How to Create a Shopify Email Newsletter: A Complete Guide

Creating an effective email newsletter is a fundamental aspect of any successful e-commerce venture, and when it comes to popular e-commerce platforms, Shopify stands out as a reliable choice. If you’re looking to harness the power of email marketing to engage your customers, promote your products, and boost your online business, you’ve come to the right place. 

We will take you step-by-step through the process of making a Shopify email newsletter that not only draws in readers but also encourages conversions and fosters brand loyalty in this extensive guide. 

From crafting compelling content to utilizing Shopify’s built-in features and third-party apps, we’ll cover everything you need to know to master the art of email marketing on Shopify. 

What is a Shopify email newsletter?

A Shopify email newsletter is a marketing email that an online retailer using the Shopify platform sends to a list of subscribers or clients. Usually, the purpose of this kind of email is to inform, engage, and promote goods and services to the recipient audience. 

Shopify email newsletters are a vital component of an e-commerce marketing strategy, as they allow businesses to communicate with their customers, showcase new products, share updates, and encourage repeat purchases.

Key characteristics and purposes of a Shopify email newsletter include:

• Promotional Content: Newsletters often contain information about sales, discounts, special offers, and new product arrivals. They serve as a direct channel for promoting products or services to a targeted audience.
• Engagement: Newsletters help maintain a connection with customers and subscribers. They can include informative and entertaining content, such as blog posts, industry news, or user-generated content, to keep the audience engaged.
• Branding: Shopify email newsletters provide an opportunity to reinforce the brand’s identity and values. They typically feature the brand’s logo, colors, and style, creating a consistent and recognizable image.
• Customer Retention: By keeping customers informed about your brand and offerings, newsletters can help improve customer retention and encourage repeat business.
• List Building: Businesses use newsletters to grow their email subscriber list. New visitors to an e-commerce site are often encouraged to sign up for newsletters, allowing the business to reach out to them in the future.

Creating an effective Shopify email newsletter involves a combination of compelling content, attractive design, personalization, and proper timing. It’s an integral part of the overall e-commerce marketing strategy and can significantly impact a business’s success in building and maintaining customer relationships and driving sales.

How does the Shopify email newsletter work?

Shopify provides a built-in email marketing tool known as “Shopify Email” that simplifies the process of creating and sending email newsletters to your customers. Here’s how the Shopify email newsletter works:

• Access Shopify Email: To get started with creating and sending email newsletters, you need to log in to your Shopify admin dashboard. In the dashboard, you can access the Shopify Email tool.
• Build Your Subscriber List: Creating a list of subscribers is a good idea before you start sending out newsletters. You can accomplish this by asking visitors to your website to subscribe and gathering email addresses from customers who make purchases on your Shopify store. Shopify provides options for form creation and customization.
• Design Your Newsletter: With Shopify Email, you can use a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor to design your newsletters. You can customize the layout, add images, text, product recommendations, and more. You can also include your brand’s logo, colors, and styles to maintain consistency with your store’s branding.
• Segment Your Audience: You can divide up your email list using Shopify according to consumer behavior, demographics, past purchases, and other factors. By using this segmentation, you can send relevant content to particular subscriber groups, increasing the relevancy of your newsletters.
• Content Creation: Your email newsletter’s content will vary depending on your goals. You can include product updates, promotions, new arrivals, blog posts, customer testimonials, and other engaging content. The goal is to provide value and encourage recipients to take action, such as making a purchase or visiting your website.
• Integration With Shopify Store: Links to your store’s products and collections as well as product recommendations can be easily incorporated into your newsletters with Shopify Email’s seamless integration with your Shopify store.
• Optimization: Based on the insights from your email campaign analytics, you can optimize your future newsletters to improve their effectiveness in achieving your marketing objectives.

Shopify Email simplifies the process of creating and sending newsletters, but it’s important to have a well-thought-out email marketing strategy to achieve your business goals effectively. Email newsletters are a valuable tool for engaging with your customers, promoting products, and building brand loyalty within your e-commerce business.

