How to Create an Email Newsletter for Your WordPress Blog (A Comprehensive Guide)
Are you looking to build a stronger connection with your WordPress blog‘s audience and keep them coming back for more? One of the most effective ways to do this is by starting an email newsletter.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about creating an email newsletter for your WordPress blog. From why email marketing is so valuable to step-by-step instructions for getting started to more advanced growth and optimization techniques, you‘ll learn proven strategies for making email newsletters work for you.
What is an Email Newsletter?
First, let‘s define exactly what an email newsletter is. An email newsletter is a regularly distributed email sent to blog subscribers who have opted in to receive updates and messages from you. The content can include blog post roundups, exclusive tips, special offers, personal messages, and more.
The key is that email newsletters are permission-based. The people on your email list have actively signed up because they want to hear from you, which makes them a highly valuable audience. Rather than hoping people will visit your blog, newsletters allow you to show up directly in their inboxes.
Why You Need an Email Newsletter for Your WordPress Blog
There are many reasons why nearly every serious blogger and online business uses email marketing as a key part of their strategy. Here are some of the biggest benefits of email newsletters:
Direct connection with your audience. Social media and search traffic are great, but you don‘t have full control over those platforms. With email, you own your list and can contact your subscribers directly.
More consistent blog traffic. By emailing your list about new blog posts, you‘ll get an initial surge of traffic every time you hit publish. Email is one of the best ways to keep people coming back to your blog over time.
Ability to build deeper relationships. Email feels more personal and direct compared to other channels. You can share more intimate stories and build stronger bonds with your subscribers.
Huge revenue potential. Email marketing has an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent, which is higher than any other channel. Your newsletter can drive sales of your own products or earn affiliate commissions.
It‘s an owned asset. Even if your website went down or your social media accounts disappeared, you‘d still have your email list. It‘s a valuable asset you can take with you anywhere.
Best Email Newsletter Services for WordPress Users
To send email newsletters, you‘ll need to use an email service provider (ESP). Using an ESP is essential for ensuring high deliverability, complying with laws like CAN-SPAM and GDPR, and accessing features like automation and analytics.
Here are our top recommendations for the best email newsletter services for WordPress, based on ease of use, feature set, and pricing:
Constant Contact – One of the largest and most established ESPs, Constant Contact offers a beginner-friendly drag-and-drop email builder, 100+ templates, ecommerce integrations, and a 60-day free trial. Plans start at $9.99/month.
Sendinblue – This affordable email marketing platform includes features like SMS marketing, live chat, CRM, and marketing automation. Their free plan allows unlimited contacts and up to 300 emails per day, while paid plans start at $25/month for 20,000 emails.
ConvertKit – Built specifically for bloggers and online creators, ConvertKit has a highly intuitive interface, powerful segmentation and automation capabilities, and landing page builder. Plans start at $15/month for 300 subscribers.
Mailchimp – One of the most popular ESPs, Mailchimp offers a generous free plan (up to 500 contacts), simple email designer, landing pages, digital ads, and more. Paid plans start at $11/month for 500 contacts.
Drip – Built for ecommerce stores and bloggers who want more advanced marketing automation, Drip offers visual workflow builder, multichannel marketing, revenue attribution, and more. Plans start at $19/month for 500 contacts.
All of these email service providers offer WordPress integrations, either through plugins or by embedding code snippets. We‘ll walk through the setup process in the next section.
How to Add an Email Opt-In Form to Your WordPress Blog
Once you‘ve chosen an email service provider, the next step is adding opt-in forms to your WordPress site to allow visitors to subscribe to your newsletter. Here‘s how:
Create a new email list inside your ESP and note the list ID.
Create a new form within your ESP‘s form builder. Most ESPs offer multiple form types, like inline, pop-up, and floating bar. Choose the one that fits best with your site design.
Customize the form‘s copy, fields, and design to match your branding. Include an enticing call-to-action and a clear description of what subscribers will get.
Integrate the form with WordPress. For most ESPs, you can either:
- Install their WordPress plugin and connect it to your account
- Embed the form‘s HTML code in a WordPress widget or page/post
For the WordPress plugin method, follow the plugin‘s instructions to add the form to your desired location, like sidebar, footer, pages/posts, or theme file.
For the embed code method, simply copy the form‘s HTML and paste it into a text widget or use a shortcode to add it to a post or page.
Test the form to make sure it‘s working correctly. Submit a test entry and confirm the subscriber shows up in your ESP account.
