You're a liar, Sidney. Oh to be a publicity man, you need to be a liar. I wouldn't hire you if you wasn't a liar.
KeyNotes - THE Moving Finger Newsletter
About writing and editing for business, and words in general
September 2008
In this issue:
How to produce a customer newsletter - Part 2: Sourcing content
The first consideration when it comes to newsletter content is always to provide something of value to your readers. To keep this top of mind, view them as paying subscribers who won’t renew unless they get worthwhile information they find useful.
A good starting point is to present and comment on news items relevant to your industry. Your readers are busy people and a helpful digest of what’s going on will save them time and energy in trying to keep up to date. Add your own take on topical developments too.
You can expand this strand by presenting summaries of latest research or industry trends (don’t forget to include links to sources or contacts where additional information can be found), or by reviewing new books or articles.
Involve readers
Involving readers directly is another way of stimulating loyalty. Invite articles in return for a by-line and short profile (publicity for them), or consider profiling your best customers especially if they can demonstrate new ways of using your products and services.
Offer readers participation in a Q&A forum both by asking questions and answering other readers’ problems. Featuring one or two per issue will provide answers that will be of general interest and will give the responder extra kudos as an expert.
Your newsletter is also an excellent means of presenting case studies of the work you’ve completed for customers, or of particular benefits your customers have gained from doing business with you. Showcasing your work from a customer’s perspective will not only be instructive for other readers but will also provide additional insights into how they, too, can profit from your products and services.
Here are some other ways to keep your newsletter content alive and kicking:
- Consider a survey to generate your own exclusive content. Set your readers a question or two per issue (they can email their answers), or use a software tool like SurveyMonkey which allows a ten question, 100 response survey to be conducted free.
- Provide background about where and how your products are produced, or how your services are delivered.
- Form alliances with other related businesses and make reciprocal recommendations regarding their products and services.
- Include special offers of product and service packages.
- Run a competition. These are always popular and the prize need not be extravagant – perhaps a half a day of your time, one of your products or a prize sponsored by an alliance partner.
On no account write about new employees unless it materially helps the reader. If their role, or experience, adds specifically to your offer, then fine – but including family and hobby details is just a waste of space, and of your readers’ time.
When in doubt, spell it out
The tendency for organisations to use acronyms – initial letter abbreviations that form new words peculiar to their industry – has reached epidemic proportions in some instances and too often assumes that people understand what they mean, when they don’t.
To avoid missunderstandings, you should explain any abbreviation by spelling out what it stands for when you first use it in your copy. This applies equally to both acronyms and initialisms (abbreviations of initial letters that don't form new words), such as those of professional bodies or companies.
As ever, there are exceptions.
Some acronyms, for example 'radar' and 'scuba', have become words in their own right and are so widely understood that any further explanation is unnecessary, even though most of us don't know what they stand for ('radio detection and ranging' and 'self-contained underwater breathing apparatus'). Similarly, there are initialisms (ISP, the FA, the AA) which are so commonly known they probably need no further introduction.
Sometimes spelling out the name precisely isn’t as helpful as it should be particularly when explaining technical terms to a non-specialist audience. Extracting ADSL into ‘asymmetrical digital subscriber line’, for instance, hardly adds clarity and might better be described as ‘high-speed internet connection’.
If you're not sure, check with colleagues or just spell it out. It’s much better to be understood than to run the risk of confusing or alienating your audience.
