The Secret to Writing Successful Newsletters

A great newsletter starts by understanding its audience.

The Secret to Writing Successful Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with customers – and today’s online tools make them more inexpensive than ever to create and distribute. Too often, mailed and emailed newsletters wind up in their trash bins.

The reason is simple: The newsletter provided no value to the reader. While the author likely started with the best intentions, he or she failed to engage and provide useful information. In short, the author failed to write with the reader in mind.

Before you dive into creating your newsletter, consider these steps:

  • Define your reader’s persona. Identify what makes this person an ideal client for you. Consider what they do and don’t care about and what they look like demographically. Like any other form of communication, a great newsletter starts by understanding its audience.
  • Create the mailing list. The list is the most crucial aspect of your newsletter program. In business terms, your readers are:
    • Current customers
    • Former customers
    • Prospective customers
    • Referral partners
    • Providers of complementary products and services
  • Make an editorial plan. First, determine a newsletter calendar. Consumer and business-to-business marketers generally find a monthly frequency works well. Then, decide on regular features like an employee profile, customer testimonials, and/or special offers. Also, configure a distribution system for your newsletter - mail or email - and ensure this is cost-effective and easy to manage.
  • Develop content. Brainstorm a list of potential topics and set up a system to add to the list monthly. Start by thinking about your customers and what they want to know. How can you help them solve problems and provide information that makes a difference in their lives? Focusing on your readers helps ensure your newsletter will be effective.

For example, say you sell plumbing supplies to homeowners. Your customers will be interested in learning about the following:

  • New products
  • Maintenance and repair tips
  • Do-it-yourself home improvement advice
  • Water quality improvement tips
  • Water conservation ideas

Once you understand your audience, developing content is much easier. Each newsletter should provide a variety of information. While every article may not interest every reader, at least one article should be interesting to all your readers. Think about the retail plumbing supply example. Your newsletter could include articles in these categories each month:

  • Fire Your Plumber: Simple How-to Plumbing Repairs
  • What’s New: Products You’ll Love
  • Go Green: Ways to Reduce Consumption and Save the Planet!
  • Your Home is Your Castle: Simple Ways to Make Your Home More Livable

Notice there is no mention of specific products or services for sale in the above categories. The key is to offer value first; then,you can offer products for sale. Keep the sales pitch gentle and maintain a minimum 80/20 split (better yet, 90/10) between value and advertising. Your readers won’t mind small amounts of advertising mixed in with information of real value; however, you must focus on value first, or you will lose them.

To make the content creation process more manageable, don’t wait until the day before you publish your newsletter to start thinking about topics. Keep a notepad handy; whenever a customer asks a good question, consider using that as the basis for an article. Watch for news about your industry. If you solve a thorny problem for a customer, consider how others could benefit from that information.

  • Distribute and Evaluate. Monitor reader feedback and statistics. Since most newsletter software builds in statistic functions, the latter is most straightforward with an online publication tool. Here are some overall best practices:
    • Be consistent and predictable in the distribution
    • Keep your articles relatively brief. Stay concise and to the point.
    • Include photos or illustrations, but only if they enhance the printed information. Generic photos don’t reinforce your message, but photos of new products or illustrated repair tricks do.
    • Cleary display contact information. Make it easy for customers to find you. Refrain from assuming every reader is familiar with your business.
    • If you create great newsletters, satisfied customers may forward them to other readers.
    • Make it easy for customers to sign up for your newsletter. Prominently display the sign-up box on your website.
    • Post newsletters on your social media and website. Consider re-purposing the content in other ways. For instance, you might create a site archive with all your "how-to" articles, making it simple for website visitors to find that information.