How to Write Optimized Newsletters
Today’s technology offers many possibilities to reach more customers more rapidly. But this also means that customers are overwhelmed with all the information sent to them constantly and they can hardly keep track of all this information. So how do you get your subscriber to really read your newsletter? It is important that your customers get the information in a different way, more personalized, that will keep them interested and unique. Quality content is the principle behind email newsletter!
To write a good email newsletter there are a few tips to follow…. Here are the most important points to keep in mind when writing a newsletter:
Objective of the newsletter
The first important step to take while writing a newsletter is to ask “why am I writing a newsletter?”. You need to know the goals behind this letter.
A newsletter is written to communicate with the customer, to inform the customers and give them updates about products, services, or the company in general. A newsletter is an important marketing tool allowing you to promote your company, but also to stay in touch with your customers and keep them interested and aware of your products and services.
Top Quality Content
After determining the purpose of your newsletter, you are ready to select the content matching the goals of this letter.
- A good start is to present your business: maybe a specific area that needs more attention from your customers or that has been interesting more and more customers.
- Present a new product or service; or present a special promotion or event; but be careful to not be to pushy, you want the customer to keep reading your newsletter without feeling that he is encouraged to buy from you, but that it is up to him.
- Select an article about your company, your products or the industry you represent. Bring awareness to your customer about what is said and done. You can also select a few links to support the information given there.
- Bring up one or a couple “frequently asked questions” with a short answer for them.
- You can also include testimonies from customers.
- Last but not least, don’t forget to specifically ask for feedback from your readers. Don’t be afraid of negative feedback, but recognize this as a chance to improve and strengthen your company.
There are a lot more ideas to include in a newsletter. Try to follow a format and adapt it to the needs of the moment.
Section it up!
Then you need to organize the information to broadcast. Make it easy for your readers to find the information he or she needs. Highlight your main points and most importantly: make the information accessible. Remember it is a newsletter… meaning you are giving just a few information, updates and maybe presenting a new product or service – but it’s not a whole newspaper: Get to the point! Be concise, clear and efficient. You must select the most important topics of the week, month, or quarter (depending how often you send out your newsletter). Rather than giving away all the information at one, include “Teasers” that will entice your readers to click on the link to read the full story on your website. The customer must be able to learn from that newsletter and not be overwhelmed with information, lose interest and not finish reading it. This is your promotion tool!
And finally: How to format a newsletter
Pick HTML or Text format depending on the impact you are trying to create. If you use HTML format you can use colors, pictures, even videos if you need, to present your ideas clearly and support the message you are trying to pass to the customer. And if you hesitate, use templates – why not?! They are there to be used and help you after all. I personally like the ones offered by ConstantContact for email newsletters. HTML Newsletters are more appealing to the customers that are interested in your product or service, but will have a lesser rate of return with customers that are not familiar with your company and do not yet trust your source as they have to download the pictures first. If you use the text format, you are more limited on the esthetic aspect but you may be reaching out more efficiently to customers who are looking for a more personal feel to it. You can balance the pros and cons of both format and decide which match best your goals (Mark Brownlow gives you a few tips in Chosing an email format.)
Re-read it from a customer point of view, be satisfied and click and sent!
In a nutshell: a newsletter is a strong marketing tool used to publish news about your company, announce events and or promotions, post articles and documents strengthening your place on the market and developing a mailing list while informing and reaching out more and more customers.
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