Your Newsletter: Informing or Annoying?
If your inbox is like ours, each day you receive an ample number of newsletters from organizations proudly boasting about their achievements, latest news, and fundraising drives. But how much is too much--or too little? Is the content informational or simply annoying? And, are you trying to squeeze too much information into too little space?
This month, we are sharing five ways to tip newsletter readership in your favor.
#1 Have a good subject line.
If you are reading this, you are either a loyal Anat. newsletter reader or the headline grabbed your attention. Whatever you do, do not use "March 2015 Newsletter" or anything close to that as your subject. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS, because it could get caught up in some spam filters. And, for the same reason, avoid subjects that sound like sales pitches.
#2
Have just the right amount of text.
Make the newsletter "readable" for those who skim. Use headlines, subheads, and bold text to grab a reader's attention. For email newsletters with longer items, use two short ,attention-grabbing sentences and link to the full piece. Keep longer pieces to no more than 300 words, which translates to about a 90 second read.
#3 Connect with the reader.
As much as possible, include personal stories to connect with readers. Think super-short versions of The New York Times' Neediest Cases.
#4 Mix it up.
Combine text, infographics, photos with captions, and video for a more engaging newsletter.
#5 Make it shareable.
Add links to social media and ask readers to share your newsletter on their social media networks.
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