5 tips for a great newsletter

The best way to find out if a career is right for you is to have a go. That’s why I recently agreed for a client’s daughter to shadow me for a day. At 17, she’s starting to think about life after education and wanted to learn more about copywriting and marketing. To get her to experience the process of content creation, I set her the task of researching and writing a blog about creating newsletters. With her agreement, here is her finished article. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s pretty good for a newbie. Well done Emilia, you have a bright future ahead of you.

How to approach your audience in the right way

Newsletters are still a great way to build your brand, boost sales and make announcements, as well as keeping in contact with your customers. They’re a simple and cost effective way of informing your subscribers of new offers and information. All you need is to do it right.

But what do you write about? How do you keep it interesting? These crucial tips will ensure that you create a newsletter worth reading.

First thing’s first.

Hook the reader with your headline

In order to hook the reader, make your headline either straightforward or catchy.

The straightforward approach works well in its own way as it appeals to readers who are interested in the particular subject, quite like this headline. The heading suggests a direct source of information, and less rambling.

Equally, the catchy headline is effective in its own way. It appeals to those who have to be intrigued by a title in order to want to read it. Ways of making a catchy headline is by using:

  • Puns
  • Alliteration
  • Rhymes
  • Exaggeration
  • Some form of mystery

The aim of a headline is to interest the subscriber into reading your newsletter. The subheading should then add a small amount of further detail, bringing the reader in further. Make these parts clear and bold. This then allows the opening paragraph to get things going.

But, before you start, make sure to…

Establish your content

One thing is a must before getting started; you have to decide what your newsletter is going to focus on. You should lay out your main points to help you structure a logical flow throughout your content. This will avoid any chance of useless rambling and it will set out a template of what you need to include.

Make sure to establish your topic to create a backbone for your newsletter. What content types will you use? Ensure that you also write in varied tones in order to attract different types of customers. What are your main points and how can it benefit the reader?

A vital part of a successful newsletter is keeping the reader interested, and nothing will keep them more interested than if it advantages them. Point out why this will help them or subtly state why this newsletter should interest them.

This then leads us to the next tip.

Know your audience

In order to appeal to the audience, you must read the article as though you are the audience. What points would interest you? For example, a reader may not want to know the entire history of your company. A couple of facts may allow the customer to believe that you are a trustworthy source, however, try not to show this off too much as it is certainly not what they intend to read. What is more likely to interest them is how it can benefit them.

Try to understand what will grip the audience to trust you and to continue reading your newsletter. There should be an equilibrium between making your content simple and easy to read, but not too easy that they aren’t interested because the content is too basic.

The same goes for the layout of your newsletter.

Create your format

The format of your newsletter should not be too complicated. This can lead to the subscribers instantly junking your newsletter and not paying any attention to it, meaning that your hard work would be made for nothing.

A complex format can be seen as more unapproachable than impressive. Although it might be interesting to look at from the writer’s point of view, the reader will most likely have different standards. Try to keep the layout simple and approachable. Some well-known layouts are a place to start.

For example; bullet point layouts are:

  • Straight forward
  • Easy for listing essential points
  • Visually appealing
  • Less effort to read

This simplicity then invites the reader into getting gripped by an easy-to-read layout and allows the opportunity for them to start reading instead of working out where to start and scrapping the entire newsletter.

Which leads us to our final part to make a successful newsletter.

Avoid getting junked

This final point is one of the most crucial parts of creating a newsletter; to stop it from getting junked as the most obvious goal of making one is for it to be read.

Ways to avoid this from happening includes:

  • Making the title all caps, NOTHING SAYS ‘JUNK’ LIKE ALL CAPS
  • Make the subheading clear, coherent and specific
  • Don’t use profanities or offensive language
  • Do not send to people who have selected the opt out option to receive any emails from you

Try to stick to these tips and watch your newsletter grow.

Author: Emilia Dawson