10 Tips to an effective e-newsletter

Published on the 27-Aug-2007

1. Define the aim and purpose of your communication. Try and put procedures in place to track whether you have achieved what was laid out.
2. Make sure your E-newsletter has an interesting design and layout to keep the reader’s attention. A good E-newsletter system will enable you to construct well laid out pages with ease. Ensure the design is in keeping with your company branding and marketing strategy.
3. The biggest task you face in producing a good newsletter is in the creation of well written and thought provoking content. Keep your promotional copy to a maximum of 25% of the content.
4. Concentrate on being genuine and make it sound like you are having a conversation with your reader through the medium not forgetting who you are talking to.
5. Send your newsletters at regular intervals and stick to that interval. Do not miss a deadline as this could affect you relationship with the reader.
6. Plan several issues in advance – many newsletters fail at the eleventh hour because contributors don’t deliver to schedule.
7. Consider the limitations of technology your readers are using. Some elements can be blocked by firewalls so choose them carefully.
8. Electronic newsletters cost nothing for you to send, or for your readers to send on. Make sure you take advantage of this by adding a ‘send to a friend’ function on your newsletter.
9. Try to gain feedback from your readers by getting them involved and directing them to you website. To do this you could use a competition or opinion poll for example.
10. Include functionality for measurement. Make sure you know how many readers you have, which articles are read and try to spot any other trends from a good tracking and reporting system.

Now that you have a good idea of how you should create your newsletter you can now search for an e-newsletter system that suits your needs. Check back soon where we will provide you with an article of our recommended e-newsletter systems.