Creating Newsletters Tips
Read these 10 Creating Newsletters Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Newsletter tips and hundreds of other topics.
The Masthead
Every newsletter should have a masthead. This consists of information about your newsletter and who wrote it. You may also wish to include here any contact information. Also, if you copyright your newsletter, that information can be placed in the masthead section as well.
How to Start A Newsletter
Stressed about how tobuild email newsletters? No need to worry. There are several companies that offer services to assist the construction of your newsletter, no matter what the subject. These services are great for helping you organize thoughts, make suggestions, and show you what layouts and designs will work best for your needs. Ready-made templates are often provided to assist you further. It doesn't get much easier than that!
Keep Your Newsletters Brief!
Keep your newsletters as brief as possible. Put the most pertinent information at the top of the screen, as no one enjoys scrolling through pages of messages. Remember that your recipient may be receiving several newsletters. If long newsletters start to stack up, they usually get deleted. When you create email newsletters, make sure yours only takes four screens or fewer to relay your most important news.
Nameplates
A "Nameplate" is the name and graphic for your newsletter. The name of your newsletter should be appropriate to your content. Think of it like the name of any newspaper or magazine you have seen. Make sure your nameplate is visually exciting as well. This will help make your readers look forward to opening -- and reading! -- your newsletter.
Departments of Your Newsletter
Departments are story categories that will be repeated in each issue of your newsletter. Most newspapers have obituaries, local news, movie listings, etc. A school newsletter may have a column by the principal, a library report, a person of the week, sports, a column of happenings in science, math, and more.
Personalize Your Newsletters
Get to know the subscribers to your newsletter. Be sure who you are reaching, and it is more likely they will view your message. Not only should you give them reasons to read by including information that is useful, but you can also personalize newsletters by including their names in the subject line or as part of a cover letter to the newsletter attachment.
Is Your News Accurate?
Creating newsletters can be a great experience. Your entire mailing list of subscribers gets a chance to read the news you have compiled and/or written. It's quite a satisfying method of communication! With this satisfaction comes responsibility. Make sure the information you are publishing is accurate. Take extra time to do fact-checking as well as checking for grammar and spelling errors. A few minutes of editing will go a long way.
Soft and Hard Copywriting For Newsletters
Writing for print newsletters and online newsletters are two different things. Be sure to give your writing style an easy flow that readers can scan through quickly. Do the same with your formatting, You can achieve this by using caps, asterisks, dashes, white space, etc., but don't overuse one style. Readers need to remain visually engaged.
Who Reads Newsletters, Anyway?
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen conducted a recent study about newsletters. The results were that about 50 percent of readers skimmed or partly read newsletters. Only 23 percent of readers read the newsletters all the way through. The remaining 27 percent were never opened. Use these figures to help you design a stimulating and effective newsletter by getting your reader's attention right away with a good subject line. Then keep him/here interested with engaging and easy-to-read content.
Credit Where It's Due
Be sure to credit the author(s) of your articles by including a by-line. If you have more than one author, you may wish to have their signatures be consistently represented with each issue. By doing this, your readers will know what to expect, can look forward to the authors they enjoy, as well as learn about new ones.
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| Alexis Niki |
