Your Email Newsletter Launch Checklist

Newsletters have always been a popular choice for marketers, and that trend continues to rise. But why should you have one, and what are the tools you would require to make the most of it?

One of the best methods to connect with your audience is through email marketing–but its effectiveness depends on your ability to expand and maintain your email list.

Email newsletters give you ownership over your audience and don't serve as a middleman, unlike other social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter. Getting into their inbox makes their user experience more personal.

But don’t just take it from us–let’s review some statistics. According to this study, 49% of consumers are happy to receive emails from the brands they love every week. And here’s another good one–every $1 that you spend on email marketing gives you a return of $36 on average.

Starting your newsletter and figuring out the tools you’d need might seem a tedious task at first, but it doesn’t have to be. From defining your niche to building your audience, designing your newsletter, sending out the newsletter, and scaling it, we’re here to help.

How Does an Email Newsletter Subscription Work?

To put it simply, a newsletter subscription is when your audience subscribes to your emails. Easy, right?

When someone signs up for your newsletter, you are granted permission to appear directly in their email inbox–making it simple for them to receive updates from you, and freeing you from the need to rely on any other platform that serves as a channel for communication.

Newsletter Email Subscription (The Launch Checklist)

Choose your email newsletter tool

Evaluate which platform best fits your niche and offers the most flexibility for you to use. You might want to think about factors like integrations, analytics, customization, segmentation, reporting, etc. before starting your email newsletter journey. A newsletter tool should help you explore all these aspects while providing the flexibility to create top-notch content.

Set up your account and configure your settings

Once you've chosen your email newsletter tool, you need to set up your account. Here’s where you should pick out a name, be it the name you want to be known by, or your newsletter’s niche. This is also the part where you define your audience and set up your email list.

One-click signup

Your sign-up form is the window through which people will come across your newsletter and make the decision to sign up for it.

Give them reasons to follow you and inform them of the benefits of subscribing to your newsletter.

Create a unique magic link to increase conversions with one-click subscription links so that your audience can easily sign up for your content!

Create your first newsletter

The first one can be challenging to write, but it's also the opportunity to grab your audience's attention and deliver the content that they have signed up for. Draft fast, and edit slow to make the writing process easier.

The most important factor is the content, but the design is also crucial.

You need to make sure your newsletter design adds more to the user experience.

Promote your newsletter

Once your newsletter is ready, it's time to spread the word about it.

Social media, your website, and other marketing channels can all be used for this.

Make sure to explain what subscribers can expect from your newsletter and the benefits of signing up.

Send your first newsletter

It's time to issue your first newsletter after you've promoted it and gathered a few subscribers. Before sending, make sure to test it to ensure that everything appears and works as it should.

For example, you might decide to send it to yourself, at an alternate email, or to some friends and family.

Or, with beehiiv, you can use the preview feature to see exactly what it will look like across different devices before sending.

Analyze and optimize

Consider taking some time to evaluate the outcomes after sending your first newsletter.

Open rates, click-through rates, and other metrics are a good place to start. Utilize this knowledge to improve the effectiveness of your newsletter.

Tips for Success for Your Email Newsletter

Define your niche

First off, you’ve got to define what you want to be known for. Having a niche is a win-win situation, for you as well as your audience.

They know what they can expect from you, and you know what you need to deliver. You can include a mix of content in your newsletter, such as news, articles, tips, and special offers around the same niche.

This will keep your readers engaged and interested in your content.

Be consistent

Consistency is the key. Be consistent with your newsletter schedule. This will help you build trust and credibility with your subscribers and keep them coming back for more. If you share your newsletter on Fridays, at one point in time it’ll get registered in their brain: Fridays are for your newsletter.

They’ll come to expect this, and it’s important to deliver on those expectations.

Take time to understand your insights

There’s no word limit or magic number that would help you get more open rates. You’ve got to add value to your audience’s experience. Finding your mail in their inbox should motivate them to not only open but read what you’ve shared. However, ensuring your email subject lines really pop is crucial to getting those opens.

The truth is that you won't be able to determine what length is ideal for your particular audience without some time and testing. But that's fantastic news! There is less competition for those who are prepared to put in the time and effort since any marketer seeking a golden ticket based on some alleged optimal word count is out of luck.

Your subscribers’ preferences can vary from segment to segment; you don’t have to send the same newsletter format to everyone. The key is decoding your reader’s experience. By placing them at the center of the design of your newsletter, you're putting yourself in a position to create a dedicated list of engaged readers, from which you may be able to cultivate some of your most devoted users. Even a small detail like using your recipient's name in the subject line can boost your open rates by as much as 26%.

Overall, the key to the success of a newsletter is to provide valuable and interesting content that your readers will find useful and engaging.

Getting Started with Your Newsletter Subscription Service

Selecting a newsletter subscription service or email service provider (ESP) is about finding a platform that gives you flexibility with your content and helps you analyze better so that you can adapt and change to match your readers’ needs and interests.

There are a few things you might want to consider before you start your search for the perfect ESP. Make sure you choose an ESP that offers the following features:

• A/B testing - To help you compare two versions of your content and figure out which performs better.

• Offering premium subscriptions - So you can monetize your audience, the way you like.

• Segmentation - What percentage of last month's subscribers came from Twitter? And are they more active subscribers than the ones who joined through LinkedIn? Segmentation helps in addressing these concerns.

• Custom Fields - To make your audience feel more seen and connected to your content.

Basically, finding a newsletter subscription is about finding what works flawlessly for you while you create content.

Here are some of the best services you can consider:

• Beehiiv

• Convert kit

• Sendinblue

• AWeber

• Revue

• MailerLite

• Mailchimp

• Substack

• HubSpot

• GetResponse

Newsletter Subscription Confirmation Email (Closing Thoughts)

A subscription confirmation email is the deal breaker. It marks the beginning of your reader’s journey as your audience. Confirmation emails, as the name suggests, confirm to visitors that they’re signed in and also tell you who your audience is. Once they have signed up for your newsletter, a confirmation email makes it clear that they'll now be getting emails from you. You can thank them for signing up and tell them how excited you are to have them around.

This is your moment to tell the visitor what they can expect and expose your features. As this would be their first interaction with you, this will give them a deeper understanding of you and what you have to offer. Here you can talk about the place you're coming from and tell them why they should read your content every week. You can add your social media handles for them to see your work and hence make a decision to sign up.

As the sole purpose is to get the subscription confirmed, put your CTA button in the spotlight to stand out and encourage them to take action. If they do not confirm the subscription

A Subscription Confirmation Email can come in two forms:

• Single opt-in - This confirms that the person has filled out your subscription and will be receiving future emails from you so there isn’t a need to validate their email, making the process faster and easier for them.

• Double opt-in - the subscribers have to confirm their signup before any emails are delivered to them by clicking on the “confirm subscription” button.

Double opt-in has an edge over single opt-in because it ensures that subscribers are real people who want to subscribe – not spammers using fake addresses. This makes the subscriber take an extra step to confirm that they want to receive emails from you, but it saves you from spammers and bots.

Now you’re all good to set up your newsletter and kickstart your journey. You can figure things out along the way to see what works and what doesn’t, for you as well as your readers.

The perfect newsletter service will help you scale your newsletter while providing the best tools for it.

You can begin your journey today on beehiiv, for free!

Sign up today–we’re waiting to help you grow.