Best practices to write effective newsletter ads for the chemical industry

What is a digital newsletter ad?

An e-Newsletter is a periodic email sent to a list of subscribers. It aims to share the latest news and promote informative content on a given topic.

The goal of a newsletter advertisement is to share valuable content with subscribers.

Your promotion needs to the raise readers’ curiosity and engage them to click and visit your content.

As a chemical supplier, a newsletter advertisement is ideal to:

• Main objective: Educate chemical buyers in the early stages of their buying cycle to convince them to consider your product
• Secondary objective: Generate leads in your core target to nurture them with appropriate sales or marketing follow-up actions

Most websites that publish newsletters offer paid slots which you can buy to promote you content.

When the topic matches your business, this is an excellent channel to push your company, products or services to reach out to educate and convince future customers.

To determine if a newsletter matches your business, look at:

• the number of recipients
• their profiles (job, company activity, geography…)
• the performance (open rate, click rate, number of clicks...)
• the newsletter topic and its content quality

Define and know your target

Before writing your newsletter copy, you have to ensure that your content is aligned with your target.

If you want to promote specific content, you have to define who that content it is serving:

• Who are they?
• Where are they in the buying cycle?
• What are they trying to do?
• How can my document be valuable to them?

If you want to target a specific audience, you must define:

• which content from your library best matches that audience
• what are their business needs and challenges
• their position in the buying cycle

To make it simple, the table below will guide you in the best promotion strategy to adopt, whether you want to promote a specific content or target a specific stage in the buying cycle:

Anatomy of a good newsletter advertorial

Each website and newsletter have their own design and specification. But there are strong similarities in their structure for a vast majority of them. The typical newsletter promotion looks like this:

Let's see how you can optimize each part of the promotion:

#1 - Provide value and tell a story

Newsletter subscribers are looking for solutions to improve their day-to-day job or solve production or performance issues.

When writing your newsletter copy, always bear in mind that it must provide value.

Don’t be sales-oriented but rather think of a small editorial post written like a short story where you highlight the benefits of your product rather than its technical performance.

Tip: Not comfortable with benefits vs. performance? Watch our video on what is a good value proposition for your specialty chemicals.

#2 - Use an eye-catching picture

This is the first thing readers should see. Use it to draw their attention.

You can choose a photo of the targeted application or market (an automotive part, a coated part etc.) to immediately involve your core audience.

Another good choice is to illustrate a benefit (flames for fire retardant or heat resistance, bubbles to get rid of bubbles etc.).

A third option is to picture an idea (strong with a muscled arm, flexible with a contortionist or flexed item, volatility with flying birds etc.).

A last possibility is to use your company logo, especially to increase your brand recognition in the topic you are covering. Whatever the picture you choose, always make sure it stands out from the color scheme of the newsletter.

#3 - Tease value with a short and impactful headline

This is the most important text of your ad as readers only scan headlines until they find content of interest. It says what your promotion is about.

Be short, catchy and teasing.

Raise curiosity by asking a question, using action verbs or figures for example.

Don’t be vague, generic, descriptive, too technical or too sales oriented.

Tip: Need inspiration to write effective headlines? Download our 6 formulas cheat sheet to write catchy newsletter headlines.

#4 - Complement your headline with your subhead

This short and complementary text gives more flesh and details to your headline.

After reading your title and subhead, readers must have a clear idea on what your promotion is presenting.

You can use this text to introduce the content format (“Watch the webinar on demand to find out”, “Get your e-book copy”) or highlight the value of your content (“Headline: Want to get rid of bubbles in your polyurethane coatings? Subhead: See how aldimine improves structural movement”).

#5 - Write dynamic and short body copy to involve the reader

This text is usually between 250-500 characters long, depending on newsletter limitations.

It explains why reader should visit or download your content and why it is valuable for them. Focus on teasing rather than spoiling what people will learn in your content, otherwise, why would they click?

#6 - Use a clear, simple and logical call-to-action explaining what comes next

This button or hyperlink explains what readers should do and what comes next.

Use only 1 action in your button or hyperlink text and pay attention to the verb you use.

Readers need to feel that this next step is simple and not too engaging, especially when you use a long form to collect data.

“Save your seat” is smarter than “Apply to attend” for a webinar.

Tip: The easiest way to write your call-to-action is to use “I want to [CALL-TO-ACTION]”.

Good examples of inspiring newsletter ads

Applying best practices seems easy when we read them. But when it's time to write your own promotion, sometimes inspiration vanishes. Let’s have a look at 4 newsletter advertisements and understand what makes them good examples of best practices.

Good newsletter copy #1

• The Incorez red logo acts as a strong magnet and stands out from SpecialChem color scheme (acid green).
  
  
• The title introduces a solution to a typical problem faced in PU coatings. This is a strong way to catch the right audience and raise their curiosity, especially at the awareness stage in the buying cycle.
  
  
• The subhead describes how you will learn the answer, in a webinar recording. At this stage, the readers will already know if this promotion is interesting for them or not.
  
  
• The body is short and dynamic. The closed question is especially good to involve the reader. Chances are high that they missed the webinar and answer “Yes”, which encourages them to continue. The second paragraph teases what the reader will find in this recording, more specifically which mechanism will be detailed in the video.
  
  
• The call to action is short and aligned with the expected next step.

Good newsletter copy #2

• As the picture is mostly white, the title draws your attention first and the use of a closed question is an excellent choice to attract the targeted audience. It also exposes the benefit of the solution.
  
  
• The picture then reinforces the benefits of the electrically conductivity.
  
  
• As this promotion is targeting professionals in the consideration stage, the body gives the necessary information to understand the value proposition of this carbon black and why readers should consider it.
  
  
• The call-to-action is closing the promotion with a simple yet effective "download brochure".

Good newsletter copy #3

• Except the fact that the picture colors match SpecialChem theme and should be different, it relates to the topic of the promotion.
  
  
• The title is using an action-verb and exposing the end benefit of the solution, solution which is introduced in the subhead to kill mystery right away. Based on the headline, this promotion is aimed at coating formulators in the awareness stage.
  
  
• The body effectively describes the market need and invites the reader to learn more about this binder solution.
  
  
• The call-to-action appears to be a natural transition without feeling over-engaging.

Good newsletter copy #4

• Although it is hard to understand what the picture represents at first sight, its vivid colors are good to catch our attention.
  
  
• The headline effectively introduces a solution to a specific market need. The problem, solution and systems are exposed in just a few words.
  
  
• The subhead has been removed to avoid overloading the introduction.
  
  
• The body explains what this one-dispersant solution is and what are its main benefits.
  
  
• The comparative study introduced at the end create a logical connection with the call-to-action to encourage readers to download the case.