Something that people often forget and the thing that absolutely should be done first, is to make sure your subscribers know exactly what they’re getting. Clearly state your newsletter’s contents and theme and clearly title it and summarize its contents in a short paragraph so that readers don’t have to figure out what it’s about by actually reading it. You won’t do yourself any favours by getting subscribers for something they don’t know about, and most people will cancel once they realize that your newsletter doesn’t have anything that interests them.
A good way to break up the research for yourself is to figure out a variety of topics to write about. Finding three or four major topics and then breaking those up into sub-sections and then those sub-sections into articles and newsletters. Breaking up topics like this will allow you to generate fairly detailed material on a number of different subjects, while still being original and useful with your newsletter. If you’re having a hard time writing about a given topic, go a little broader, which will help you use more information in a single newsletter to provide more material.
In the end, even if you follow all of these steps, even if you’ve got the best newsletter available, very few of the subscribers will read every one. Don’t be afraid to promote your newsletter on related blogs, websites and even through other newsletters on similar subjects. All you want to do is make sure that your content is relevant, readable, and accessible. If you can write content that is actually useful for readers, easy for them to understand, and interesting enough that they want to read it in the first place, then your reader base will be that much more likely to read what you send them. The more people that actually read your newsletter, of course, the more people will continue to read and subscribe to what you write.
Lilach
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25 Responses to How to write a newsletter that people actually read
I found this very interesting because I am about to take first steps in newsletter writing.
One thing that I could do with further clarification on is the phrase ‘easy for them to understand’ … do you mean you should dumb down the content?
This was advised by someone else a while ago and it has bothered me ever since.
Ladybizbiz recently posted..YOUNG TEENS VIEW OF ‘CLOUD COMPUTING’
Ladybizbiz, I think by dumb down they mean just to remember to write for your audience and not your peers. It’s very easy to write things at a higher level when it’s something that you are an expert on. Things that may seem simple to you are not necessarily simple to your audience. And if you do cover topics at an advanced level, break it down. I sometimes have friends or family read over what I’ve written because I know they are not experts in my field. If they can understand my message, then I know I’ve done a good job.
Thanks Crystal – spot on:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Thanks Ladybizbiz. I think it’s important to think about who your target audience is when you write for them. This can be meant in several ways, terminology, for example I often talk about how important it is to get an ROI on your marketing. What if someone doesn’t know what an ROI means? (return on investment). So rather than dumbing down make it clear and easy for your readers to understand. You want them to understand and get value from your newsletters. What you don’t want to do is patronise them as this will offend them.
The more you understand and can relate to your target audience the easier it is to write for them and provide them with the content they want so they not only read your newsletters but look forward to them and share with others.
Twitter: lilachbullock
Thank you for the informational newsletter.. As a new blogger, i really liked this!
Thnx lilach, as a starter on twitter and newsletters, this info was very useful for me! Unfotunately, all my tweets are in dutch
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A good newsletter is one that people are pleased to see in their inbox and read as often as possible. This means that the content has to be of value to them – so you really need to:
a) Know what they want
b) Deliver value issue after issue
It’s a big ask, but some people achieve this apparently effortlessly. Alan Stevens, Gihan Perera, Molly Harvey, Andy Lopata, Nigel Risner and Mike Ferguson are all on my ‘must read’ list. But I get dozens of enewsletters every week and I delete most of them unread.
I feel another blog coming on!!!
Lesleywriter recently posted..Don’t put obstacles between your reader and your message!
Thanks Lesley you made some great points. For me, I get so many emails each day that if I don’t look forward to their emails, I’m probably not going to read them. Looking forward to reading your next blog:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
@Lesleywriter Sulking now, because you didn’t mention mine!
This was a great post for me to read tonight as I am launching my newsletter later this week! I love your tip about promoting it on other sites, etc. I don’t know if I would have thought about that. Thanks!
(dofollow)
Martha Giffen recently posted..Are You Ready For Some Football In Your Online Biz?
