Maximizing Your Company Newsletter

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Newsletters can be a great communication tool. They let customers and prospects know about your products and services and provide current, relevant information about the way you're impacting and shaping your market. As with all marketing material, however, newsletters are targeted at busy people bombarded with marketing information every day. To increase the chances that your newsletter will be read, consider these tips from the team at Red Fender Consulting.

Formats. With the proliferation of tablet computers and electronic media, you should take a close look at whether your paper-based newsletter is still relevant to your customers. Electronic newsletters can take several forms: PDF, flip-book, email, or web-based. Specifically:

  • You can create a newsletter in your normal page layout program, then generate a PDF version of it. If you send out the PDF via email, think about whether you attach the file or provide a link to it in the body of the email (File attachments sometimes end up in recipient's spam folder). 

  • A a web-based newsletter can take several forms. You can display the PDF inside a browser, lay out the newsletter as individual web pages, or create a web flip-book (an increasingly-popular way to display printed material on the web). You can create your newsletter within an email. Write a short headline, include one or two paragraphs, and provide links to more text or additional resources if needed. You can duplicate this format for a half-dozen topics and viola! You have a newsletter that's quick to read and requires no layout.

  • Create an ad strategy. While advertising may offset production costs, it's important to ask how well it fits into the format and tone of your publication. For consumer newsletters that appeal to the general public, a healthy amount of advertising might work very well. If your newsletter has more of a business-to-business audience, limiting advertising to specific vendors and/or products might be more appropriate. If advertising does not fit your format at all, you may be able to include "soft ads" in the form of stories--for example, a vendor spotlight.

Provide real content. With competition for readers' attention at an all-time high, you'll increase your chances of getting read if you include content that is topical, useful, and highly relevant to your readership. In addition to highlighting your own products and services, consider customer case studies, articles from other publications, "how to" tips and training, and links to important resources. The more your readers find your newsletter useful, the more apt they are to read future editions.

Watch out for wordiness. Keep your articles short and succinct. The goal is to get your pint across with as few words as possible.

Keep your layout clean. Your newsletter is a reflection of your company and how it does business. That's why a clean, uncluttered format with a balance of text, graphics, and open space is the best way to go.

Link to your newsletter. If your company uses social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, reference each issue of your newsletter with a tweet or a post soon after it's published. You may also want to consider a newsletter section on your website where readers can scan through back issues.