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Newsletters get your Business Noticed

Posted by on 7 December 2010 | 1 Comments

We're currently being kept very busy designing newsletters, both eNewsletters and traditional printed mailers. We'll share the secrets of a successful campaign with you, helping you to increase sales enquiries.

Newsletters come in two distinct forms: electronic newsletters, sent via email, and printed newsletters through the post. We'll discuss them both below.

Printed Mailers

The traditional printed newsletter should be immediately eye catching with bold, intriguing headlines which draw the reader's attention straight from the envelope. Large, colourful pictures of people and products complete the look and hook. In these busy times, people haven’t got time to read reams of prose, so articles should be short and concise. Their objective is make the recipient pick up the ‘phone and call you for more information- turning them from reader to client.

You may be tempted to dust off that old copy of Microsoft Publisher and do it yourself. Don’t! Your newsletter should be professionally put together – nothing puts of a potential client more than a do-it-yourself publication.

We've recently completed a full redesign of The Haven Wolverhampton's printed newsletter. Bright, colourful and packed with information, it's designed to tell of the Organisation's success stories, and act as a reminder of the job ahead. We’re also currently redesigning printed newsletters for WOW (Women Organising Women) and Wolverhampton City Learning Centre.

eNewsletters

Electronic newsletters need an immediate impact, or they get dismissed.

It is entirely possible to replicate your printed newsletter in email form, as we have achieved for The Haven Wolverhampton’s newsletter. All articles are reproduced in full with a clear, eyecatching layout. Standards compliance ensures that the newsletter downloads quickly and works with all email software.

Another way to grab attention is to use intrigue. Break down each article into just one or two short sentences, followed by a link to the appropriate page on your website. For example:

Not only does this draw the reader to your website, it also means that if they’re not interested in the first article on your newsletter, they can still see many of the others further down. 

It’s all very well having killer content, but you need to make sure that your mailer gets through in the first place.

First, choose the right software. It’s easy to simply create a list, and send your email via Outlook. This is fine for small lists, but when you have lots of contacts, it can become difficult to administer. Also, people cannot subscribe or unsubscribe without your intervention – and the last thing that you need is extra work!

There are many bulk mailer applications out there, some are great, some awful. You could spend time shopping around, or you could choose a system that’s integrated into your existing website.

Our Content Management Systems (CMS) include a Newsletter Manager which allows you link to web articles, handles subscription requests, and can send to thousands of readers in seconds, all via your web browser. The newsletters for Pragmatic Design and Wolverhampton Business Network both use this system, and have enjoyed excellent results for both businesses.

Don’t forget to choose a good email address.

If you send your newsletter from DO-NOT-REPLY@yourwebsite.com, it’s highly likely that the reader's spam filter will delete it. And use your name as the sender- people are more likely to read an email from a person than from “newsletter”. It also gives them a point of reference should they want to call you.

Need more advice? Pragmatic Design offer solutions for all of your marketing requirements. For a friendly chat about our professional service, call us on Wolverhampton (01902) 58 10 12, or email info@pragmaticdesign.co.uk and we’ll help you to grow your business.