Our world is “e-addicted.” Many people spend hours on social media every day. And almost everyone uses electronic devices to stream their favorite shows, listen to the radio or read “print” publications. While most Americans consume media across a variety of platforms daily, there is likely one channel they check multiple times a day: their email.

Email newsletters allow brands to reach audiences on a highly frequented platform, communicate directly with internal and external customers, and repurpose content from social media, websites, blog posts and more.

Don’t have an e-newsletter? Here’s why you should consider one.

The top 5 benefits of having an e-newsletter 

An email newsletter can take your content marketing game to the next level. Here are just five of the many advantages an e-newsletter can give you.

1. E-newsletters produce a lucrative ROI.

Incorporating emails into your marketing toolbox is a cost-effective way to reach consumers. Consider this: There are 3.5 billion social media accounts. Yet there are nearly 4 billion active email users, according to Campaign Monitor, our trusted email tool. What’s more, email marketing yields a return on investment (ROI) of $36 for every $1 spent, and that number can increase with innovative strategies like running A/B testing, utilizing GIFs and having a pre-send checklist.

2. E-newsletters increase your engagement with your audience.

E-newsletters enable you to send personalized content to your consumers. Not only is personalized content attractive to a reader since it’s subject matter they’re interested in, but it also leads to a higher open and click rate. This approach can also decrease the unsubscribe rate. It’s important to understand that sending an email to a list of 500 interested readers is better than sending to 3,000 random individuals who will delete it and mark it as spam.

3. E-newsletters help you build brand recognition.

If done correctly, an e-newsletter can help your brand become increasingly recognized — and anticipated — by your audience. Going beyond having your correct logos, colors and language displayed in an email, you’re also able to consistently provide content that allows your consumers to anticipate your emails. This can lead to stronger relationships with your customers. Emails don’t have to be rationed to only once per month. Roughly 33% of marketers send weekly emails, and 26% send emails multiple times per month, according to Databox.

4. E-newsletters help you increase website traffic.

If you’re looking to increase traffic to your website, email marketing will accomplish that goal. Emails can include relevant links to your website, whether it’s to purchase an item or visit a blog.

5. E-newsletters help you establish your business as a thought leader.

If you own a law firm, you want your customers and prospects to think of your law firm whenever they’re in a legal bind. If you own a dog-grooming business, you want your audience to think of your business whenever Fido needs a bubble bath and nail trim. You get the idea. An e-newsletter can help you showcase your expertise and give your audience top-of-mind awareness of your business.

The top 5 quick tips for your e-newsletter

From template design to timing to text, there’s a lot to think about with your email marketing campaign.

1. Start by creating a template.

Design a template that showcases your logos, brand colors and tagline. Templates make it easy to fill in text boxes and replace images each time a new email needs to be sent.

2. Craft catchy subject lines.

Creative subject lines work in your favor by catching your audience’s attention at the start, but they also need to be direct. The subject and preview portion of your email should make the reader interested enough in your product or offering that they click. Ideally, subject lines should be nine words or fewer and under 60 characters. For the body of the email, keep it between 50 to 125 words. This can lead to a response rate of over 50%.

3. Make sure the content is visually striking.

Eye-pleasing emails are also essential. Use images, icons or GIFs to add a level of interest, but leave plenty of open/white space to make it easy to look at. Always troubleshoot your email, though, to make sure added visuals load properly.

4. Pick the best day and time to send.

Emails sent during specific times during the day have a higher chance of increasing clicks and ROI. Tuesdays and Thursdays are typically the best days to send emails, with times of 8 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. being peak active hours. The varying times reflect workers arriving to work, eating lunch, leaving work and relaxing after dinner. 

5. Maximize your results with A/B testing.

A/B testing allows you to compare two versions of an email to learn which one readers respond to better. According to MailChimp, a leading email platform, “If you’re trying to grow your business, it can be hard to tell which marketing strategies resonate the most with your audience. A/B testing … lets you try things out so you can improve your content, provide the best customer experiences — and reach your conversion goals faster.”

Email marketing is a great tool to grow your reach, revenue and brand awareness — and it’s cost effective. If your company is searching for a way to be incredibly effective and quicken the buying process, incorporate email marketing into your efforts soon!