Email newsletter mines user preferences to build readership and engagement

Vision Service Plan’s (VSP) monthly EnVision email newsletter has grown its subscriber base of 3 million through excellent content in an appealing design that encourages repeated opening and reading. For its consistently excellent work, VSP has taken first place in the “Email Campaign” category of PR Daily’s 2016 Digital PR and Social Media Awards.

VSP wanted to grow the EnVision readership base in 2015 by an additional 120,000 new subscribers. It also wanted to increase open and click rates and increase visits from the newsletter to other VSP web-based assets, including its website, its blog and its presence on social media channels including Facebook and Twitter. 

To achieve these lofty goals, VSP started out by collecting reader preferences, gaining insights from data provided by more than 16,000 subscribers. Its data mining led to the development of custom content designed to engage readers based on those preferences. The newsletter featured not just articles, but also infographics, polls, promotions and rebate offers. 

A particular effort was made to include content that inspired engagement, such as the ability to ask questions of expert doctors and share personal stories. Social media components gave readers the opportunity to further engage by sharing content (and spreading the reach of the VSP’s material). 

VSP also maintains a microsite as a home for previous issues of the newsletter. The organization also distributed two supplemental emails that featured personalized content for recipients. 

EnVision’s results are as impressive as they have always been: the subscriber base grew to 3.2 million (nearly 600,000 new subscribers joined the list), achieving an amazing open rate of 42 percent among the newsletter’s 2 million active readers. The content achieved 9,000 social shares generating more than 16,000 clicks. 

Congratulations to VSP’s Deanna Mullen and Alicia Allen for their successful efforts.