Newsletters are a powerful and effective marketing tool that helps you attract and retain customers, members, employees, business partners, and donors. Timely and compelling content propels your brand, reputation, and customer satisfaction. It’s also useful for facilitating change.
Here is the second of five surefire strategies for maximizing your newsletter’s effectiveness:
#2 - Deliver a variety of content to boost your appeal to a wider audience
Your audience isn’t monolithic. Your newsletter is a marketing piece – gear it to a variety of reader interests. Why should they care about or read a particular article? By addressing readers’ broad range of interests, you’ll increase engagement and stay top of mind.
Create catchy headlines that reel readers in. Numbers, questions, and emotional words pique interest. What are you promising to deliver? Capture that in your headline.
Your audience isn’t monolithic. Your newsletter is a marketing piece – gear it to a variety of reader interests. Why should they care about or read a particular article? By addressing readers’ broad range of interests, you’ll increase engagement and stay top of mind.
Create catchy headlines that reel readers in. Numbers, questions, and emotional words pique interest. What are you promising to deliver? Capture that in your headline.
Tell Stories
The best newsletters provide insight and news. By providing valuable content that’s useful to the reader, you are promoting your organization and staying at the forefront of your constituents’ attention. “Storytelling is a great way to get your point of view across, differentiate your brand, and work out new ideas,” said Richard Branson, the English business magnate, investor, author, and philanthropist. “Today, if you want to succeed you also have to be a storyteller.”
Example:
One effective approach is to elicit perspectives from leaders and constituents. For a healthcare client’s employee newsletter, I interview staff on particular topics. A recent article focused on how a Licensed Practical Nurse communicates with medical facility staff to improve patient outcomes. The importance of collaboration shone through and inspired other employees. I’ve used a similar tactic to set the stage for new initiatives by getting the perspective of new board members.
Be Inspired
Creativity and marketing go hand in hand. It’s important to keep your content new and relevant. The best marketers find inspiration from a variety of sources. Reading, podcasts, and taking a walk are my tried-and-true strategies. I also get new ideas from clients, projects, industry events, volunteering, and board work.
Share Your Expertise
Articles that show you’re on top of changes in your field help establish you as a thought leader:
What trends are you seeing?
Are there anticipated regulatory changes?
Do you have advice for tackling certain challenges?
Is there a recent client success story (their story, not yours)?
Did you conduct a survey, or release a white paper/research report? What are the findings?
Are there new innovative programs in the market?
Example:
In a recent newsletter for the League School, a school that serves students on the autism spectrum, I interviewed one of the clinicians for parental tips on how to enjoy summer outdoor play with their child. This provided helpful advice while also establishing the school’s expertise in helping students develop to their fullest potential.
Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash
Check back for strategy #3 of 5 for getting the most from your newsletter every time.
Cynthia McGrath helps businesses connect with their employees and customers through strategic marketing communications.
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