Author: Bethesda Emedia Marketing

Writing an Enewsletter is one of the best ways to remain in contact with customers, as well as to remind them of promotions and discounts available through a website.  In order to build a readership and maintain it you must offer rich content that people want to read on a regular basis.  Familiarity and usability are absolutely essential when it comes to producing a quality newsletter for your readers.

Here are nine tips to help you write a better enewsletter.

1. 1.     Understand the Audience

Writing blindly and expecting good results rarely works out as well as you would have wanted.  In order to truly connect with readers, you must understand them.  You must know what their motivations are and why they’re reading your newsletter to begin with.  So start by simply thinking about your audience and what the average reader wants to see in an Enewsletter.  From there, form your topics based around the reader’s expectations.  This will lead to more sales and clicks back to your website.

1. 2.     Set Realistic Goals

Be realistic from the outset concerning the length and content of your Enewsletter.  You want to foster a sense of familiarity among the readers, which means that every issue should be similar in length.  More importantly, you don’t want to start out writing large amounts of content and then slowly burn out over time, producing less and less until the publication stops altogether.  Instead, keep some of that content in reserve for the next issue.  Use those feverish bouts of writing as opportunities to store away content for a later date.

1. 3.     Begin Simple and Build Up from There

Simple is always the best.  When it comes to your newsletter, you don’t want to go overboard on features from the start.  Instead, work your way into the process.  Start with a few stories, a couple of helpful articles, and a discount.  From there, you can add more if you feel it is necessary.

1. 4.     Recruit Other Writers

To get a better variety of content, recruit other writers to produce articles for your Enewsletter.  You should have a list of writing guidelines written down beforehand.  These guidelines should be simple and not too restrictive.  In order to better recruit top quality writers, offer them a byline with a link back to their own blog or website as payment for taking the time to write for the newsletter.

1. 5.     Set Deadlines and Keep Them

In order to maintain familiarity, Enewsletters should be published on a schedule, either weekly or monthly.  You should always hold to this schedule, especially as the readership increases and readers begin to anticipate the date of the next issue.

1. 6.     Allow for Reader Feedback

It is amazing how many people publish Enewsletters but don’t allow for readers to contact them directly through e-mail or by some other means.  By severing this line of communication, you’re effectively shutting out one of the biggest ways to gain customers and drive sales.

If someone has a question about your product or service, for example, then you’d certainly want for them to be able to contact you.  So always list a functioning email address and be sure to check it at least once every couple of days.

1. 7.     Don’t Be Afraid of Change

While familiarity is certainly important, one shouldn’t allow for that to inhibit innovation.  Sales are ultimately the true test of how well an Enewsletter is performing.

If the results aren’t going as you planned, then consider overhauling the format or changing the content.  While you should build onto a successful strategy, you shouldn’t be afraid to scrap one that isn’t working.

1. 8.     Upgrade the Design to Exhibit a More Professional Image

Quality, professionally produced Enewsletter templates are available. These allow all publishers to have a professional design without spending much money.  These HTML templates can be used with a variety of email marketing services and are easy to integrate with content to produce amazing results.

Imagery is used in all facets of advertising to sway people’s perception of brands and influence buying decisions.  You too can use it to your own advantage by upgrading from a basic design to a more advanced, professional one today.

1. 9.     Content Is Always King

No matter how beautiful your newsletter may look, if you can’t deliver thoughtful, inspiring content that people find useful or entertaining, then readers won’t subscribe or read what you have written.

Always focus your efforts on developing content specially made for your intended audience.  They’ll thank you for it by remaining loyal readers for years to come.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  For over 10 years, Bethesda Emedia Marketing  has been headed by David James (on Twitter: djamesbethesda). The company are noted experts for designing HTML Enewsletter templates and full service Email newsletter services. The company works with associations, publishers and other businesses in the US and worldwide.

Bethesda Emedia Marketing's parent company is Bethesda List Center, Inc., headquartered in the Washington, DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland. Bethesda List are experts in mailing list management and mailing list brokerage. Their clients include associations, medical and life science organizations and general business offers. The company was founded in 1992.

Image courtesy of (Stuart Miles) from freedigitalphotos