What are the benefits of using the Shopify email newsletter?

Using the Shopify email newsletter feature offers various benefits for e-commerce businesses looking to enhance their marketing efforts and connect with customers. Here are some of the key advantages:

• User-Friendly Design Tools: Both novice and expert users can easily navigate Shopify’s drag-and-drop email editor. Without extensive design or coding knowledge, you can create newsletters that look professional and appealing.
• Cost-Effective: Shopify Email is typically more cost-effective than using third-party email marketing platforms, especially for businesses with smaller subscriber lists. This can result in cost savings for your business.
• List Segmentation: Segmenting your email list according to customer behavior and preferences is possible with Shopify. This makes it possible for you to send extremely focused content to particular subscriber groups, boosting engagement and the relevancy of your newsletters.
• Brand Consistency: Using the branding components of your store, such as logos, colors, and styles, in your newsletters will help you keep your brand consistent.
• Analytics & Reporting: Shopify offers comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities that let you monitor the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. Open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other important metrics can be tracked to evaluate the success of your newsletters and help you make informed decisions for upcoming campaigns.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Shopify Email templates are designed to be mobile-responsive, ensuring that your newsletters look good and function properly on various devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Making good use of Shopify’s email newsletter feature can help your e-commerce business succeed by increasing sales, boosting client interaction, and strengthening your brand’s online visibility. Email marketing is made easier to use and more affordable for companies of all kinds.

3 common types of email newsletters

Informational newsletters

Informational newsletters are primarily focused on providing valuable and relevant information to the recipients. These emails aim to educate and engage the audience with content that may include:

• Industry news and updates
• How-to guides and tutorials
• Tips, best practices, and advice
• Curated content such as articles, videos, or blog posts
• Company news, updates, or announcements

Informational newsletters help establish your brand as an authority in your industry, build trust with your subscribers, and keep them informed about topics they find interesting and relevant.

Promotional newsletters

The purpose of promotional newsletters is to advertise goods, services, deals, or occasions. Usually, their main goal is to persuade the recipient to do a certain action, like buying something, attending a webinar, or using a special discount. Typical components of promotional newsletters are as follows:

• New product or service announcements
• Sales, discounts, and limited-time offer
• Product recommendations and reviews
• Call-to-action buttons and links
• Customer testimonials and success stories

Promotional newsletters are instrumental in driving sales and increasing revenue for businesses. They are often used in e-commerce to showcase products and encourage customers to buy.

Transactional newsletters

Transactional newsletters are automated emails triggered by a specific action or event, usually related to a customer’s interaction with your website or online store. While these emails are inherently transactional, they can still be an opportunity for engagement. Common examples of transactional emails include:

• Order confirmations
• Shipping and delivery notifications
• Password reset emails
• Account activation or welcome emails
• Abandoned cart reminders

While the primary purpose of transactional newsletters is to provide essential information, they can also include elements that enhance the user experience, such as product recommendations or cross-selling suggestions. Additionally, they serve as an opportunity to maintain a connection with the customer.

By understanding these common types of email newsletters, email marketing strategies can be developed and implemented by businesses to effectively reach their target audience and accomplish specific marketing objectives whether providing information, driving sales, or enhancing the customer experience.

How to create a Shopify email newsletter

In this section, we’ll show 4 simple steps to create a Shopify email newsletter. This guide is implemented using the Avada Email Marketing & SMS app – a 4.9-rating app on Shopify. This app offers a free pricing plan, so you can easily create a Shopify email newsletter according to your preferences. 

Step 1: Choose the template

Start by launching the Avada Email Marketing & SMS app within your Shopify admin dashboard.

Select a ready-made email template from the template collection within the app. Choose a template based on what kind of content you want to include in your newsletter as well as your brand and style. Avada provides a selection of editable template options.

