Writing Newsletters – Benefits, Content Ideas, Tips

A well produced newsletter can be a really effective way of providing readers with insight into your business – your ideas, your thoughts and your goals.

The key to a successful newsletter is original content. There is little point re-hashing blog posts and tutorials from your site, putting it into a newsletter format and hitting ‘send’. An effective, worthwhile newsletter needs a little thought, original articles and substance. In other words, it needs to provide readers with a reason to keep subscribing to and reading it.

What Can You Gain by Sending a Newsletter?

Newsletters can help your business gain credibility. Provided it’s packed with useful information; monthly company updates, exclusive tutorials and previews of what to expect from your website and/or company in the coming week/month/quarter.

Make sure this last point is followed up meticulously – there’s nothing like promising a guest post or interview in the newsletter, that then doesn’t materialise, to damage your credibility. The best way to approach a newsletter is with that old music adage in mind; all killer, no filler.

It’s also, of course, an easy and relatively simple way of connecting with your readers. You can update them on what’s going on with the company on a regular basis – just be careful not to “brag”.

Whether you’ve had a particularly good month, been interviewed for a prestigious magazine or started work with an exciting new client, a newsletter is a great way to let people know.

How Can a Web Designer or Developer Use a Newsletter?

Firstly – although it’s called a newsletter, it’s worth thinking about exactly what sort of company news you include.

News like that mentioned above might not be applicable for a web design and/or development company. It might sound pretty obvious, but try and keep the ‘news’ part of the article to a minimum and make sure that it is of interest to the reader.

For example, the new developer you’ve hired will be of little interest to them. By all means mention it – it shows that your business is growing, always a good thing – but stick to the stuff they really care about. Have you just secured new investment? Have you moved offices? Launched a new service?

Remember; keep it short, informative and relevant.

As a web designer or developer, a newsletter is primarily for building rapport and establishing your business. Reward the readers for signing up for it by giving them – as mentioned before – exclusive content or deals. Can you offer them a 10% discount? A free email or telephone consultation? A deal on a theme or application? Think about what your reader wants or needs. A good way to get ideas is to look at the comments on your website  – what are people looking for? What type of article has been the most popular? Use this information to structure your newsletter’s content.

Don’t forget that the newsletter itself can be an advert for your design or development service – the more unique and user-friendly it is, the better.

Offer tutorials and tips, taking into account that (especially in the web design & development industry) not all your readers will be current or prospective clients. Some may be your peers, casual readers of your blog or – if you’re doing things right – “admirers”! Tips and tutorials give you and your newsletter credibility.

A Few Tips for Writing a Newsletter

All the normal rules apply – good grammar and perfect spelling are (as always) a must.

Try and get into the habit of making sure someone proof-reads your article. The more ruthless and thorough they are, the better. It’s not like publishing a blog post, realising you’ve made a spelling error or a link is broken and then quickly editing it before anyone notices! Once that newsletter is sent there is nothing you can do to fix a mistake.

As a general rule, keep the newsletter friendly but relatively formal – it is representing your business, not you as an individual, after all.

Last but not least; keep the copy light but informative, jargon free and make sure your loyal reader always know what’s in it for them.