Newsletters fall into four general categories and determining your goals will help you select the best one for your organization’s needs:
Marketing: Also called promotional newsletters, the goal is to build your business, whether you’re selling ideas, products or services. They’re ideal for approaching and engaging with new or repeat clients/donors/prospects. Not a direct sales pitch, marketing newsletters offer added value, insight and inspiration. Free.
Public Relations: PR newsletters focus on attributes — making the recipient more receptive to future marketing efforts or the mission of the organization. Free.
Internal Relations: IR newsletters are for employees or members of an organization. They provide information about what’s going on with people, sites, events and ideas — and that are important to the readers. Goals may also include honoring performance, building morale and highlighting innovation. The most effective internal relations newsletters aren’t “top down” talk from management, but rather promote inclusiveness and the goals of the organization. They present direction and agenda, and inspire loyalty and quality. Free.
Profit: Commercial newsletters make money for the publisher/editor, by the readership buying a subscription. The information must be valuable to justify the cost.
Which one is best for you? Ask yourself and key people in your organization:
- What results does management expect from the newsletter? What results do readers expect from the newsletter? (Keep in mind that management and readers may be interested in different results.) Break these down into goals and objectives.
- Who are we writing for? What are they interested in? Describe your typical audience members/readership.
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© 2011. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced without written consent from the author, Moira Hill.
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