The Importance of an E-Newsletter

About a year ago, we blogged here bout the importance of e-newsletters being part of your marketing strategy. Now, a year later, we have a half a dozen clients for whom we produce e-newsletters – most monthly but some quarterly.

The e-newsletter is one of the most effective tools in your marketing belt. Sending out an electronic update should both maintain the attention of your followers and generate new ones. The e-newsletter puts you in direct contact with your target audiences, and it is relatively inexpensive. But attention to detail is critical. If you blow it once, you can lose that client or customer forever. Here are some tips and guidance we use when producing client newsletters.

1) There is such a thing as too much information. Though your e-newsletter is an opportunity to deliver content, news and updates directly to your clients, it should not contain every piece of recent, sharable information from your organization. Limit yourself to one or two updates, a few links to relevant industry articles and a preview of events for the month. If readers are still interested, they should be able to easily navigate to your social media.

2) White space is not your enemy. Don’t crowd your newsletter with graphics and text. Give your readers the chance to digest your information by separating information with headings, subheadings and space.

3) It’s not always about you. Focus your content on more than your organization’s progress. While it’s often good to elaborate on details of a successful event or product, make sure you’re always targeting your message directly at your audience. Use your content to educate, inform, entertain and inspire.

4) Clearly establish your tone. Your e-newsletter should have a sense of style and personality, which are created through tone words. Remind your audience why they decided to follow you by consistently reinforcing your message. Keep in mind that your organization is competing with others for the public’s attention.

5) Limit how often you press send. Most members of the public err on the side of caution when signing up for e-newsletters because they’re afraid of being spammed. Make sure you recognize this fear and do everything in your power to limit how often you’re sending.