The document outlines best practices for creating effective e-newsletters. Key recommendations include respecting the audience's time by keeping content concise and simple, monitoring metrics like open and click-through rates to assess engagement, and ensuring easy unsubscribe processes. Design best practices involve using consistent branding, engaging subject lines and content, and accessible layouts optimized for reading on any device. The goal is to provide value to readers while respecting their limited time and attention.

1. e-Newsletter
Best Practices
By Landry Butler

2. Best Practices: Overview
• Respect your audience's time
• Keep it simple
• Monitor your results

3. Best Practices: Audience
• Average reader spends 51 sec. reading the
average newsletter
• May spend an additional 33 sec. following links
• 19% of potential subscribers lost due to usability
difficulties
• Users often stay subscribed due to difficult
unsubscribe processes
• Some users reported it was easier to use a spam
blocker than to unsubscribe

4. Best Practices: Deliverability
• Include a prominently placed white list
request
• Send newsletter at regular intervals
• Send newsletter at an appropriate time

5. Best Practices: “From” Line
• Easily recognizable
• Sender clearly identified
• Consistent from issue to issue
• Contains both a display and an actual
“from” address
– Eg: MyCompany <newsletter@myco.com>

6. Best Practices: Subject Line
• Engaging and benefit-oriented
• Features something unique to current issue
• Most important information goes first
• Avoid “spammy” words

7. Best Practices: First Screen
• Recognizable logo or company name in
prominent place
• Table of contents for each issue
• Link to read newsletter online

8. Best Practices: Content
• Engaging and benefit-oriented
• Include engagement tools: surveys, polls,
ways to provide feedback, discussion
forums
• 60/40 rule for ads: 60% minimum editorial,
40% maximum ads
• No more than 2-3 printed pages total

9. Best Practices: Look and Feel
• Engaging and attractive design
• Design is consistent with Web site and
landing pages
• Images used to enhance content
• Should engage reader even if images are
blocked
• Easy to skim: short paragraphs, bullet
points and white space

10. Best Practices: Footer
• One-click unsubscribe link
• Link to subscription management page
• Postal address for sender
• Sender’s copyright notice

11. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many valid email
addresses received the
complete newsletter?

12. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many times was the
newsletter viewed?

13. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many times were links in
the newsletter clicked on?

14. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many registrations,
memberships or other
actions were generated by
this newsletter?

15. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Use dedicated software
to track response rates
and simplify your life

16. Best Practices: Summary
• Respect your audience's time
• Keep it simple
• Monitor your results

17. Best Practices: References
• E-Newsletter Best Practices
– By Landry Butler
– www.slideshare.net/landrybutler
• E-mail Newsletter Usability
– By Jakob Neilsen
– www.nngroup.com/reports/newsletters/
• Ten Email Design Best Practices
– By Don Nicholas and Jeanne Jennings
– Mequoda Daily
– www.mequodafree.com
• Larry Chase’s 12 Best Practices e-newsletters
– http://www.wdfm.com/email-best-practices.php

18. e-Newsletter
Best Practices
By Landry Butler
1
1

19. Best Practices: Overview
• Respect your audience's time
• Keep it simple
• Monitor your results
2

20. Best Practices: Audience
• Average reader spends 51 sec. reading the
average newsletter
• May spend an additional 33 sec. following links
• 19% of potential subscribers lost due to usability
difficulties
• Users often stay subscribed due to difficult
unsubscribe processes
• Some users reported it was easier to use a spam
blocker than to unsubscribe
Jakob Neilsen
•Users don’t spend much time reading newsletters. They spend most of
their time doing other things.
•Users want their newsletter to “just work”
•Unsubscribing should be easier than setting up a spam filter which
may also block legitimate messages
3

21. Best Practices: Deliverability
• Include a prominently placed white list
request
• Send newsletter at regular intervals
• Send newsletter at an appropriate time
Delivery
•Give an example of “white listing”
•Users should opt in and “white list” “from” address
•Business newsletters should be delivered during business hours
4

22. Best Practices: “From” Line
• Easily recognizable
• Sender clearly identified
• Consistent from issue to issue
• Contains both a display and an actual
“from” address
– Eg: MyCompany <newsletter@myco.com>
5

23. Best Practices: Subject Line
• Engaging and benefit-oriented
• Features something unique to current issue
• Most important information goes first
• Avoid “spammy” words
•what are “spammy” words?
• Russian font to English speaker
• FREE, ORDER NOW
• Anything to do with sex, drugs or money
6

24. Best Practices: First Screen
• Recognizable logo or company name in
prominent place
• Table of contents for each issue
• Link to read newsletter online
7

25. Best Practices: Content
• Engaging and benefit-oriented
• Include engagement tools: surveys, polls,
ways to provide feedback, discussion
forums
• 60/40 rule for ads: 60% minimum editorial,
40% maximum ads
• No more than 2-3 printed pages total
8

26. Best Practices: Look and Feel
• Engaging and attractive design
• Design is consistent with Web site and
landing pages
• Images used to enhance content
• Should engage reader even if images are
blocked
• Easy to skim: short paragraphs, bullet
points and white space
9

27. Best Practices: Footer
• One-click unsubscribe link
• Link to subscription management page
• Postal address for sender
• Sender’s copyright notice
10

28. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many valid email
addresses received the
complete newsletter?
Develop benchmarks to measure newsletter’s effectiveness in order to
know what adjustments to make.
Jupiter Research sample metrics
88% deliverable rate
20% open rate – Tells you how many times the newsletter was viewed
(C: iContact’s best clients = 40 %)
9.5% click through rate
1.1% conversion rate
11

29. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many times was the
newsletter viewed?
Develop benchmarks in order to know what adjustments to make.
12

30. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many times were links in
the newsletter clicked on?
13

31. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Deliverable rate
• Open rate
• Click through rate
• Conversion rate
How many registrations,
memberships or other
actions were generated by
this newsletter?
14

32. Best Practices: Benchmarks
• Use dedicated software
to track response rates
and simplify your life
Don't try to do this with Outlook or Gmail. Use the right tool for the job.
There are many commercial and free programs that can help you send
and track your newsletter. I've used PHPList and Emma. They both do
about the same thing in a lot of ways, but Emma is much easier to use.
MailChimp was suggested in a recent presentation. It is an Emma
competitor with a lot more free options.
15

33. Best Practices: Summary
• Respect your audience's time
• Keep it simple
• Monitor your results
The End
16

34. Best Practices: References
• E-Newsletter Best Practices
– By Landry Butler
– www.slideshare.net/landrybutler
• E-mail Newsletter Usability
– By Jakob Neilsen
– www.nngroup.com/reports/newsletters/
• Ten Email Design Best Practices
– By Don Nicholas and Jeanne Jennings
– Mequoda Daily
– www.mequodafree.com
• Larry Chase’s 12 Best Practices e-newsletters
– http://www.wdfm.com/email-best-practices.php
Other
•What else? AUDIENCE DISCUSS
17