SEO Content Solutions

Creating Newsletters that People Actually Like to Read

Posted on 21 April 2007
Tags: Copywriting, Promotion

In the beginning, many companies used the guise of a newsletter to send those on their mailing list blatantly one-sided advertisements. But companies quickly learned that this type of correspondence only enraged people and definitely didn’t create quality customers.

The widely accepted purpose of a newsletter today is to build/nurture customer loyalty as well as convert subscribers to buyersBelow are some of the newsletter I receive along with reasons why I find them useful and effective.

In Bubble Wrap - This is my absolute favorite - and look how simple it is! I loved this one when it was just a text email. This one is delivered every week day and every day I open it and read it and click the link to the site. Why? For the same reason any newsletter works. There is something in it for me.

When I click on the link, I can enter to win the advertised business book of the day. Authors pay to have their book promoted to In Bubble Wrap’s newsletter subscribers. In Bubble Wrap Guy, InBubbleGuy a he calls himself, gives an synopsis of the book in a very conversational tone that I enjoy reading. If I don’t win the book, I may buy it.

The fact that I like InBubbleGuy’s conversational tone is big part of the reason why I look forward to receiving this email every day. The way he connects on a more personal, yet still professional level, makes me feel compelled to buy books from www.ceoread.com rather than from somewhere else. I think that in the past, small businesses made every effort possible to look like big businesses. The result was a sterile business landscape. From what I have observed, the majority of people like seeing the humanity behind a business.

On that note, this site also has a comments section under every post. Check it out and you’ll see how many people love InBubbleGuy and are excited about what he’s got going on. It’s nice for me, the reader, to connect with other readers who enjoy the same thing as I do. The readers themselves are a type of community brought together by the topic of this newsletter.

Site Pro News comes out once or twice a week. The thing I like about this one is that it offers useful information and it is scannable. Like everyone, I don’t have a lot of time. I need to get important information as fast as possible and move on. The fact that the article is always grouped into managable chunks helps to make this possible.

The other thing that makes quick reading possible is that the newsletter is always laid out the same way. Continuity is a similar element in all of these newsletters. I want to know exactly where to look every time to find what I need. The downside to this is that I never look at the advertisements on this site. Because my eye is conditioned to go straight to the content, I know where not to look to avoid the advertisements.

Jeffery Gitomer’s Sales Caffeine is another fav. Like the others, this one is always laid out the same way. Products to buy are usually down the right side and though they are advertisements, I do look at them and I do consider them. Perhaps this is because they are “Jeffrey’s” recommendations and I feel as if Jeffery and I are pals, although I’ve never met him.

This newsletter is a little long. Quite often I don’t read it right away because I feel like I will have to invest a lot of time into it. I end up saving it in my Gitomer Outlook file for later viewing, but you know how that goes… However, I usually scroll down to “Quote of the Week” and read it before filing. This particular week’s quote starts off “Kick your own ass. No one else will do it for you.”

One of the best parts of the newsletter worth pointing out is the “Shot in the Wallet” section where Jeffery answers real questions. Involving real people with real questions and real stories makes any copy more compelling. The people you are “speaking” to are real–treat them that way.

Start Up Nation: The approach with this newsletter is to give the titles and sometimes a brief intro paragraph and encourage readers to click back to the site. It’s not as effective for me as when the entire story is in the newsletter. I think this is because I don’t have enough vested interest in the story yet to click through.

To get someone to click is asking them to part with their valuable time. If I click and open up a new Firefox tab with one of those links, I’m making more of a commitment than reading something in my email. I scan the newsletter and if I see a headline that looks interesting, I click. Otherwise I delete. I’m sure there’s a lot of good info there, but if I can’t get involved with it, I just don’t have the time to take a chance.

Product Focused Newsletters: It’s important to note that all of the above newsletters focused more on the sales of information transfer verses a product. Products don’t necessarily need tons of informational copy and word articles. In fact, someone who subscribes to a newsletter from a product site doesn’t necessarily want to read a bunch of text–especially text that has been formulated for the sole purpose of filling space. I subscribe to several product only newsletters.

Put together a few featured items every month. The copy here should be designed for the sole purpose of sparking buyer interest and then making them salivate to own the featured products.

Master Replicas does a great job of conversational style sales copy. The caption under this image begins: “Boba Fett is undoubtedly the baddest bounty hunter in the galaxy…but Master Replicas has got his number.” Every time I get one of these emails I find myself day dreaming by the end of the newsletter about building an entire room full of light sabers, swords, and Elvin battle helmets.

In order to be effective, the products showcased must be targeted and tagged with copy that creates an emotional need and then fills it. This may mean that your newsletter signup form asks questions about preferences and that you create 2-3 different versions of the newsletter intended for different subgroups.

Recap: