4 Steps to More Engaging Internal Newsletters
Building engaging internal emails is tough. No matter how often you do it, it always seems to be the same story. You spend hours editing your email templates and rearranging the content. Afterwards, you ask around and receive numerous tips from co-workers, but nothing seems to stick.
To save you from repeating the same scenario, we’ve put together a few simple tips that will hopefully help you create more engaging internal emails.
Add an Eye-catching Subject Line
Tell Them What’s Inside
Letting your employees know what your email is about before they open it is one of the best ways to increase engagement. The reason behind it is quite simple: your recipients know what to expect. So if you’re thinking of using an intriguing yet somewhat misleading or uninformative subject line – don’t do it. It may get people to open your email, but recipients will be just as likely to close it.
Example: Subject lines like “Tuesday’s Conference Details” or “Register for Tuesday’s Conference” would be more effective than “It’s finally here!”.
Highlight Its Importance
Nobody likes it when a team member misses out on important news regarding meetings or team-building events. Unfortunately, this can happen if employees find it hard to determine the value of a specific email. Therefore, if your company sends out internal emails regularly, it can be useful to highlight the importance of some emails.
Example: Subject lines like “Important: Marketing Seminar” would likely be more effective than simply writing “Friday’s Seminar” or “Seminar Details”. In some cases, mentioning the time left until the email is no longer valid could also be a way of highlighting its importance.
Engaging Preheader
Sure, the preheader (or “preview text”) is not the same thing as the subject line, but they are both essential when it comes to capturing the recipient’s attention. The preheader allows users to peek at the content inside of your internal emails and decide whether it’s worth opening. In other words, the preheader is your second chance to convince your recipients to open the email. Make the best of it.
Create an Inviting Design
Now that the recipients, captivated by your brilliant subject line, have opened up your email, it’s time to discuss the design. This is where you not only express your creativity but also make it easier for the reader to find their way around your internal emails.
Clean Layout
An organized layout makes it easier for recipients to focus on separate parts of the email. When working on the layout, don’t be afraid to leave spaces between bits of content. It’s better to have a few empty spaces than a crowded email. To easily communicate a single, direct message to your employees, try using a one-column or two-column layout in your internal emails.
Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is essential when it comes to creating engaging internal emails. If done correctly, it allows the reader to quickly determine which part of the email contains the most important and relevant information. Take into account the positions, colors, contrasts, shapes and sizes of objects when building your email.
Be Creative
Creativity is essential when it comes to creating welcoming email designs. Don’t just pump your email full of long bodies of text and large headlines. Make sure you use an array of colors, images and illustrations to make your email more pleasurable to read. Consider using diagrams or infographics to add some visual elements without distracting your recipients from the main message.
Create Conversations
The purpose of internal emails is more than just delivering a one-way message. It’s about creating conversations. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Q&A
Have your employees send in questions that they may have regarding anything that’s going on in the company. This can not only create conversation but also increase trust.
Link to a Discussion
Add a button linking back to an active discussion in your intranet. Encourage your recipients to join in.
Ask for Feedback
Allow employees to express their opinions using anonymous feedback forms.
Time to Send
Timing
Good timing when sending out your internal emails, can significantly improve your CTR (click-through-rate) and engagement rate. Since the best time to send out emails can vary from company to company, there isn’t much to say here except – keep an eye on your analytics tab. It can provide some useful insights regarding the best time of the month, week and even day, to send out your emails.
Understanding Analytics
Being able to analyze the information displayed in your analytics tab can be a huge advantage when it comes to creating engaging internal emails. The analytics allow you to see what devices are used to open your emails, the links that recipients click on and much more. By analyzing the data, you can understand what parts of your internal emails need to be changed.
Hopefully, this article helped you figure out what you could improve when it comes to building your company’s internal emails. We would love to hear from you, so make sure you let us know what aspects of internal communication you would like us to look into in future blogs. You can reach via Twitter @EnovaPoint.