By following these steps, you can start collecting email addresses and building your list right away. Be sure to add a link to your email newsletter on your blog‘s main menu, sidebar, and after posts to maximize signups.
Tips and Strategies for Growing Your Email List
Now that you have an email opt-in form on your WordPress blog, let‘s cover some effective strategies for getting more people to subscribe:
Offer a valuable lead magnet or content upgrade. Create a free ebook, checklist, video, or other resource related to your blog‘s topic to entice signups.
Use pop-ups and slide-ins. While some find them annoying, there‘s no question pop-ups are effective. Just be sure to set them to only appear after a certain time or scroll depth to not alienate visitors.
Leverage social proof. Show social proof like your total # of subscribers or testimonials to build trust and credibility.
Run a giveaway. Partner with sponsors to give away a high-value prize package to one lucky email subscriber.
Add opt-in checkboxes to forms. Include an opt-in checkbox on your comment form, ecommerce checkout, or contact forms to turn engaged users into subscribers.
Promote on social media and other channels. Share links to your newsletter landing page on social media, in guest post bios, on podcasts, and anywhere else you have an audience.
Promise exclusive content. Let visitors know that email subscribers get access to exclusive content and offers that can‘t be found anywhere else.
Focus on consistently applying these strategies and you‘ll be able to steadily grow your email list over time. Remember, the key is providing so much value that joining your email list becomes a no-brainer.
Writing Epic Email Newsletter Content
Collecting email addresses is only half the battle. To keep your subscribers engaged and looking forward to your newsletters, you need to send them exceptional content. Here are some tips:
Write enticing subject lines. Your subject line is the gate keeper and determines whether your email gets opened. Use curiosity, urgency, relevancy, and strong verbs to craft compelling subject lines.
Focus on delivering value, not selling. Don‘t make your newsletter a giant sales pitch. 80-90% of your content should be useful, educational, or entertaining for your audience.
Use storytelling and personality. People connect with stories and emotions. Let your personality shine through and craft a strong brand voice to build affinity.
Keep a consistent schedule. Whether you send weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, stick to a regular schedule so subscribers know when to expect your emails.
Make it scannable and visually appealing. Use short paragraphs, subheadings, images, and bulleted lists to make your emails easy to read and digest.
Segment your list. Not all subscribers are the same. Segment your list based on interests, behavior, and demographics to send more targeted, relevant emails.
Clean your list regularly. Having a large list is vanity metric if subscribers are inactive. Regularly clean your list to maintain high open rates and engagement.
By combining these content tips with the list building strategies from above, you‘ll be able to create an email newsletter that your subscribers will actually look forward to receiving.
Measuring Email Newsletter Success: Key Metrics to Track
Finally, to get the most out of your email marketing efforts, you need to track the right metrics. Here are the most important email newsletter metrics to measure:
Open rate – Percentage of subscribers who opened your email. Aim for 20-30%+.
Click-through rate – Percentage who clicked a link in your email. Aim for 2-5%+.
Unsubscribe rate – Percentage who unsubscribe from each email. Keep it under 0.5%.
Bounce rate – Percentage of emails that couldn‘t be delivered. Keep it under 2%.
Conversion rate – Percentage who took your desired action, like making a purchase.
List growth rate – Rate at which your email list is growing. Track # of new subscribers minus unsubscribes over time.
Email sharing/forwarding rate – Percentage of subscribers who shared your email.
Overall ROI – Revenue generated per email subscriber.
Almost all major ESPs provide these metrics inside their analytics dashboards. Check the numbers for every email you send and track them over time. This will allow you to test and iterate to improve your results.
Some more advanced techniques to consider include:
- A/B testing subject lines and content
- Automated email sequences for onboarding and retaining subscribers
- Segmenting your list for better personalization and relevancy
- Cleaning your list to remove inactive or invalid email addresses
By monitoring these key metrics and proactively working to improve them, you‘ll be able to get the maximum results from your email newsletter.
Wrapping Up
Creating an email newsletter is one of the best ways to build an engaged audience for your WordPress blog. With the right strategies and techniques, you can grow your list, strengthen your relationship with your audience, and ultimately drive more traffic and revenue.
Just remember that email marketing is a long-term game. Focus on consistently providing value, test and iterate your approach, and stick with it for the long haul.
Over time, you‘ll build an incredibly valuable asset that will support your blogging business for years to come.
