Tips on Writing an Effective Newsletter Article
Business people perform different types of transaction with their clients and/or customers to keep their business survive and to earn profits and revenues through communication. Communication is always considered to be an integral part of the business world. Communication in business can be either verbal or written. Although there are benefits that come with verbal communication, many business experts considered written communication as more effective because it basically documents the transaction performed and that it is always there to remind your client or customers about the information that you wish to convey to them.
Aside from business letters, another form of written communication used by business entities is a newsletter. In this article, we will get to know about its fundamentals and how to write a good newsletter article that is effective in engaging the readers.
About Newsletters
I bet every one of us has seen or read a newsletter. According to the definition provided by the Dictionary.com, a newsletter is “a written report, issued periodically, typically by a business, institution, or other organization, that presents information and news to people with a specific interest in the organization or subject.
Unlike other business communication forms, a newsletter template is probably the most practical marketing strategic tool that is used to establish regular communication with prospective clients and customers. Most often, the content of a newsletter must be helpful to the readers and at the same time, easy to understand. According to the research that was conducted by the Nielsen Norman Group, a majority of business users receives high volumes of newsletters whether in their mailboxes or email inboxes. Despite the volumes of newsletters that were sent to them, the recipients are quite selective in choosing the content and will read only the newsletters that contains relevant and useful information.
Guideline for a Newsletter Article
Whether you are writing a weekly or monthly newsletter, your main goal is to build a strong business relationship with your clients and customers. However, building a business relationship with someone whom you do not have any personal encounters can be a tricky job. That is why it is important to make sure to connect with them through regular distribution of newsletter with highly informative content which is relevant to the readers. When you are able to maximize the use of your newsletter, it can help you build a community and strong relationship with your readers by asking them to contribute their knowledge and/or articles.
1. Consider Your Target Audience
Before you start writing an article for your newsletter, it is highly recommended to consider the people who will be reading. Getting to know your audience is a great way to guide you in choosing the topics to write. This helps ensure that the content you will be writing is relevant and useful to your audience. A great way to have a better understanding of your audience is to collect demographics. This should help you decide the topics that will be interesting for them. Once you have identified the potential topics, choose the ones that can connect with them on a personal level.
2. Choose the Topic
The topics to write in your newsletter should be interesting and engaging to a variety of readers. Since a newsletter is almost similar to a regular newspaper, it should come with different sections, such as the editorial section, featured news, response section and the latest updates on the business industry.
3. Research
Taking time to research for some facts can make your newsletters article more credible and helpful to the readers. When writing an article, make sure to include any of the following:
- Definitions
- Statistics
- Relevant quotes from popular people
- Examples
- References to other media
- Studies and surveys conducted by reliable agencies
Once you have collected all the necessary data and information, make sure to compile them in a folder or any electronic documents so that it would be easier for you to access the information whenever you need them. Make sure to also write down the sources or references in case the editor will need.
4. Come Up with a Catchy Headline
If you want to grab the attention of your target audience, make sure that create a headline that can evoke curiosity. If you want the headline of your newsletter to be dynamic, you need to use action verbs. How you create your headline can influence the probability of the readers to read the contents of your newsletter content. It is also advisable to use subheading in your article to divide the article into various sections.
5. Keep Your Article Casual, Nontechnical, and Conversational
It is always important to remember that the purpose for writing a newsletter article is to effectively communicate with readers. You have to make sure to use words that are simple and easy to understand and avoid using complicated and technical words just for the sake of impressing your readers with your complex vocabulary. Instead of making a good impression on the readers, they will end up skimming over the content and finding articles that are easy to understand and absorb.
6. Proofread
Since an email newsletter is a standard form of business communication, make sure to check it for any spelling and grammatical errors before sending it to your clients and customers. There are different spelling and grammar tools that can assist you in checking for errors. Using these tools are great for the initial editing stage but having a friend or a family member check the article for typos can really ensure that the content is 100 percent error-free. You must also observe consistency of tone and voice throughout the article.
Once you have your newsletters ready, make sure to follow the regular distribution. Several missed schedules of distribution can make your subscribers lose interest or forget about your newsletter.
If you are looking for something to kick start your newsletter writing, we offer a wide variety of selection of free newsletter template that you can use as a reference in terms of design and content. They are all available for free download and are highly editable using the right software.