During the initial stage of the marketing funnel, your first goal as a company should be to spread awareness about your brand. Email newsletters are one of the most cost-effective ways to reach prospects and keep your company top-of-mind. But how do you create a newsletter that subscribers will actually want to open?

The newsletter topics you choose are crucial to increasing your open rate and urging prospects further down the marketing funnel. Here is how to research topics and provide content that is both engaging and informative.

Conduct Keyword Searches

What are your customers searching for online? Your audience’s search engine habits provide a major clue into the topics that they care about, and are a goldmine for finding newsletter topics.

Use keyword research tools like Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner to measure search volume and competition, see which keywords rank higher for customers, and understand which search terms have generated traffic to your website.

For example, if you’re a personal trainer, you might notice that many users are searching for quick workouts. This would be an excellent reason to create a newsletter that focuses on ways to work out during your lunch hour, or routines that can be completed in under 30 minutes.

Use Online Forums

It’s not just Google that your prospects are using. To learn about what topics matter to your target audience, search online forums like Reddit and Quora. You will be able to read not only the questions that customers are posing, but what others have to say about a topic. For example, a dietician might search on Reddit and realize that many people are struggling with sticking to a boring or long-term diet. This could result in a useful newsletter containing new low-carb recipes to try, or creative ways to jazz up their next meal.

 

Strive for Balance

As a rule of thumb, your newsletter content should be 90% educational and 10% promotional. No subscriber wants to hear about your products or services every time you reach out. Instead, focus on sending subscribers content that is educational, timely, and relevant.

For example, a clothing retailer should be sending newsletters that share information about new fashion trends, how to mimic celebrity style, and even secrets to snapping the perfect Instagram shot of your outfit. This content is more likely to be clicked on than yet another email about your latest sale.

Ask!

One of the best ways to provide value to your readers is to ask them what kind of content they’d like to see more of. Send out a survey in your next newsletter or conduct a poll on social media to ask your audience what questions they would like answered. This is a great way to learn more about what makes your customers tick and how you can provide value to their lives.

By providing valuable newsletter content, your company will be able to continuously demonstrate its value to subscribers. A successful email campaign can help increase conversions, boost word-of-mouth awareness, and give customers a reason to continue interacting with your brand.