Email newsletters are becoming more and more prevalent these days, and their popularity can be both a plus and a negative. On the positive side, newsletters are easier to create than they were just six months ago. Drag and drop formats, pre-designed templates; it’s so easy to make and distribute them that more and more companies are using newsletters to keep in touch with their customer base – and that’s also the down side. In a sea of newsletters popping up in inboxes, how do you instantly hook your readers’ attention and avoid the dreaded “delete” button?
A good newsletter is ultimately based on four tried and true principles: be interesting and engaging, keep it simple, don’t overwhelm yourself or your readers, and keep your deadlines.
1. Engage and interest
Even though I’m not in the market for a new home, I still look forward to a weekly newsletter from a local real estate company. Several of the homes they have for sale are listed at the bottom of the letter and I usually wind up flipping through them, but the reason I read their publication is because of the headlining story. These features might be about a celebrity home for sale or a house with a storied history, with titles such as “Fired bullets found in Billy the Kid’s ranch home, on the market since 2007” or “Famous bootlegger’s home for sale in Chicago.” Of course, the homes for sale aren’t in their portfolio, but the stories are relevant to their industry and they instantly grab their readers’ interest. And if I ever consider putting my own home up for sale, I’ll definitely be in touch with them because I know their newsletter is being read.
How can you think outside of the box with your company newsletter? Your stories don’t have to be about your specific company or even your immediate industry – how can you hook your readers with an interesting story that builds them up to learn more about your business?
Even if you have a bunch of interesting articles, however, your audience may quickly lose interest if you’re not engaging them in the stories. If the articles are poorly written, uncomfortable to read, or full of loud, obnoxious marketing language, your newsletter is almost as good as deleted – and it’s hard for readers to come back from a bad reading experience.
2. Be engaging
“Being engaging” means drawing your readers in to the story by making them feel like they’re a part of it.Write as though you are holding a conversation. For example, instead of bragging about a new award your company received, tell a little bit about the ceremony itself. Maybe the stuffed peppers were just terrific — include a picture! Think about how you can make your readers feel more involved with your company through both your stories and your tone.
1. Simplify, simplify
This phrase should be old hat if you’re a business owner, but it always bears repeating: keep it simple! Readers don’t want to slog through paragraphs of rambling rhetoric before they get to the point of your story. Keep it concise and keep it simple. A good idea for a section in your newsletter might be a “news bites” section, with little facts about some aspect of your business that readers might think are interesting. For example, if you own a stationary store, you could have a section called “from the blotter” with tips on how to learn simple calligraphy. Or if you have a landscaping company, a section called “dirty business” could advise readers on the best types of fertilizer for popular plants currently in season. Be creative! What interesting information can you share about your business? Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box.
2. Don’t overwhelm yourself
As an entrepreneur, you already know that you’re a strong and ambitious person, but think about setting some of those strong ambitions aside as you build your very first newsletter. While you may want to have sections for anything and everything, remember that these are all sections that you’ll need to keep up with in the future. Additionally, readers don’t want pages and pages of information. Rather, a couple relevant articles, some fun facts, and some interesting information about your company is more than enough to draw in your readers, engage them, and leave them feeling like they not only learned something, but that your company is a good source for that type of information. Remember that you will need to put this together on a regular basis, too, so make sure your newsletter is a comfortable size that you can keep up with. Which leads us to the last point…
3. Keep your deadlines
Even if you have the best stories in the world, readers will lose confidence with you and your company if you can’t keep deadlines. If you schedule your newsletter for release at 5 p.m. every Thursday, make sure you keep it! Regardless of how busy it is at work, always set aside the time to ensure your newsletter will be ready for distribution by a set deadline. This will not only grow the readers’ confidence in you and your reliability, it will grow their confidence in your company.
So the next time you’re working on your newsletter, or building your first one, think about these five basic principles: be interesting, be engaging, keep it simple, don’t overwhelm yourself, and keep your deadlines. If you do, you’ll begin gathering a loyal and expanding readership in no time.
About the Author:
Industry veteran Anita Brady is the President of 123Print.com, a leading provider of high quality customizable items like customizable business cards, letterhead and other materials for small businesses and solo practitioners.
