Voice
and Personality
Establish a voice or editorial personality – whether
newsy, serious, gossipy or funny – that is synergistic
with the image you want to portray and connects with your
audience. Remember that email newsletters aren't email promotions
designed to stimulate immediate action. Sales and promotional
copy don't suit e-newsletters. Nor does the traditional tone
of broadcast corporate communications.
Think of your newsletter as a one-on-one conversation. Just
imagine sitting in a coffee shop talking informally with a
customer. That's the starting point for your approach--a more
personable and appropriate "human" voice will come
naturally. Drop the jargon, drop the sales pitch, be as honest
as you can, and talk like a human being. You can have as much
or as little personality as is appropriate.
Consider including a brief editorial, a comment or two, an
editor's note, a couple of lines of commentary, a touch of
opinion; add a little human element here and there. Sign editorials,
give authors a byline, or list some names down in the administrative
section of each issue to
which your readers can relate to.
“From” Line
Whether a person’s name, name of the newsletter or company
name – decide what resonates best with your readers
and stick with it.
“Subject” Line
“Vol. 1, Issue #8” or “Company News”
are not enticing subject lines. They are certainly consistent
and simple, but they don’t tell your readers anything
that will motivate them to open your email. Your subject line
is your calling card - entice your readers with the most
interesting or intriguing information in your newsletter.
Style/Format
Establish a format and layout of your newsletter's various
elements (table of contents, article, sponsor ad, "Tips",
subscription information, etc.) that is clean, simple and
consistent with each issue.
Content
Figure out what your readers want and give it to them. Seek
continuous improvement by obtaining reader feedback and monitoring
click-through rates to determine what types of articles are
most popular.
Another dilemma that we all confront is too much information
and too little time. The newsletter’s job is to
keep readers on top of trends and the latest developments
in the industry. Aim for articles and feature stories to meet
one of the following criteria by including either: major industry
occurrences, forward-thinking industry ideas, education on
issues or new techniques, or business opportunities.
Whether your customers work out of a corporate or home office,
employees need answers to questions and tips for improving
business activities. E-newsletters provide you with an opportunity
to point out work inefficiencies, and share relevant best
practice. When you create a newsletter, try changing your
focus from selling products and services to solving your customers’
problems. Think about what they need and give options they
don’t know exist.
Frequency
Determine how frequently your readers want to hear from you
and what you can commit to. As a rule of thumb, a weekly newsletter
is ideal. However, don’t launch a weekly newsletter
if you are not absolutely certain that you can distribute
a quality newsletter every week. A bi-weekly newsletter is
a good option too.
Timing
Test and pick a day and time that works best and stick to
it. Readers should almost be able to set their watches by
the receipt time of your newsletter.
Make it Viral
Provide information to readers that inspires them to forward
that information to friends and peers, which in turn stimulates
purchases or requests for additional information. Make it
easy for readers to forward articles and information to their
circle of influence such as providing a
“Forward to a Friend” link that enables readers
to forward your newsletter with a personalized note.
Search
Make it easy to find articles of interest and back issues.
Provide a table of contents and links to articles within the
newsletter and to resources and past articles on your site.
Printing
Consider providing “printer-friendly formats”
on your website.
Personalize
At minimum, address your reader by name. The most successful
newsletters have a human being associated with them —
and a personality. If possible, your newsletter should be
written by a person at your company, not the company.
Write in Layman Terms with Simple Vocabulary Not everyone
has the vocabulary that you and editors do. Use words that
are easy to understand, and if you do use technical terms,
provide a definition that people can relate to. There is nothing
more frustrating then a definition that makes less sense than
the word itself.
Test
Test your newsletter on a few personal email addresses to
check for errors and other issues before sending to the entire
distribution list. If you lack experience in print media,
seek out assistance if you know someone in the field. If not,
don't worry. The above-mentioned principles apply. Plan to
research your material thoroughly and avoid factual or editing
errors, as they will make you seem less credible.
Add hyperlinks and include updates on old material should
new information surface. The typical form of newsletter is
a one-way communication where you provide information to customers,
such as product updates and announcements. You have the option
of formatting your email by including colorized text and a
variety of fonts, but not all email software supports HTML
mail. Consider writing your newsletter in plain text or offer
two mailing lists — one for plain
text mailings and the other for HTML email. Make sure you
Include:
Table of Contents
Hyperlinks for customers who want more
information for a featured topic Exciting secrets or tips
related to your product or service
Contact information
E-newsletters can take up a good amount of time if not managed
correctly. The use of an auto responder is a good option.
It will automatically manage a list of email addresses and
other important subscriber information that you’ve collected.
Once your newsletter is ready, you can send it out to your
entire mailing list (or sub-sections of your list) with one
single click through your auto responder, and each message
will be personalized to each individual subscriber.
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