Here's the thing.
People like to read about good news, especially if it will benefit them directly.
They like to read bad news even better. It's just more interesting.
But they don't like receiving newsletters, for the most part. Why? Well, often they are boring, even more often they are irrelevant, and fairly regularly, they are simply a sales pitch dressed up as news. Shock news! (not really).
Many so-called newsletters have no news in them whatsoever.
Here are our top 7 tips for creating a "not-a-newsletter"
Q: Why "not-a-newsletter"?
A: To distance your updates from news items about new team members, company picnics, and charity bike rides, which are interesting to you, but not to your customers and prospects.
1. It's not a newsletter
Give it a real name, that reflects what you do as a business. For example, "clever business news" or "game changer". If it is not called a newsletter, it gives you a license to include interesting information even if it's not the latest news. And it gives the "rag" an identity that will allow you to rule content in or out based on its relevance.
2. Create a recognisable style or format
Create a style. Perhaps test it in different lengths, with different numbers of articles, with or without images - and then stick to that format so it becomes a familiar face in the inbox.
3. Give it regularity
Weekly or monthly is ideal. Quarterly will do if that's all you have time or content for. But send it out regularly so it is looked out for, and welcomed.
4. Make it well-written
If someone in the company can write well, or if you work with an agency or freelance writer, get them to create the content. If subject matter experts are not writers, then get someone who can write to interview them (see my separate blog post on creating compelling content). You might even want to commission a freelance journalist or independent expert to create content or commentary, to give you a stronger voice (this will also have the benefit that they will distribute to their own network).
5. Create engagement
Give people a reason to read more, click through to your website, or (even better) engage in a dialogue, with polls and interactive content.
6. Make it timely and relevant
We live in a very big, wide world, so there will always be something new and relevant to your audience, about which you can have an opinion. Today, and over the next few days, for example, you will undoubtedly see a number of emails entitled "Election news: what this means for xyz (insert relevant audience name)".
This doesn't mean you can't recycle old but relevant content, simply that you contextualise it in the moment, and give people a reason to engage with it.
7. Set realistic goals - and flex to achieve them
Why have you created a newsletter in the first place? What do you hope to achieve from it, and how does it fit into your overall marketing strategy? Set some realistic goals, in the context of a wider plan, and prepare to flex your plan if the goals are not being met. I'd advise using lean startup methodologies to constantly refine the approach to make sure all your outbound marketing (not just the not-a-newsletter) is fit for purpose.
Here's the link to one we made earlier: GameChanger
