4 ms·

Ask HN: Useful articles on how to structure mail announcements for SaaS apps

23 points by swombat 16y ago

Hi everyone, I'm looking for good resources on how to structure email announcements for an SaaS app (specifically, b2b, with plenty of web-unsavvy users behind Microsoft Exchange servers). I know about litmusapp.com for testing the emails, and I'm looking more for the high-level advice that answers the following questions: * How often should you send announcements to your user base? * What sort of stuff should you announce? * What are great ways to structure the contents of the announcements so that they're actually read? * What are things to avoid? * How to present the contents of the announcement so it's actually read and perhaps actioned (e.g. when offering a time-limited discount) * Any good examples of great announcement emails to get inspiration from? Etc... (so, business-y articles rather than technical ones). Thanks for your help.

rmah 16y ago
I'd suggest a frequency of no more than once per week. Once per month for a regular newsletter-type mailing might be appropriate, with occasional emails for special announcements. That's my position and I'm sticking to it!
- swombat 16y ago
  I'm talking about announcements rather than newsletter types. Also, this only answers one (tiny) sliver of my question.
jorangreef 16y ago
Announce something only if it's done. Don't announce if it's "coming soon". Respect the client's reading preferences. Send as plain text not HTML. Brand == interface. Limit yourself to 5 sentences. Brevity is the essence of wit. When in doubt, edit. Make sure it's personalized, e.g. "Dear John". Leave out "Kind regards", "Best regards", "Yours sincerely", etc. Sign off with your full name. Ask yourself "what does everyone else do?" and make sure you don't do that.
- swombat 16y ago
  Interesting. Have you got any screenshots of good examples handy?
DirtyAndy 16y ago
Try signing up to a few services and get some ideas from what they send out - I've been doing this of late. I think Huddle.net sends clean emails where it is clear to see their point etc, and they don't email that often which I think is important with b2b type apps. I'd recommend taking a look at how they structure their communications. Good Data is another I signed up to, at times they send too frequently (if you launch 5 things over 2 weeks please don't send me 5 emails) and their emails are too wordy etc - but really good to have those emails as a case of what not to do.
MicahWedemeyer 16y ago
In case it isn't obvious, I would recommend using a bulk email service (I use Mailchimp) rather than DIY. I did DIY for a while myself and it was a harrowing experience. I was always worried that my script would get caught in an infinite loop or expose everyone's email address somehow. It's much easier and I feel safer using a bulk service. Plus, they add analytics, easy image insertion, etc, etc, etc. Finally, most bulk services will have hotwo or tutorial articles answering most of these questions. They know that we don't really know what we're doing, so they try to do a little handholding.
- aschobel 16y ago
  We switched to SendGrid a few months ago and love it. http://sendgrid.com/ http://sendgrid.com/ They do subscription tracking, click tracking, bounce, etc. Super easy API, you set an X-SMTPAPI header and it reads the config from there.

23 points by swombat 16y ago

rmah 16y ago

I'd suggest a frequency of no more than once per week. Once per month for a regular newsletter-type mailing might be appropriate, with occasional emails for special announcements. That's my position and I'm sticking to it!

swombat 16y ago
I'm talking about announcements rather than newsletter types. Also, this only answers one (tiny) sliver of my question.

jorangreef 16y ago

Announce something only if it's done. Don't announce if it's "coming soon". Respect the client's reading preferences. Send as plain text not HTML. Brand == interface. Limit yourself to 5 sentences. Brevity is the essence of wit. When in doubt, edit. Make sure it's personalized, e.g. "Dear John". Leave out "Kind regards", "Best regards", "Yours sincerely", etc. Sign off with your full name. Ask yourself "what does everyone else do?" and make sure you don't do that.

swombat 16y ago
Interesting. Have you got any screenshots of good examples handy?

DirtyAndy 16y ago

Try signing up to a few services and get some ideas from what they send out - I've been doing this of late. I think Huddle.net sends clean emails where it is clear to see their point etc, and they don't email that often which I think is important with b2b type apps. I'd recommend taking a look at how they structure their communications. Good Data is another I signed up to, at times they send too frequently (if you launch 5 things over 2 weeks please don't send me 5 emails) and their emails are too wordy etc - but really good to have those emails as a case of what not to do.

MicahWedemeyer 16y ago

In case it isn't obvious, I would recommend using a bulk email service (I use Mailchimp) rather than DIY. I did DIY for a while myself and it was a harrowing experience. I was always worried that my script would get caught in an infinite loop or expose everyone's email address somehow. It's much easier and I feel safer using a bulk service. Plus, they add analytics, easy image insertion, etc, etc, etc. Finally, most bulk services will have hotwo or tutorial articles answering most of these questions. They know that we don't really know what we're doing, so they try to do a little handholding.

aschobel 16y ago
We switched to SendGrid a few months ago and love it. http://sendgrid.com/ http://sendgrid.com/ They do subscription tracking, click tracking, bounce, etc. Super easy API, you set an X-SMTPAPI header and it reads the config from there.