Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Newsletter?

Newsletters continue to grow in popularity as a subtle but effective marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. If it is well-designed, full of useful content and delivered on a regular basis, a newsletter can be something customers look forward to receiving.

Note the key words: well-designed, useful content and regular basis. Fall short on any of the three and your newsletter won’t be worth the time it takes to produce.

I’m particularly fond of electronic newsletters. They are a great way to drive traffic to a web site. One of my clients, Baldwin Publishing in Lambertville, New Jersey does a great job coordinating printed newsletters, electronic newsletters and fresh web site content for hospitals and medical practices. The information is essentially the same, just repackaged and search-engine optimized.

Regardless of format, there are couple of essential steps to success in newsletter publishing:

Set a publication schedule and stick to it!. Some newsletters are produced as frequently as daily, others infrequently as quarterly. This decision will depend on the content available and budget. It’s probably a good idea to start with a conservative schedule until you determine how much information you have to convey.

Come up with a distinctive design. A consistent look is important to the success of a newsletter. It should reflect your corporate identity and philosophy. A newsletter that is out of character for your company will have less credibility with readers. Make sure you use readable typefaces, generous margins, powerful headlines, and high quality photographs. Make sure everything is proofread to avoid embarrassing mistakes.

Manage content. Remember, it’s not all about you. Sure, you can include some self-serving accolades, but readers don’t want to hear just how wonderful you are. Give them useful, timely content about the industry. Let them know about upcoming seminars and conferences that might be of interest. Use charts and graphs that explain industry trends. Of course, include your toll free phone number and website address whenever possible.

Distribute wisely. Make sure your mailing list is kept up to date. This can be done in-house, or you can hire a mailing house to do the work for you. Sending a newsletter through regular mail can be labor intensive. Take advantage of bulk mailing discounts, if possible. Make sure your newsletter’s weight stays to a minimum to save on postage.
If you email your newsletter, it is imperative to have an “opt-in” feature that allows people to choose to receive the newsletter. Unsolicited email can be considered spam, even if it is sent to the right people.

Sell advertising. You can defray the cost of producing your newsletter by selling advertising space. There might be a non-competing vendor hoping to reach the same audience as you. Offer a display ad or guest column as a way of generating some revenue.

Follow up. Try to include some interactive mechanism to determine how many people are reading your newsletter. A special offer only available to newsletter recipients is a good idea.

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