Many companies send out newsletters on a regular basis to their subscribers. Who hasn’t at times had their inbox flooded with newsletters? And then wondered why they had subscribed to them in the first place? Saving them for later and eventually deleting them.

What makes for a good newsletter?

How can you make it attractive to your subscribers? In an age of over information and misinformation, it can be hard to get readers’ attention and even more to hold it.

Do newsletters just cause stress or are they informative and welcome? It’s impossible to read minds. This article presents some advice for making newsletters that you yourself would want to read.

But first we’ll touch on some pros and cons of choosing newsletters as a channel to communicate with your audience. Next time, we’ll explain how the process behind creating newsletters is decisive for success.

Pros: 5 reasons to have a newsletter

 

• Reach people that have said that they want to hear from you
• Inform your audience regularly about what you’re doing
• Drive them to your website and products
• Measure your performance
• Reflect regularly on what’s happening in your company/organisation

 

Cons: 5 reasons not to (have a newsletter)

 

• Resource intensive (time and money)
• Complex activity with many steps in the process from start to finish
• Can cause email overwhelm and add to stress for your customers
• Your information can get lost in the noise
• Focus your energy on other channels instead

 

The process behind a successful newsletter

Often overlooked and yet crucial for success is the importance of planning and team work. A good newsletter is one that follows a schedule and where people work together.

This is not to say that you cannot create a good newsletter on your own, if you are a solo entrepreneur.

In this case, it’s even more crucial to have a plan to follow to ensure nothing gets forgotten. You’ll have to carry out all the work yourself so careful planning is everything. But more about this next time!

 

5 tips to creating a newsletter that you yourself would want to read

 

• Use A/B testing to figure out what works for your readers
• Have a call to action to engage your audience
• Be consistent and on brand (headings, font, logos, colours, voice)
• Make sure your newsletter is mobile friendly
• Use space and images (avoid text-heavy newsletters).

 

The choice is yours

Whether you decide to launch or maintain a newsletter or not, remember that nothing lasts forever. You can always choose to launch one later on, or improve the one you have.

It’s also alright to take a break, or decide to focus on other ways of staying in touch with your audience.

Next time we’ll look more closely at the steps in the process of creating a newsletter: planning, creation, team work, quality checks, goals, promotion and performance.

Do you need help deciding what to do? Are you interested but don’t know where to start? Get in touch! Drop us a line at syper@syper.eu.