Enewsletters vs. Nurturing Emails: A Comparison of 2 Types of Email Marketing

An email is a valuable little address. For small businesses alone, 81% rely on those emails to get new customers.

And it’s not a responsibility to take lightly! It’s a sign people trust your company enough to give you their email address. Your messages, tone and even frequency all play a part in whether you keep these key contacts — or lose them to an unsubscribe click.

Enewsletters and nurturing emails are two key ways to engage your prospects. But it’s essential to understand their purposes and differences to maximize your marketing.

At Zoe Marketing & Communications, we’ve created thousands of these emails in the past 15+ years for the metro Detroit and Chicagoland markets. We’ll tap into that experience to explain:

• What enewsletters and nurturing emails are
• 7 key differences between enewsletters and nurturing emails

You’ll gain a clear sense of how these email marketing methods work. And you’ll feel empowered to decide how to use them for your business.

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What enewsletters and nurturing emails are

Think of enewsletters like a general company news bulletin, delivered consistently over time. Nurturing emails are a limited series that’s centered on a specific topic.

Let’s take a closer look.

🗞️ Enewsletters in a nutshell

People subscribe to enewsletters to keep up with your content or offerings. These “send” on a regular schedule — weekly, monthly or quarterly.

An enewsletter effectively keeps your brand “top of mind” with subscribers. It builds trust and connection as you share updates, helpful insights or exclusive offers.

🌱Nurturing emails in a nutshell

This series of emails — often three to five — guides people through a short journey. The emails start dispatching after a prospect takes an action, like downloading a PDF or registering for a webinar.

The idea is to “nurture” possible customers with bits of helpful or educational information. Each email subtly nudges the readers to buy something.

7 key differences between enewsletters and nurturing emails

Enewsletters and nurturing email campaigns have unique goals and approaches. They differ in seven key areas: opt-in methods, frequency and timing, purpose and objectives, content and personalization, tone, engagement levels and results.

1. Opt-in methods

🗞️ Enewsletters

Enewsletters require a subscriber to sign up explicitly or “opt-in.” When they give their email, it’s clearly spelled out that they’ll get regular newsletters in their inbox until they unsubscribe.

🌱 Nurturing emails

People don’t specifically sign up for nurturing emails. Rather, they’re automatically “enrolled” after taking a particular action, such as giving their email to download a checklist.

Users give their implied consent to receive these emails (since the content of those emails should relate to the topic they took action on). However, each email always includes an unsubscribe option. This allows potential “bad fits” to opt-out.

2. Frequency and timing

🗞️ Enewsletters

“Scheduled and consistent” is the name of the game. Again, enewsletters can be weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc. And they deploy on the same day of the week, at the same time.

The frequency depends on your audience, so try testing to see what resonates. But again, regularity is vital. It creates trust, anticipation and even a sense of community.

🌱 Nurturing emails

By contrast, these emails trigger when a person takes an action, such as filling out a form. That means people receive them at a variety of different times.

That said, tempo is important — and so is quantity. Typically, limit these emails to three or five, max. And space them out over time, such as a month. For instance, the first email could arrive in 24 hours, the next two days later, then three days later, then a week later. (Note: Use email marketing automation to simplify this process.)

A little more “steam” at first matters, since whatever they signed up for is top of mind. The key is to have a gentle, “reminding” presence without being overwhelming. 

3. Purpose and objectives

🗞️ Enewsletters

Ongoing newsletters are all about informing, entertaining and engaging with your audience. Think of them as a way to update subscribers on fresh news and industry insights. It’s also a way to connect and show some personality (see #4 for more).

Brand loyalty is the goal. The idea is to create a deeper, meaningful relationship — not to drive sales.

🌱 Nurturing emails

These emails guide prospects through a buyer’s journey. Namely, that’s awareness, consideration and, ultimately, a decision. These emails are educational and informative but always lead people toward a sale.

They should help readers learn more about a specific product, service or topic. And they should always have people’s questions, concerns or even doubts in mind.

4. Content and personalization

🗞️ Enewsletters

Geared at diverse subscribers, enewsletters cover a broad array of content. Potential topics include blog highlights, special offers, product updates and upcoming events.

Sometimes they’re in one long narrative format. Others have various sections teasing different topics. A brief intro by someone with your company can help warm up the experience. So can adding a “personalization token” to greet the reader by their first name in that intro.

🌱 Nurturing emails

These emails are more targeted and personalized since they hinge on a specific topic.

Each email in the series should be super relevant and build on the reader’s interest and knowledge. Say someone downloads a guide on how to help their teen ace the ACT exam from a tutoring business. That business could send emails focused on good study habits, managing school stress and, finally, the value of a tutor.

These emails don’t need to be long; as little as 100-200 words will do. But be sure each has one clear call to action. Especially in later emails, that should be a link to make a purchase.

5. Tone of voice

🗞️ Enewsletters

Light, friendly and informative gets the job done. Of course, you’ll also use your brand’s voice, whether formal, witty, serious, etc. But keep it conversational and approachable.

Also, remember: Even when mentioning a company update or new service, avoid being overly promotional. Any “sales tone” should be subtle and a small piece of the overall message.

🌱 Nurturing emails

Yes, they’re educational, but nurturing emails’ goal is to move people to buy something. That means there’s space here for persuasive language, showcasing a product or service’s value.

That’s balanced, however, with a softer, non-invasive “sales tone.” As each email in the series nudges a person closer to a decision, the focus should still be on education and building trust.

6. Engagement levels

🗞️ Enewsletters

Expect engagement to be lower. The average enewsletter open rate hovers right around 20%. This is because the topics are broad — and each newsletter goes to every subscriber (unless they opt-out). So you’re getting a mix of interest, ranging from active to dormant.

🌱 Nurturing emails

Since nurturing emails are so tailored to a topic, their engagement rates are much higher, hitting almost 69%. Again, the recipients have shown a clear interest in a service, product or topic, so they’re more invested.

7. Tracking results

🗞️ Enewsletters

Open rates, click-through rates and unsubscribes typically track this performance. These metrics give insight into how engaging your newsletters are and how people respond to them.

🌱 Nurturing emails

While open and click rates still matter, conversation rates are crucial here. After all, the end goal is to get people to buy a product or service. So factors like completed forms, downloaded content and, of course, a purchase play a bigger role.

Next steps for creating effective email marketing

Whether using enewsletters or nurturing emails, the idea is to create a strong relationship with your audience. This connection and trust increase your odds of turning prospects into customers. And it can keep your existing customers coming back, too.

If your email marketing could use a boost, talk to us. Zoe Marketing & Communications is ready to craft powerful campaigns that will help you attract and retain clients.

In the meantime, keep learning about how email marketing can work for you. 

• Looking for an email marketing platform? See how Mailchimp and Constant Contact compare.
• Already doing some email marketing? Discover best practices to keep your email marketing out of spam filters.