Newsletters are a powerful tool for any e-commerce business. The messages sent through this channel can circulate important information, establish your brand's reputation, strengthen your relationship with customers, and help move recipients through your sales funnel. With newsletters, you can: 

• Create completely customizable emails using the drag-and-drop email designer. 
• Send one-time emails to all of your contacts or a specific pre-defined segment of contacts. 
• Select the specific date and time that the email will send. 

Example use-cases

Newsletters are a simple and convenient way to build relationships and provide value to your customers. Check out some situations where newsletters shine below.

Promote new products and services - New products and services are commonplace for a business that is adapting to the needs of its marketplace. Newsletters are ideally suited for keeping your customers informed about those new offerings.

Offer promotions - Newsletters are an outstanding opportunity to offer deals and discounts. A special offer promoted via a newsletter is often just enough extra encouragement to convince a customer to make a purchase.

To understand how effective your newsletter promotion is at creating new sales, consider creating a unique coupon that is exclusive to a specific newsletter send or mailing list. This approach lets you track the usage of this discount code and see how many of your recipients actually converted.

Build relationships and credibility - Newsletters are a fantastic opportunity to share your knowledge and insight with your customers. This information goes a long way in establishing your credibility and fostering long term relationships.

Qualify your leads - When someone subscribes to your newsletter, they've expressed an interest in your business and become a lead. Over time, the subscriber's engagements with your messages can be a powerful indication of their intentions. Their interest may increase or remain high, as indicated by consistent email opens and clicks. On the other hand, their interest may wane as indicated by less interaction or an unsubscribe. Ultimately, being mindful of your customer behavior allows you to focus on those who are still interested in your offerings.

Create and send your emails

To create and send a newsletter:

• Navigate to Emails + Texts > Newsletters.
• Click the New email button. 
• Select the template you would like to use as a starting point and click the Choose selected button to have it applied to the email. 

Customize the email

• Once the template is applied, edit the content using the drag and drop email editor.  

Configure the email sender info

Next, click into the sender info section at the top of the email editor and configure the options. 

1. Confirm or select a reply-to address. Any replies to the email will go to this address. 
2. Edit the subject line. Keep it interesting, on-brand, and concise. A subject line no longer than 7 words or around 40 characters is recommended. 
3. Provide preview text. The text appears after your subject line when viewing the email in the inbox and allows the addition of compelling copy that helps boost open rates and engagement. The text should be 35 to 55 characters and does support Merge Tags.

Note: The default From Name and From Address can be updated in the Sender Options section of your Business Settings. Additionally, you should update your sending domain to be your domain if you have not yet done so. 

• Click the Done button once the options are configured and then select the Save button at the top-right to exit the email editor. 

Configure the coupon settings

After exiting the editor, click into the Coupon code card if you would like the newsletter to include a discount or promotion. Please Save after making any changes to these settings. 

• Add a discount. Select the optional coupon drop-down menu to offer an incentive to your customers that will encourage them to complete their purchase. 

Note: Unique coupon codes are not supported for BigCommerce users in newsletters. To include a master coupon, create the coupon code in your BigCommerce account and then incorporate the code directly into the content of your Privy newsletter (e.g., body content, image, etc.). 

• Add a merge tag. If a coupon is selected and saved, ensure the email contains a Coupon Code merge tag. This tag will populate with the coupon code when the email is sent to customers. 

Configure the recipients

From the email’s settings, click into the To card to select your recipients. The options allow you to send your email to all mailable contacts, contacts that match certain filters, or a segment that was filtered in the past. Regardless of your selection, please Save after any changes. 

Name and test the email 

With the recipients selected, name the email by clicking the Edit() icon, providing a non-default name, and clicking the Update button. This name change will make it easier to locate the email for additional edits or a performance review post-send. 

With a unique name set, click back into the Design card and select the Send Test Email option at the top of the email editor to make sure all of the content displays as expected in your inbox. 

Schedule or send the email

To activate a newsletter once its design, content, and settings are customer-ready:

• Click the Save button in the email builder if you haven't already.
• Scroll to the bottom of the email settings page and click the Schedule it or the Send button. 
• Confirm your decision in the subsequent prompt. 

Review performance

Now that you are using newsletters to communicate with customers:

• Learn how to evaluate their success via reporting in this guide. 
• Discover which customers will ultimately receive your emails and why in this guide.