A short discussion of the humble newsletter communications tool. Includes 9 ways to produce better newsletters as well as tips to more effectively disseminate them and integrate them into your other communications efforts.

1. Communications Mechanics
9 Steps to More Effective
Newsletters

3. Is the newsletter dead?
Is the newsletter just a print-era hangover? Was it good
for Eisenhower, back in the day, but not really au
courant any more? Has it been replaced by blogs,
podcasts etc.? After all, it’s not exactly a feature-rich
tool. Is it industrial-grade communication, perhaps best
suited for the American Rusty Bolt Manufacturers’
Association (www.arbma.org)? Or maybe it’s a lo-fi
anachronism, about as useful as vinyl records.

4. What do we mean by ‘newsletter’?
News
Letter
A report of a
recent event; + A written or printed
communication of a
matters of direct or personal
interest to nature.
readers
A written or printed tool that directly
= communicates recent matters of interest to
readers.

5. Objections
Newsletters are burdensome to read. A colleague
explained to me that she simply doesn’t have time
to read a newsletter. You have to print it out, sit
down, take time out of your day, etc. You feel a
responsibility to read it because someone… went to
all the trouble. But it’s really not something you
want to read.
I’d Rather Be Writing blog
(http://idratherbewriting.com/2007/02/17/are-newsletters-dead/)

6. The basic complaint
Newsle*ers are burdensome to read. A down,
take 8me out of your day, etc. You feel a responsibility to
read it because someone… went to all the trouble. But
it’s really not something you want to read.

8. What’s going wrong?
Sometimes newsletters are produced out of a misguided
sense of obligation or because of outdated processes
(does “we’ve always had an employee newsletter” sound
familiar?). Their content is often irrelevant. Many
newsletters are hard on the eyes, using a 1950s
approach to layout and design or slavishly following a
template. And dissemination is often unimaginative at
best. Because of all this, newsletters are often times
simply not functional tools. Or they’re just plain unsexy.

9. The fact is most ‘newsletters’ are not
newsletters as we’ve defined the term;
they are generic corporate memos
with filler substituting for useful
content.

10. You can do better.

11. few words on dissemination

12. A good newsletter can…
Raise your organization’s visibility, engage all
sorts of stakeholders, build goodwill with your
target readership, boost employee morale and
encourage teamwork, support your marketing
efforts, improve work efficiency and enhance
understanding of your mission.
But it can’t do all that if you don’t get it out
there.

13. +

14. Content + channel
It’s pointless to create a great newsletter and
not share it effectively. It’s equally pointless to
create a great distribution network and fill it
with garbage. Despite what Marshall McLuhan
said, the medium is most emphatically not the
message. The message is the message…
obviously. But it needs an outlet.

16. Channels
Your main channel is likely to be direct mail, either print
or email (including PDF attachments, HTML or a web
link). You can send it out as a standalone item or as a
stuffer with, for example, a bill.
Direct mail contacts can be built up through collecting
opt-ins or using lists of employees, suppliers,
contractors, partners, stakeholders or customers. You
can also research contacts or rent a mailing list.

18. Integration
Newsletters should be part of a bigger effort to connect. Disseminate them
directly through your channels and also capitalize on opportunities to amplify
the messages and extend their reach. Your website should be a platform for
these efforts with newsletters added to news sections (thereby connecting to
any RSS efforts you might be doing) and archived somewhere obvious. With
any luck, you’ve lovingly created some great content in your newsletter;
recycle it by chopping it up, blogging the chunks or redeploying them
elsewhere on your website. You can announce and promote your newsletter
through your own social media assets (Tweet the release of the new issue,
post it to Facebook and LinkedIn) and through those of others. For example
you can provide the newsletter to influencers in your space, such as bloggers.
And share your newsletters – give them to stakeholders and other friendlies
as well as relevant media outlets.

19. Did you notice that I didn’t separate
offline and online tools? There’s a
very good reason for that and it has
something to do with the fact that
this is the 21st century.

20. ways to make better newsletters

22. 1. Know your audience
Who are you writing this thing for anyway? A full quantitative
research project is probably unnecessary but a little direct
observation and some commonsense thinking should help you
understand your readership. Don’t forget secondary audiences
(for example, you might write for patients but end up being read
by family members and caregivers). Key questions to answer:
• Who are your audiences?
• How do they connect to your organization?
• How do they prefer to receive information?
• How do they use information and what do they use it for?

24. 2. Be relevant
If you’ve understood who you’re writing for then
generating useful content shouldn’t be difficult.
You’re writing for attention-deprived readers so
keep to the point and to a short time horizon. What
do they need to know now? Two months from now?
Focus on the practical and the tactical, the actionable
elements of your stories. Stay on familiar ground by
writing about people and situations your readers
know.

26. 3. Work the human interest
People like to read about other people.
We react emotionally first, then
intellectually so putting a human face on
a story or an organization can help you
connect to your readers. You can also use
soft news to flesh out or complement
harder stories.

28. 4. Build an editorial calendar
There’s nothing worse than a last-minute
scramble for copy. Under pressure you’ll make
bad story choices and write poorly, all in a
mad search for the easy way out. Develop a
3-6 month editorial calendar, leaving holes for
opportunistic stories that may come up. This
will allow you to research more thoroughly,
add colour by interviewing more, source
images and dig deeper into the story.

30. 5. Don’t be a slave to a template
Don’t get me wrong, structure is good. A
format guides returning readers. But just
because you paid a small fortune for a
designer to make you an elegant template
doesn’t mean you can’t break from it on
occasion. For example, breaking news may
demand you devote a whole issue to a
single story.

31. or

32. 6. Write short copy
Most readers are time-starved multi-
taskers working in interruption-driven
workplaces. They can’t deal with long
copy. So keep it short, punchy and
jargon-free. If you have to go long,
consider adding a link to content you
can put online (e.g. ‘read more at…’).

34. 7. Avoid filler
If you don’t like filler in your food then
don’t add it to your newsletter. Nothing is
more corrosive to readership than
pointless content. It’s better to shorten the
newsletter than to ‘round it out.’ Just
because the template or format calls for it,
doesn’t mean you need to write to fit. If the
story’s done, it’s done.

35. There was a
quizzical air about
the small tabby
feline as it stood in or
the snow…
pensive as if
studying the
photographer.

36. 8. Use images
Copy-intense newsletters are intimidating
for readers. Break up copy with images and
use them to tell the story, support a point,
illustrate a concept or connect to a human
interest angle. Avoid cliché images and bad
clip-art (e.g. anything you find in any
Microsoft app). There are great royalty-free
image banks that are free (or almost).

38. 9. Take it seriously
If your newsletter is a pointless make-work
project your readers will sense it. Estimate the
effort required to create the newsletter you
want and then resource appropriately. Get
support from the rest or your organization or
hire external help if you need it. Make a
newsletter only if you mean it. Be authentic or
don’t produce one at all.

39. Wrap-up
•
A real newsletter is a printed tool that directly
communicates recent matters of interest to readers
• Content is as important as dissemination
• Integrating the newsletter with other
communications efforts will amplify its effect
• Write short copy punctuated by images to illustrate
your points
• Make the newsletter tight and useful!

40. About Rosetta
•
Full-service communications shop
• Strategic and tactical planning
• Execution
• Production – writing, editing and design
• Yes we do newsletters (3 clients at time of
writing)

41. Learn more
Paul McIvor
mcivor@rosettapr.com
416.906.1276
www.rosettapr.com