Step 2: Edit content using Avada Email Marketing & SMS app

After selecting your template, use the app’s intuitive editor to customize the content of your newsletter. You can add and modify text, images, product recommendations, and any other elements you wish to include. Avada provides a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy to create and edit your newsletter content.

Step 3: Setting sender & subject

• Configure the sender’s information, including the sender’s name and email address. Ensure the sender’s information is recognizable and associated with your brand to enhance email deliverability.
• Craft a compelling subject line for your newsletter. The subject line is critical in getting your recipients to open the email. Ensure that it is engaging and relevant to your content.

Step 4: Review & send

• Before sending your newsletter, review it to ensure that all elements, including text, images, and links, are correct and functional.
• To ensure that the email looks and works as intended, send a test copy to yourself or other team members.
• You can set the send time and date once you are happy with the newsletter’s appearance and content. Additionally, you can decide whether to send the email right away or at a particular time that fits in with your marketing plan.

Following these four steps, you can efficiently create and send a Shopify email newsletter using the Avada Email Marketing & SMS app. This app simplifies the email marketing process and allows you to reach your audience with engaging content, optimized for better open and click-through rates.

4 suggestions for making an effective newsletter

Creating an effective newsletter is crucial for engaging your audience and achieving your marketing goals. Here are four key suggestions for making an effective newsletter:

Determine who your target market is

Spend some time getting to know your target audience in-depth before you begin creating your newsletter. Take into account the demographics, interests, and pain points of your ideal readers or customers when defining them. This profound comprehension enables you to customize your messaging, tone, and content so that it appeals to your target audience. 

Since personalization is important, think about segmenting your email list so that you can send different subscriber groups more relevant content. You can boost reader engagement and forge closer bonds with them by catering to their specific needs and preferences.

Select a frequency and format

Choosing the right frequency and format for your newsletter is vital. Determine how often you’ll send your newsletters, whether it’s on a weekly, monthly, or another schedule. Consistency is crucial as it helps subscribers anticipate and look forward to your emails. 

The format of your newsletter should align with your audience’s expectations and marketing objectives. It can be a curated list of articles, a product showcase, company updates, or a combination of these. The format you select should effectively convey your message and provide value to your readers.

Create a captivating headline

The first point of contact with your audience is the subject line or headline of your newsletter, and it has a big impact on how many people open your email. Create a headline that is both instructive and captivating. 

Use action-oriented language and highlight the unique value or benefits of reading your newsletter. A well-crafted headline should offer a clear idea of the content inside and entice recipients to open the email. Test different headline variations and analyze their performance to refine your approach over time.

Make high-quality, pertinent content

Your newsletter’s content is its main component. Make sure the material is excellent, pertinent to your readers, and relevant to your audience. Include a variety of educational, entertaining, and promotional materials that are relevant to the needs and interests of your target audience. Incorporate captivating visuals to improve the presentation and break up the text, such as pictures, videos, and infographics.

Use short paragraphs, bullet points, clear headings, and subheadings to make your content easier for readers to scan and quickly understand the main ideas. Delivering content that meets your subscribers’ expectations and keeps them excitedly anticipating your next newsletter should always be your goal.

By putting these tips into practice, you can produce a newsletter that not only draws in readers but also increases reader engagement and fortifies the bond between your company and subscribers. A successful email marketing strategy consists of providing useful information, sticking to a schedule, and customizing your content to the preferences of your target audience.

Conclusion

Selecting the right frequency and format, and creating captivating headlines, are essential steps that keep your subscribers engaged. Consistency is the linchpin of anticipation, and a well-crafted subject line is your key to the inbox. 

We’ve also stressed how important it is to provide your readers with relevant, high-quality content that enhances their lives. Not only will informative, entertaining, and educational content draw viewers in, but it will also foster loyalty and trust.

The newsletter is more than just an email; it’s an opportunity to communicate, inspire, and ultimately, achieve your marketing goals. By adhering to the principles outlined in this article, you are well-equipped to create newsletters that captivate your audience, spark engagement, and drive your business forward.