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Make your newsletter relevant to the interests and needs of your audience…and watch out for jargon. Jargon is annoying to readers. Or if you must use a term specific to your field, give a definition. That is not dumbing down, it is just being clear. And it makes good sense. If you use an acronym, give a definition the first time you use it. Nothing annoys me more than reading a newsletter that uses acronym/jargon without explanation. Good luck with your writing ventures. Thanks for the article.
Twitter: janiceheck
Thanks Janice. You’re spot on about jargon, it’s just annoying to readers. Also I think something really important is to make sure your newsletter deliver what it says it will. There is nothing more frustrating than opening an email to find out that they’re not really telling you anything… just selling.
Twitter: lilachbullock
I am planning to launch a newsletter too, so thanks for the tips and blog. All makes sense really. For a novice like me how often would you send out a new newsletter, maybe quarterly to start? Think I need to write up info in advance so I don’t run out of ideas. Is it also Ok to use someone elses ‘article’ and either re-write or add their link at bottom? I’m also thinking Aweber is best to host it, am I right?
Thankyou.
Sue
Twitter: VASussex & PremiumCVs1
Whilst I’m not a business, it great to find new information that can get our message out to the wider public. Articles like this are valuable sources of information. In our world of promoting forces charities and fundraisers a good comprehensive newsletter is going to be a valuable tool. As they say “content is king”. Taking on board these pointers will hopefully help us achieve increased tangable results. Thanks for the article, very informative
Thanks Alan:) I actually wrote an article on Content is King as I agree.
Twitter: lilachbullock
Very true Lilach – way too many newsletters are too wordy and no one wants to read them. By having a clear agenda of content and links through to article and blog posts that the reader can delve deeper into if they want is a much better way of delivering interesting content. Making it visually attractive and relevant is of course important to. Content is definitely King so you should spend quality time getting it right before delivering it to your audience of subscribers and community. Have a great New Year and looking forward to more from you in 2012
Susan recently posted..Cool Tool – If This Then That
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Thanks Susan:) Yes short and sweet is always the best way I find. I’ve also recently started directing people back to my website in my emails, it’s working very well and I wished I had done it sooner:)
Wishing you and Chris a very Happy New Year too:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
I am about to embark on creating a newsletter for my company and your article is very useful. I will be trying to keep the images visually appealing and the content relevant to our target audience. Thanks
Thanks Samantha my pleasure:) I’m sure if you stick to that you’re have a very successful newsletter that your readers will not only read but look forward to:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Lilach – I loved your article. I have found that the key to getting people to read my newsletter is to really focus on what my target market wants to hear. It’s the secret sauce to great connection. To further add to this topic here is an article that I wrote: http://makeadifferencemakealiving.com/?p=86
Karen recently posted..A Marriage Made In Heaven!
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Great Read! Easy and simple tips.
Twitter: goominbeat
Hi Lilach,
I am about to embark on my new newsletter next week. I was wondering if you had any thoughts around frequency of newsletters?
Beth
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Hi Beth,
Depending on how much time you have I would recommend once per week to start. If that feels too overwhelming then do once every other week, but no less than that. Two pieces of quick advice….
1) Stay consistent. Whatever schedule you establish, stick with it so your audience knows you’re reliable.
2) Write about what your target market wants to read but also include personal stories and thoughts of your own. When you add a touch of your life with each newsletter you will begin to build relationships with your readers.
Good luck and if I can be of any other assistance, please let me know.
Karen
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Twitter: KarenPattock
That’s so true. It’s a bit of a shock when you start to build a little list and wonder why just a few people are reading. One important thing to also remember is that they track opens with an image. If there’s a request on the server for the image then they know the image is open but if your reader has to confirm whether or not to show images, they might not do that so there could be a portion of readers who are opening it and reading but you can’t track them as opened.
Lianne-Carla Savage recently posted..Profitable List-Building
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