What you should include in a newsletter

In our previous article we talked about how a newsletter is an important communication tool for your business. Now let’s tap into the minds of the content gurus at Script Consultants to glean some content guidelines for ideas on how to make your newsletter informative, interesting and compelling so that your target audience—whether it is internal or external stakeholders—keep coming back for more.

To help you identify the type of content to include in your newsletter, we have categorised the different types of content from A – Z. The rule of thumb is to have a maximum of 3 different type of content and ALWAYS have a call to action. After all, you can’t dump a whole bunch of information into your newsletter and expect people to read every single thing.

Announce Upcoming Events

Have a promotion or company event coming up? Talk about it in your newsletter. This will let your readers have something to look forward to, and at the same time, word about your new product, promotion or event will spread faster.

Blog Snapshot

Got a great blog article that you want more people to know about? Give a snapshot of that blog article and link it to your company’s blog for them to keep reading. The trick here is to create an awesome title and an eye-catching introduction to hook your readers.

Case studies/ Success stories

People love reading rags to riches stories. Or stories about solving issues or problems that no one thought they could solve. Show your customers or clients how your company came about or how your founder decided to create a company despite his or her background.

Column by industry experts

Does your company have a lot of thoughts or opinions about a particular topic? Create a column for your newsletter to share those opinions and knowledge to the rest of the world!

Checklists

People respond well to short bursts of information rather than a whole chunk of information. An easy way to do this would be to create lists. For example, if you are in the subscription box business, maybe one way to include lists would be the list of food or items that was in your previous subscription boxes.

Event Recaps

Recently held an event for your company to announce a new product? Tell your customers about it and include details on how they can join the next party that your company is about to hold for clients.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The same questions over and over again despite having an FAQ page constantly bombard all companies. One way to address this would be to have a short FAQ section in your newsletter where you address the most commonly asked questions in the previous month.

Growth & KPIs

This is great to include in your newsletter if you recently received funding as a start-up, or if you are an established company keen to keep your shareholders in the loop of the latest financial figures.

Interviews

Interview an expert to find out about the latest trends in the industry or pick their minds for their opinions on a newsworthy topic. For example if you are in the food industry, you can look for a nutritionist or a chef to find out about the latest food trends or any food fads that incorporate your products.

Letter from the CEO, President, Founder

Have your company’s founder or president write a letter addressing the customer’s directly. He or she can talk about the direction that the company is about to go into or any updates that the company is undergoing. This lets your customer understand what your company is all about, how they contribute to the company’s growth and that their presence is important to the company.

Product Reviews

Does your company sell certain products? Feature some of your customer’s reviews in your newsletter. Not only does it act as a product testimonial, but it also creates a connection with your customers when they see their reviews on the company’s newsletter.

Resources

Include links, apps or articles that your readers can relate to and is in line with your business. For example if you are in the music industry, you can link to apps like Smule for your readers to try out and look into. This makes your readers look forward to each newsletter, as they never know what they might find.

Seasonal Tips or Advice

Living in Japan and the sakura season is blooming? Share with your readers how they can enjoy the season or any other seasons that is coming up. Bonus points if you can integrate your products into the seasons.

Welcome a New Client or Partnership

Have an awesome new product or sponsor joining the company? Don’t keep it a secret. Share it with your readers and keep them in the loop with new partnerships coming on board to provide more value to your customers.

Written by: (www.script.com.sg) Edited & Illustrated by: Script Consultants Pte Ltd