Sending Newsletters For Your Handmade Business

Email newsletters are a fantastic way to generate leads, drive traffic and keep your customers updated with new designs, announcements and information.

In this post, we’ll be looking at how to send your first newsletter, grow your subscriber list and create content that your customers will love.

Choose a newsletter platform

There are many email marketing platforms that are perfect for small business owners who would like the explore this option. MailChimp is one of the most popular platforms, offering a free basic plan for those with a small number of subscribers - meaning you don’t even need a budget!

Do your research into the other email platforms available, try free trials and find one that works best for you.

How to build your subscriber list

So you want to send an email, but you don’t know how to gain subscribers? It’s easier than you think. Many platforms you use will give you a link which you can share with your customers where they will be able to sign up to your newsletters.

If you have a website, integrate your sign up form and make it really easy for website users to sign up to your newsletter. Whether it’s at the bottom of your website or a pop-up box which appears when users visit your site.

You can also build your email list when attending events such as at a craft fair. By having a tablet available to collect data, you will be able to grow your list quickly and find new customers in the process.

Treat your subscribers

Giving your new subscribers a reward is a great way to get them to subscribe in the first place. Perhaps you will enter them into a prize draw or give them 10% off their next order if they subscribe - this is a great way to grab people’s attention and get them signing up.

Choose a template

Most platforms will provide you with easy to use templates which you can use for every newsletter you send. You will be able to include your logo, which is important for your brand as it will help the user recognise who the email is from instantly. You will be able to upload your own artwork, add text, along with social media links too.

Create engaging content

When creating content for your email newsletters, it’s definitely important to remember it’s quality over quantity. You want your customers to gain valuable information. If you are sending lots of newsletters with very little information that won’t be useful for the user, they will be more likely to unsubscribe.

Creating a schedule is a great way to ensure the content you send is engaging for the user. By planning your designs and creating a strategy, you will be able to share new designs, behind the scenes action or a simple update on your business.

Blog posts are a great way to get people to your website and by providing valuable content you will gain trust from the reader. By landing on your page, the user is more likely to take time to browse your website and see what’s on offer - hopefully landing you a sale.

Optimise landing pages

Whether you’re linking to your website or Etsy shop, the page that the user lands on can make or break a sale. If the landing page is full of broken links, with little information this can increase the chances of the user bouncing off your site - fast!

Always ensure your landing pages are full of valuable information for the user and that it’s what they are expecting. Make sure all the information is up to date and always check that your links work.

AB Testing

On platforms such as MailChimp and Campaign Monitor, you have the option to create split testing. This means you can send two different versions of the email to a small proportion of your email list to see which one is more successful. This is a great way to understand what engages your customer most and help you design better emails in the future.

Analyse statistics

Platforms will provide you with a range of statistics that will help you understand your users and find out what content engages with them most. By seeing click rates and open rates, you can easily see what newsletters perform the best.

If you have Google Analytics, showing you statistics from your website, you will also be able to see more information on the users coming from your newsletters and whether you are creating conversions.

Create call to action

You don’t want to give away all the information in your newsletters as it’s important to tempt your subscribers and persuade them to visit your site. Whether that’s a new product or blog post, you can create a call to action button to drive traffic to your site. For example is if you have a new design, you could put ‘Shop Now’, ‘Discover Now’, ‘Get Yours!’ - these buttons help encourage the subscriber to click through to your site.

Use automation

With email marketing platforms, you can create automated emails. For example, you can have a newsletter which goes out to all of your new subscribers. By doing this, you can introduce your business to the subscriber and perhaps reward them with a treat for subscribing or let them know what to expect from your future newsletters. A simple thank you can go a long way.

Follow best practices

Email marketing is a brilliant way to gain leads for sales but you need to ensure that you follow best practices. You can do this by avoiding spamming your subscribers, providing a double opt in method, making it easy for users to unsubscribe, keeping your list organised and being transparent with your subscribers with what you are doing with their data. We recommend reading more on the best practices of email marketing before going ahead.