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 fourth of five surefire strategies for maximizing your newsletter’s effectiveness:
4) Channel your fish interests — consistency is critical for building cohesion
One of my husband’s long-time hobbies is maintaining and continually changing the mix and look of a 100-gallon fish tank. It’s like an evolving piece of art and adds Zen to our den. Did you know that fish with consistent personalities are more successful in social groups according to a recent study? This same practice – consistency – is key to the success of building your brand with your audience.
“Consistency is the key to growing engagement and interest in e-newsletter programs,” says Leo Levinson, CEO at GroupLevinson Public Relations. Even if recipients don’t read your newsletters, they will remember seeing yours until they finally pay attention to it and become avid followers.
Complement your brand
For the design layout, use your organization’s logo, colors, and fonts. Use a consistent masthead and include links to your website, social media channels, and newsletter editor. Complement the tone of your newsletter with your organization’s style. If your company has a friendly approach, you can use first names instead of a title with the last name after the initial introduction of the full name and title.
Send it at regular intervals
Send the newsletter on a consistent schedule so your readers know when to expect it. By committing to a publishing schedule, you’ve signaled your commitment to the newsletter. Indicate on your subscription page and the newsletter mastheads its frequency. For example, August 2022, August/September 2022, or the Third Quarter of 2022.
Try out different days of the week and times of day to see when you attract the most interest. Send in Blue offers general guidance based on industry.
Example:
My brother is a Certified Financial Planner who works for a financial services firm that sends a monthly newsletter about economic news and insights. The newsletter gives me valuable information about an industry I don’t know a lot about but is important to my financial well-being. I discover the company’s projections and take on how proposed policies might affect the market. It’s an indirect nudge to look at my statement and contact my brother if my goals have changed or if I want financial advice. As a result of these newsletters, I take action more frequently.
Keep your mailing list up to date
Keeping your email contacts up to date increases your email deliverability. Don’t send your newsletter to people who don’t want it; be sure there’s an opt-out provision. For non-vacation bounces, identify and update email addresses that can be corrected. If it’s not a typo or you don’t have a corrected email, delete them. When an Internet Service Provider (ISP) sees repeated send attempts to an email address that is bouncing, they're more likely to treat your email as spam, according to Constant Contact. This will mean that people for whom you have valid emails may not receive your email.
Tip:
It’s important to tackle this every month so that maintaining the list doesn’t become unwieldy. I recommend running your bounce report each time you check your results.
Check back for strategy #5 of 5 for getting the most from your newsletter every time.
Content schedule photo credit: cottonbro studio
Cynthia McGrath helps businesses connect with their employees and customers through strategic marketing communications.
Comments