Newsletters can be wonderful tools for communicating with your customers or prospects. Because of their format, they’re often infused with more credibility than traditional brochures. If your newsletter is little more than blatant self-promotion, however, it’s likely to hit
wastebasket before it hits your target’s desk.By following a few basic tips, you can cultivate interest in your newsletter and make it an effective marketing tool.
Keep it interesting. Whether you’re informing prospects or current customers, provide useful content and avoid temptation of use a hard-sell approach. For example, include a how-to article about some aspect of home buying or selling. While these topics relate to your field and reinforce your message, they also offer valuable advice and will help cultivate a loyal audience.
Do it yourself . . . or not. The abundance of desktop publishing programs on market makes it easy for virtually anyone to create a newsletter. However, poor knowledge of design basics and overzealous use of difficult-to-read fonts has led to more than one design disaster. Before you try to do it yourself, consider hiring a professional graphic designer to create a template into which you or a staff member can input copy. If you still want to give it a shot yourself, pick up a book on graphic design basics before you create your masterpiece.
Find your look. Depending on your budget, you can choose from a variety of styles—from a simple, one-color piece to a multi-page, full-color format. Factors such as number of colors and pages, type of paper, and paper size can mean big differences in cost, so ask for quotations on different specifications from several printers.
Keep it short. Generally, it’s best to limit your newsletter to eight pages or fewer and keep articles at 300 words or fewer. If you have a lengthy or complex issue to address, try to break it up into two articles or one longer article accompanied by a short sidebar piece.
