Five Ways to Energize Your Newsletter

Whether distributed via e-mail or printed and snail-mailed, newsletters are a great way for a business or an organization to keep in touch with employees, customers, prospects or association members in a cost-effective manner. The trick, however, is to come up with a strategy to keep readers engaged and the publication's production and editorial adjustments in line with current budgets.

Here are five tactics that you can you can use to make your current newsletter more engaging and a must-read for your intended recipients. And while these strategies also work well for printed newsletters, we're going to focus on electronic newsletters because they offer the most opportunity for generating fast feedback from readers. Incorporating even one of these tips will help ensure that your e- newsletter increases in value from the recipient's point of view.

1. Boost interactivity through surveys

Raising interactivity is a sure, winning bet if your goal is to engage your readers and generate a reason for them to anticipate the next issue. This step is also the most obvious answer to the question "How do I know what my readers want to read about?" It's one of the great fallacies of the publishing business that the editors or publishers feel they always know more about what their readers need to know than the readers themselves. In truth, anything that's created in a vacuum by a roomful of editors and reporters is probably going to (ahem) suck in terms of achieving the goal of delivering engaging stories. Newsletter editors have a responsibility to get out there and see what feature in the last issue got readers talking, what kinds of topics readers look forward to seeing in the publication and how they feel about being able to communicate those desires.

2. Poll your readers to uncover the best delivery method for their needs.

In a similar vein, efforts that ensure that your newsletter read are often thwarted simply because the readers do not receive the newsletter in a format they feel is appropriate. In terms of e-letters, for example, one recipient's e-mail client (Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Entourage or Mail) may be set to not receive HTML files, while another's e-mail client may be set to send all HTML-based e-mail to the junk mail folder. The point is, you need to know the methods by which you will have the best chance of getting your e-newsletter before the most number of recipient eyes. If that means sending out a text version as well as an HTML version, so be it. But you won't know the answer to that question until you ask them the question.

3. Have the newsletter available in a variety of formats... and ALWAYS in archive form on the Web.

On the slim chance that one of your subscribers was left off the distribution list for the last issue, it's imperative to have the information available through your website. Beyond driving traffic, these archives serve as a reference point for current customers or members and also can be used as a selling tool aimed at prospects ("See what type of creative thinking we've come up with! Visit our website and check out our latest e-newsletter!") Additionally, you should consider: downloadable PDFs of the newsletter; a dedicated page for visitors to view the current e- newsletter; and a way for readers to forward their issue to a friend to take full advantage of viral marketing opportunities.

4. Plan your editorial budget to include a combination of fresh, breaking information as well as a stockpile of evergreens.

The people who put together newsletters of any type are often under the gun when it comes to developing material for the next issue. This can lead to mediocre, under-reported, bland stories being published since the time and attention they required could not be given. One way to alleviate that pressure - and reduce production headaches - is to plan editorial budgets well in advance that include ready-to-drop stories that can be appropriate for at least two issues down the road. This type of planning will give writers and editors more time to concentrate on developing the must-read pieces your readers expect. And, of course, those will be the stories that your readers told you they wanted to see from your surveys. Right?

5. Reassess the newsletter's role within your organization and set a mandate to boost that role.

If your company only sees a newsletter only as a way to promote upcoming events or provide pictures of new products before the new catalog ships, you might want to consider discussing other roles the publication could play in the overall strategy of the organization. A consulting or law firm could use an e-newsletter to provide perspectives on new consumer trends or recently passed legislation or court rulings. A retailer might consider an e-newsletter as a loyalty-building tool, providing sneak peeks at upcoming goods or services along with special coupons distributed only for newsletter recipients. And a manufacturing company could pass along ideas that boosted efficiencies in a plant in Dubuque to employees in its plant in Tampa through an internal e-newsletter. This raises the value of the publication in the executive ranks as well as among readers, which could become valuable at budget- setting time.

The flexibility that newsletters in general - and e-newsletters in particular - offer is undeniable in terms of distributing your company's or association's messages to the proper audience. The trick is to carefully manage how well the material in the newsletter matches with the needs of the readers, improve the level of interactivity with the reader, make sure the newsletter is available to the widest appropriate audience and has an important strategic role within the company or association. If these goals can be met, you can be assured that your readers will eagerly anticipate the next issue more so than the last.

