11 Ways to Make Your Newsletter More Interactive


An interactive newsletter will provoke responses from your readers. Aside from calls to action related to a sales process, interactivity is also good because it makes you more memorable.

#1. Conduct a poll. Use an app (like SurveyMonkey) that allows you to show results after someone takes the poll. Keep it to one question. Publish the results in your next issue.

#2. Include a special offer only for those who make it to the very bottom of your newsletter. Tell readers how to contact you to take advantage of the offer.

#3. Link to a video. This can even be cleverly disguised as a screenshot of the video inserted into your newsletter.

#4. Link to a free resource or some other type of giveaway. Upload the file to your website or Dropbox first, then use that link in your newsletter.

#5. If your newsletter article is also on your blog, link to it and ask people to leave comments there.

#6. Use click-to-tweet and other social media sharing options. Encourage readers to share. If you make it easy, people will share.

#7. Include a menu. An 'in this issue' menu at the top of a lengthy newsletter, allows readers to easily pick and choose what they want to read. Clicking a link in the menu takes the reader directly to the item they want to read. These anchor links can also be used to promote specific items in the newsletter.

#8. You can also have a menu similar to what you have on your website, linking to pages on your website to send more readers there.

#9. Ask readers to connect with you on Twitter, Facebook and so on. Use icons to draw their attention.

#10. Include a list of your recent blog posts, or a collection of blog posts on a particular topic. This moves readers from your newsletter over to your blog. You could include a curated list if you don't have a blog yourself.

#11. Ask for suggestions - for your next issue, for your blog, or for something else entirely. Encourage readers to 'hit reply now'.

photo by The-E / Flickr

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