Newsletter Development - Top Tip No3

Promotional newsletters in hard-copy format can deliver good return-on-investment despite the growth of on-line communications.

In recent research, over 90% of senior personnel said they read their key trade media and looked at their supplier’s newsletters. Create a good newsletter and it will be read. Produce a bad one and it will damage your credibility.

The 5 most common mistakes made in the production of newsletters are:

• It isn't published according to the intended schedule.

• The content is too you-focused rather than being market-focused.

• Headlines aren't descriptive or catchy.

• Layout is poor, with too many type styles, fonts and inconsistent column widths.

• Photos or other graphics are not used enough and are not captioned.

The guiding principal for a promotional newsletter has to be: “what’s-in-it-for-me?” The recipient must find it instantly interesting, or it goes in the bin.

Your goal is to build awareness and maintain mind-share among clients and prospects. Demonstrate your expertise through client stories. Promote your full range of services indirectly and describe them in terms of benefit, rather than as a blatant sales pitch.

Avoid an overly ambitious newsletter campaign that requires more time and money than you can comfortable invest. A single-page, two-sided newsletter that appears every other month is preferable to a four-page version every quarter. Choose the least number of pages that offers you the space necessary to "tease" readers into contacting you for more information. Commit to simplicity and efficiency.

Invest time creating a template containing a column arrangement that builds white space into each page. Use consistent styles for headlines, subheads and body copy so you can work as efficiently as possible preparing each issue.

How good is your Newsletter?

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