regulations also apply to a newsletter.

Step 2: Check the regulations

Before you go any further: the AVG and others nowadays impose rules for sending you newsletters. How often do you send information and for what purpose? Tenderers must explicitly agree to this, so you must state it explicitly. And those different variations of your newsletter are nice, but do force you to request this kind of data from registrants. There are rules attached to the retention of that information. First read this carefully before sending your first newsletter.

Step 3: Determine frequency, layout and format

It is useful if subscribers are sure that they can find the promotions for next week at the top of your newsletter every Friday morning. So to speak. A fixed frequency (tip: people read their e-mail in the morning) and layout ensure that people read your content and know what to expect. Try to build in fixed sections that you return with every letter. It is good to include information that is not on your website; give tenderers the idea that they are inside information that regular website visitors don't just get!

Improve your newsletter by receiving and processing feedback.

Step 4: Measure and adjust

Have you sent your first newsletter? Top! Time to measure success and immediately go into improvement mode. Various sending tools offer the possibility to measure how often your mail is opened, on which recipients click and which parts they ignore. Delete the sections that do not generate clicks and try to build on the success of your popular newsletter sections. Adjust after every mailing and ensure that recipients can also send in their feedback via a link at the bottom of your newsletter. Only by continuous improvement can you remain relevant.