Using Newsletters with Joomla!

Written by Sudhi | 24 April 2009

Look, we all hate SPAM, but newsletters allow you to communicate with your visitors and share your content and updates. Joomla! has a few features that let you incorporate a newsletter which are outlined here.

Step 1: Choosing Delivery Method

There are a number of options for offering a newsletter. Step one is to decide how you will deliver the newsletter. The following are services or extensions you can use for delivering your newsletter.

MailChimp

This is the service used to manage our list. They have a great admin interface with tons of tools for promoting and tracking your newsletters. They even integrate with Google Analytics which is super helpful. You get what you pay for though, and this service costs money unless you send less than 600 newsletters per month (example: 10 users x 4 newsletters = 40 newsletters.

Constant Contact

Also a commercial option, they offer a free 60 day trial. Like MailChimp, they offer a nice design and reliable servers so reliability isn't a concern. Prices start at $15/month.

iContact

Yet another commercial option, they start services at $10/month and offer a plethera of resources and tools for maximizing your newsletters effectiveness.

Acajoom Newsletter

By far the biggest and most popular newsletter extension for Joomla! The benefit to this option is there are no recurring fees and it is built right into your Joomla! site so managing the list is pretty easy. There are a wide variety of modules and plugins which allow you to easily incorporate a signup form in a module position. The unfortunate issues with this extension are that it relies on a cronjob to run the list, there is a significant difference in the amount of resources available to the admin such as articles on effective newsletters, and it can be cumbersome to set up correctly. As a result, you may find accidental or incomplete newsletters sent to your list whicih is unprofessional.

Feedburner

The ever popular feedburner was one of the first that took your RSS feed and allowed you to automatically send email updates to people. However, even before it was acquired by the big G, Feedburner was stagnant on development of new features and not dependable in terms of regular delivery of emails. You get minimal control over the presentation of your emails and can only choose a time of day to send the updates. So why is that a problem? Using TheBestofJoomla as an example, we post new content every day. That's great for you as a reader, but not so great if you subscribe to a feedburner email update because your inbox is abused with a new email from us every day.

My opinion

I have used Feedburner, Acajoom and Mailchimp and I prefer Mailchimp without a doubt. It is an easy to use interface with powerful optimization tools and a super-duper list manager. Plus I control everything from the color of text to the day and time of delivery. (note: no affiliate link anywhere) In choosing a newsletter provider, think about the following things: 1) Your budget 2) Whether your content will be unique or generated from RSS 3) The amount of control you need over the styling and delivery and 3) How important it is that your newsletter is delivered correctly, every time.

Step 2: Creating your list

There are two common ways to build your list from your site. As mentioned above, I strongly recommend building a double opt-in list from readers who elect to receive updates from you. Do not use a harvested, purchased or rented email list. It won't get you quality traffic and it is bad web karma.

Method one is to create a signup from directly on your site. As a newsletter is one of the most valuable marketing tools, I suggest placing the form prominently on your front page, above the fold. Method two is to include a link directing people to a signup form. Here at TBOJ.com I chose the latter method, mainly because I couldn't get the form to appear the way I wanted it to without disrupting content. All of the services mentioned above allow for the creation of a form or signup link so that shouldn't be a problem.

Step 3: Incorporating your content

Creating original newsletter content

There are two ways to create content for your newsletter. One is to create an original message that is geared towards getting clicks to your site. This method allows you to craft your message and hone it to meet your goals.

Building a newsletter from existing content

The second way to create content is to automatically turn your RSS feed into content. Currently, TheBestofJoomla uses the RSS feed of our daily content to generate a weekly newsletter for subscribers. So far we've gotten incredibly high click rates and 0 unsubscribes. Plus, it is completely automated which lets me focus on delivering quality, original content each day.

Step 4: Logistics and Design

Frequency

Will you send your newsletter weekly? daily? sporadically? It matters. A daily newsletter can get really lame, really fast. Use your email list gently, and only send good content to your subscribers.

Design

Your newsletter should at least somewhat match your site design. Use your log if the service allows it, and try to match the color scheme. Keep it under 600px wide and two columns MAX, preferably 1 column. Remember, people read their emails in various ways and often within iframes and shared windows. Offer a text-only version of your newsletter if possible. Not everyone has high speed internet.

Proper Etiquette

Include an unsubscribe link and a salutation if the service provides that feature. Don't hound people and make your newsletter about the great content on your Joomla! site, not a big advertisement.