FYI from MCI™

Add a value-added communication tool to your marketing mix

Publishing an email or printed newsletter is a great way to keep your business top-of-mind with customers and potential customers. When done properly, a newsletter is a great value-add service that keeps your customers connected to your company and thinking about it positively. And according to communication experts, the key to success is making the content meaty—meaning worth reading.

From banks to universities and churches, all types of companies and organizations are using the newsletter as a key marketing tool. In our industry, nearly every motor coach association either publishes a newsletter, newspaper or magazine. Tri-State Tours in Galena, Illinois and Northfield Lines, Northfield, Minnesota, are among the many tour and charter operators that have launched e-mail customer newsletters with great success.

The growing popularity of newsletters as a marketing tool is due in part to being able to distribute a newsletter cost-effectively over the Internet. "Before the Internet, committing to an ongoing newsletter could be a costly proposition given the mailing costs," said Anne Matheny, creative director at a marketing company in Chicago. "Online delivery solves that dilemma and allows you to reach an even wider universe. Plus, it's much easier to make sure you're sending it to a receptive audience since you can easily incorporate a prominent opt-out option," she said.

"Many of our clients are on the mature side, yet we've noticed an increase in customer response email over the past five years," said Keith Rippe, a member of Tri State's marketing and tour department who assists with the company's e-newsletter. "We try to provide something for everyone in our newsletter, and encourage our customer to contact us." Tri-State issues its newsletter at least once a month to more than 1,500 customers.

Content counts

Whether your company opts for an emailed newsletter or for one that is printed, make sure your article content is relevant. The right content selection can determine whether your newsletter is valued or considered "spam." It's all about balancing the company's promotional needs with educational information that's beneficial to customers. "People want to become more knowledgeable with information that helps them make their lives or businesses better. And if you can entertain them a bit in the process, so much the better," advises Matheny.

Short, frequent newsletters containing timely information are preferable to longer infrequent newsletters, according to Roger C. Parker, contributing editor to the "Newsletter on Newsletters." Including a variety of short articles in each issue increases the chances that at least one article will be of great interest to your audience.

Developing a great design and using quality photos also affect how your newsletter is received. Be clear about what you are marketing and to whom, recommends Scott Wills, owner of a design firm. "Use appropriate photos and graphic treatments and don't overload the layout. Keep it open, welcoming and easy to navigate," he said. Sometimes, there isn't much point in having photos unless they are of sufficient quality. When creating a newsletter, consider what will the internal sources of photos and graphics be? Is there a budget for good-quality images? A tool like Adobe® Photoshop® helps designers clean up poorly framed photos, but it's still fairly difficult to fix a photo that's out of focus.

Some additional tips to publishing a newsletter that gets READ:

• Make sure articles are presented in a customer-centric way — meaning what's in it for them.
• Go beyond your specific service or product to include other related information, the kind that will help your audience become smarter, happier, healthier, richer or more successful.
• Conduct some secondary research to include industry news and interesting statistics.
• Interview experts in the field or related fields to provide guidance and tips. (An example of this technique is in the article you are reading.)
• Consider publishing an advice column.
• Provide helpful links to other relevant sites.
• Make it easy for people to contact you by making your phone number, address or email address prominent, but don't allow the contact information to dominate the page.

A Google search on "How to create a newsletter" includes a link to Microsoft's Office Assistance, which should help get you started.

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