What Works?
Generally speaking, the content that is best for a newsletter is timely and engaging. This may include short blurbs that keep your readers abreast of events happening in their geographic area; items for sale, especially seasonal ones, if you have them; actionable items such as seasonal recipes; fun pieces like reader profiles as well as highlights from your current or upcoming issue.
Here are a few standard examples of content for newsletters that have proven successful:
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events: Upcoming events are always good topics for newsletters. Plum TV sends a weekly email outlining "The Five Best Things to Do This Week" for all of the eight markets in which their cable channel appears. According to John Elliot, Director of Plum Interactive, the result is that plumtv.com "receives a significant and predictable weekly bump in traffic" to their website after the newsletter is received. Additionally, he says "it is a great way to interact with our communities, as our in-boxes are flooded each Monday with readers offering their suggestions for next week, and thanking us for inclusion of their events."
Profiles
Profiles: It is always beneficial to engage and embrace your audience. Profiles of your own staff or contributors gives a human face to your magazine and is usually much appreciated by readers. Perhaps even more popular are reader profiles. Vermont Life Magazine found great success including staff profiles in their newsletters, but quickly ran out of staff. So, they switched to profiling their readers and local people. These features have remained consistently popular and drive regular traffic back to their website. This kind of engagement builds a sense of community with your readers.
Recipes
Recipes: Recipes are fun and useful for readers. Seasonal recipes are especially popular. If you send out a recipe in your newsletter, readers will know to come to your site to search for recipes in the future. Even better, try soliciting recipe ideas from your readers. User-submitted recipes are great way to engage your audience and are always popular.
Feature Articles
Feature Articles: Be sure to promote the content from your magazine. Include a photo (if you have one), description and always link back to the full article on your website.
Feature Destinations
Feature Destinations: You are the expert on all things local in your area. Why not feature great destinations and attractions in your area with a link back to an article or review on your website? Attractions that are seasonally appropriate provide great content for timely newsletters.
Products for Sale
Products for Sale: Many city and regional publications make sizable revenue from sales of ancillary products such calendars and books. According to Jon Bowman, Associate Publisher at New Mexico Magazine, 50% of their annual sales are from mid-October to mid-December. Their use of regular email newsletter campaigns substantially contributes to this bottom line. When email newsletters are sent, online sales of their merchandise double.
Things to Avoid
As always there are a few things you should definitely steer clear of when you send out an email newsletter.
Latest Comments