Email Newsletter Structure

What is a proper email structure?

• Header
• Body
• Footer

Header

The header is the first element that users see when receiving an email. The first impression they get from the email will determine whether the recipients will be interested in reading the message or will ignore it instead.

The structure includes:

• Subject line
• Preheader text/Preview text
• “From” name (sender’s name) and email address
• Reply-to address

Do your best to catch the recipient’s attention here, as you won’t get a second chance to do so.

Example:

Tips to create good email subject lines:

1. Shorten your subject lines
2. Avoid spam words in your email subject lines
3. Ask open-ended questions in the subject line
4. Include a deadline in the subject line
5. Try a teaser subject line to get people to open your email
6. Give a clear command in your subject
7. Share something valuable in your subject line
8. Make an announcement right in the subject
9. Be unique in the email inbox
10. Tell a joke with your email subject
11. Say something unexpected or intriguing
12. Highlight video and other multimedia in your email subject

3. Preheader text/Preview text

An email preheader is another element of your email that a subscriber will see in their email inbox. It’s the text that follows the email subject and previews the content of your email.

Using the same example above, the preheader is the text that says “Get a discount on skating lessons when you enroll before May 1st.”

4. “From” name (sender’s name) and email address

When you send bulk marketing email, your email “From” name (the display name, also known as the email Sender name) tells your recipients who sent them the message. It is just as important as your subject line and can be the determining factor as to whether your email is opened, or ignored.

5. Names in Email Marketing

Company name

The most common sender name is simply your company name. Knowing how important sender name is for establishing trustworthiness and brand reputation, you can understand why many brands choose this.

First name at company

Another way to convey a personal touch is to send from a specific employee using the pattern: First Name at/from/@ Company. This is especially popular in the B2B sector. 

Full name

When you’re an influencer, industry thought leader, or five-star Michelin chef. Ok, that list is a teensy bit limited. Basically, if your full name IS your brand, then you should be using that as your sender name.Genre / Service Type

The fourth common formula for sender name is to let your subscribers know what type of message or service the email contains.

Some examples of this:

• PayPal Transfers (notifying me that I just received a payment)
• Google Location Sharing (reminding me I was sharing my location with someone)
• TransferWise Rate Alerts (sharing this morning’s EUR-USD exchange rate)

For large companies, using a sender name that differentiates one type of email from another reveals key information about the message itself. 

The sender name can include the brand name (always!) plus an additional piece of information giving more details about what’s inside.

Reply-to address

What to Know:
Go to Settings > See all settings > Accounts and Import, then, in the Send mail as section, select Edit info next to the email address. Select Specify a different “reply-to” address, enter an address, then select Save Changes.Select the email address next to the From field at the top of a message to choose from the list of “send mail as” accounts.
Email body

Email body

Email bodies of text are the backbone of your email campaigns, as most of the information you want to disclose is in this section. When you’re creating the body, you have a clean slate that allows you to create a design that will be aesthetically pleasing to your customers.

Also email body contains the message of the email. Effective emails keep their email bodies short and add more extensive information to the attachments. For formal emails, such as messages to an employer or emails to your teacher, it’s best to avoid common email abbreviations.

How to write email body

Personalize

This is already a must for each email marketing campaign. According to this Accenture study, 41% of consumers switched the brands they buy from because of poor personalization. No one wants to feel like just a number on an anonymous client list. When you call users by their name, it makes them feel more valued and makes them perceive your company as committed to their best interests. If you’re unsure about customer segmentation, this article will help you segment your client base for effective personalization.

Formatting

Use number list for:

• Priorities
• Time order      

Use bullets for:

• Equivalent priorities or goals
• Unordered list of similar things

CTA

Calls to action or CTAs are used to attract users’ attention and, according to WordStream, can increase clicks by 371% and sales up to 1,617%. If you send an incredible message, but don’t encourage your readers to take action, then they will just read your message and close the email. Don’t let this happen! Ask them to sign up for your newsletter, suggest learning more about the company on your website, or make use of a welcome discount.

Call To Action Examples:

1. Learn more
2. Sign up
3. Get offer
4. Subscribe
5. Book now
6. Shop now
7. See more
8. Download
9. Use code
10. Show me the findings
11. Claim 500% discount
12. Get access
13. Add to cart
14. Continue
15. Get the guide

Use a well-balanced design

The composition of your emails must have a healthy balance between text and visuals. You might think that using more pictures will attract more attention, which is actually very likely. However, a message full of images increases the size of the email, which results in longer loading times.

The same goes for text. If you overload the message with too much text, the only thing you’ll achieve is making the reader feel overwhelmed. Your email should be easy to skim through at a glance.

Footer

The header of your email was awesome and it encouraged the user to open your message. The email body also caught their eye, so… what’s next? Take advantage of the last section of your email to inform the recipient how to get in touch with you.

Don’t miss the opportunity to ask them to subscribe to your newsletter or to contact you with any questions. The footer is the section where you can get your reader to take action.

The three elements you should include in the footer

1. Subscription

Don’t let the user leave without giving them the opportunity to subscribe to your regular email newsletter. If they do so, thank them for the subscription and inform them about what type of messages they will be receiving and how often you will contact them.

2. Unsubscribe option

No one wants to let go of a subscriber, but you need to give your users the possibility of deciding that they don’t want to receive your communication anymore. By providing an unsubscribe link you’re letting your customers know that you value their opinions and choices.

3. Contact information

Include all communication channels that are available for a user to contact you — whether it’s your phone number, website, social networks or your physical address. This way, the user can see that you are a legitimate business, and that you can be trusted.

This also applies to legal information. You can include terms and conditions of promotions, the privacy policy, and other similar elements.

Example: