How to Write an Optimized, Effective Newsletter
Newsletters are an effective way to communicate certain information to your mailing list. In fact, it can be one of the most effective business writing methods when used correctly. Unfortunately, many companies don’t know how to write a newsletter. In these situations, hiring professional content writers will ensure you have an optimized newsletter that achieves your goals and helps you provide valuable information to your readers.
Plan Your Newsletter
Before you start writing a newsletter, it’s important to have a plan in place. Going into this project without goals will not allow you to reap all the benefits this level of marketing can provide. For starters, it’s important to determine what types of topics you want to address in the content. Next, you need to determine the types of content it will include and what your goals for the newsletter are. Finally, you should come up with a catchy newsletter name. Try incorporating your business name and make sure it’s something memorable.
Once you have this part of your plan, you can begin working on the layout of the newsletter, as well as determine which method of delivery is best. In today’s world, a digital newsletter is often the preferred method, though some industries still favor a printed newsletter. The timing of delivery is also essential. Monthly newsletters are an ideal choice, though some businesses send them out weekly, bi-weekly or even bi-monthly.
Write the Content
After all the planning is complete, your website content writer can begin creating the content to include in your newsletter. This content should be divided into sections. How you divide it will depend on a number of factors. For instance, if your newsletter includes several topics related to your industry, split it up by topic. There are many ways to split up the content within your newsletter. Subheadings, italics and bold text can also be helpful in drawing attention to the most important points within the content. Most importantly, make sure you keep all content short and to the point. A long, drawn out newsletter won’t be read by recipients, making this process a waste of your time. You will be able to recognize if your newsletters aren’t hitting their mark because your mailing list will lose members.
Optimize the Content
Whether your newsletter will be delivered via digital methods or you will post it to your website, it’s important to optimize it to ensure it can be searched and will rank with the search engines. For starters, make sure your professional content writers use alt tags on any images or other visual elements that may be part of your newsletter. In addition, you should offer your readers the opportunity to opt out of images and receive a text-only version to cut back on the download of images. You should also request anyone who signs up for a newsletter to add your email address to their contact list to ensure your newsletter doesn’t end up in their spam folder.
Don’t Forget to Track It
Writing a newsletter is just part of the battle. You may feel like it’s out of your hands once your mailing list receives the newsletter, but that shouldn’t be the end of your work. It’s essential to track what happens with your newsletter after you send it. There are programs available that will tell you how many people opened the email that was sent, as well as who clicked on a link within your newsletter. If you set up a landing page specifically for your newsletter, you will be able to see how many leads come in as a result of reading the content.
While many businesses have stopped sending newsletters, it is still a good method of effective business writing for many industries. Newsletters are a great way to share valuable information to the individuals who want it. When your customers sign up for your mailing list, they can count on receiving important information from your business on a regular basis. As long as you work with professional content writers who have experience creating this type of content, you can be sure your newsletters will be successful.
If you’re looking for a website content writer to handle your newsletter, contact us. We can write the content and help you put together and track your newsletters to determine whether they are successful.