Chris Scott heads Hodge Media Group, the custom publishing arm of Hodge Communications, Inc. Hodge specializes in strategic public relations and marketing communications for businesses, entrepreneurs and professional associations. Formerly an award-winning journalist, Scott brings over 20 years of experience to client engagements. Subscribe today to Communic@te our free bimonthly e- newsletter and get a free special report: "Using Buzz To Create a Groundswell For Your Business."

Visit http://www.hodgecommunications.com

---

Why a Newsletter Will Help Your Home Based Business

Web site traffic is a huge concern among home based... Read More

Fishing For Ezine Subscribers

The Bible tells the tale of the fishermen who were... Read More

Surefire Ways to Pack a Punch With Your Ezines & Newsletters

Newsletters, or ezines, can be an extremely effective marketing tool... Read More

Use the Power of Ezines to Increase Web Site Traffic!

If you don't have a list of your own then... Read More

Guaranteed Ways to Build Up Your Ezine List

Here are tips gleaned from roughly 5 years spent building... Read More

Ezine List Building-Wealth Mentor Teaches 5 Easy Steps To Skyrocket Your Subscriptions and Profits

Would you like an Internet Marketing tool that can put... Read More

10 Effective Ways To Gain More New Ezine Subscribers

1. Swap ads with other ezine publishers. Swap sponsor,... Read More

When Good Newsletters Go Bad: How to Avoid the Rut and Capture Hearts

The wizard in Wizard of Oz and the guy behind... Read More

Lesson #4: Six Powerful Places to Advertise Your Autoresponder!

Once you set up your autoresponder account, now you need... Read More

Ezine Promotion, The Three Forgotten Tactics

If you are like most ezine publishers you want more... Read More

10 Benefits Of Submitting Your Articles To Ezines

1. You'll brand your web site, business and yourself by... Read More

How to Make Your Newsletter Have Raving Fans!

Would you like to have a newsletter with barely satisfied... Read More

Grow Your Business with a Newsletter

You find a Web site or receive an email about... Read More

5 Ways to Use Your Software to Build Your Optin List and Get Traffic

With all of the software creation products available these days,... Read More

Success With Newsletters

Newsletters really DO work! With just a small amount of... Read More

Entrepreneurs - 3 Ways You Can Profit From Newsletters Without Writing Them Yourself

I'm sure you have heard many online marketers touting the... Read More

What?s In Your Resource Box (SIG File)?

One of the most important things you can do to... Read More

How Ezine Ads Explode Your Online Income - Part 2

Here's a big tip ? the secret to succeeding with... Read More

How to Increase Your Opt In List by 322% in 28 Days

"The money's in your list" - how many times have... Read More

Newsletter Publishing Tips

I can't think of a better way to sell your... Read More

Why Your Newsletter Must Get A Personality Today!

Newsletters are becoming ever more popular. Not surprising ? since... Read More

The News About Newsletters

"A newsletter is the paring knife of communication tools. It... Read More

The Power of Newsletters

When discussing the possibility of creating a newsletter for one... Read More

10 Great Ezine Content Tips To Increase Your Sales And Readership

1. Write articles that provide your readers with a list... Read More

Uncover 8 Secrets To Gaining More Ezine Subscribers Now!

If you've just started publishing your own ezine then you'll... Read More

The Secret Truth About Writing Great Sales Copy.

Did you know that most people find it difficult to... Read More

Re-evaluating The Purpose Of An E-Zine

With all of the push these days to publish an... Read More

Market Your Ezine Properly, So You Grab Every Visitor To Your Website

When marketing ezines, most people use sign-up forms or pop-up... Read More

Top Seven Ways to Promote your Ezine

Your ezine builds customer confidence and trust when you give... Read More

Is Your Ezine Being Zapped?

About a year ago I wrote an article titled 'Winning... Read More

How To Create Your Very Own Client Newsletter

Using newsletters for business development improves your sales and marketing... Read More

Five Ways To Promote Your Ezine

After you've spent countless hours creating and publishing your own... Read More

How to Grow Your Ezine Subscriber List

Your ezine subscriber list is a very valuable group. They... Read More