From your car to your body, there are things in life that need a tune-up from time to time.

Your newsletters are no different.

Open rates might drop, fewer people might read the articles, and your unsubscribe rate could be ticking up. When you see these things happening, you have three choices:

Choice #1: Stop sending newsletters (very much the wrong choice).

Choice #2: Give in to a BMW* moment but take no action (again, the wrong choice).

Choice #3: Review the data and make changes to improve things (you guessed it, the right choice).

If you’re in the third group, here are 10 things you can change to refresh your newsletters and improve engagement.

#1. Send your newsletter every month – without fail

Inconsistency is one of the main reasons for low newsletter engagement.

Some firms send their newsletters quarterly, despite our research showing monthly newsletters perform better. Other firms, despite their intention to publish monthly, aren’t consistent enough and miss editions.

Sending every month improves engagement while also demonstrating your reliability, which boosts the confidence your audience has in you.

#2. Try a different send day and time (then stick to it)

We see firms make two mistakes here: sending on the wrong day and at the wrong time.

If your newsletter is aimed at consumers (clients and prospects), we recommend sending it on a Saturday morning between 8 am and 10 am. If your target audience is in the B2B space, such as your professional connections, we recommend sending it during the week, probably before the working day starts.

The send day and time are important, but so (again) is consistency; become known for sending your newsletter on the same day, at the same time, every month. It’ll boost your engagement and you’ll soon develop (or improve) your reputation for reliability.

#3. Resend it to non-openers

This is a no-brainer that’s guaranteed to boost open rates, but very few advisers and planners do it.

Most bulk email systems allow you to set up an automatic resend, a few days after the original, to anyone who hasn’t opened it first time round. In our experience, this boosts open rates by 15-20% without increasing the unsubscribe rate.

#4. Change the headlines

The quality of your headline is directly correlated with your open rate. If your open rates are poor, or have dipped recently, start here to improve them.

#5. Personalise the salutation

Using the recipient’s name in the salutation (for example, Dear John, or Dear John & Jane) always helps to improve open rates.

#6. Review the topics you’re covering

Content relevance is king when it comes to newsletter engagement; if people aren’t interested in your articles, your newsletter will never be successful.

Make a list of the six most popular articles over the last 12 months, then write more on those topics. Do the same with the least popular articles and include fewer of them.

#7. Include articles about your team and your business

We know plenty of advisers and planners who hate this idea, but I guarantee if you do it, the articles will be some of the most popular you write. To prove the point, here’s a quick example from a Yardstick client’s newsletter.

In their February newsletter, they included two articles that many firms wouldn’t.

The first showcased 10 restaurants in Devon and Cornwall worth visiting. The second was their regular update about what’s going on in their business and with the team.

The third article covered IHT, a particularly hot topic at the moment.

Guess which was the most read?

The article about restaurants.

And the team update came second, relegating the IHT article (which was still popular) into third place.

Life gets even more interesting when we look at the engagement data; the open rate rose slightly, but the click-to-open rate increased by 104%, proving the popularity of the content.

#8. Include fewer articles about investments and economics

Despite what many advisers and planners think, their clients aren’t usually reading articles about investments, performance, and the economy. That’s because they’re outsourcing that work to you. So include fewer of these types of articles.

#9. Change the name the newsletter is sent from

Every newsletter system allows you to tweak the sender name. In our experience, many firms just use their business name. If you’re doing that, try switching it up so the newsletter comes from the client’s adviser or planner.

#10. Avoid using words in your subject line that trigger spam filters

If your newsletter gets caught by a spam filter, you can pretty much guarantee that it won’t be read. Certain words increase the risk of a spam filter reaching out like a Venus Flytrap. So avoid words such as:

• Free
• Act now
• Guaranteed
• Limited time
• Cash / money / income

One important caveat, though. Spam filters don’t work by banning single words in isolation. Context matters. So does your sender reputation, formatting, punctuation, number of links, and overall email behaviour. But these words can increase the risk, especially if they’re combined with shouty punctuation or salesy language.

Don’t ignore a dip in performance

A dip in newsletter engagement isn’t a reason to stop sending your newsletter.

It’s not something you should ignore either.

Instead, it’s a reason to look at the data, make changes, and keep going.

So, before you abandon your newsletter, work through these 10 quick fixes.

Hopefully, you’ll find that a few small changes make a big difference to your open rates, readership, and long-term results.

And if you’d like us to review your newsletter, spot the problems, and recommend practical ways to improve it, email abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300.

We’d love to help.

*Bitchin’, moanin’, whinin’.