Ask yourself why am I writing about this subject? Remember, it should always be to promote a product or enhance the image of your company. By keeping focused on this, you can quickly check through the articles you are considering and then re-write or dump them if they don’t fit in.
Don’t make your newsletter too slick. Whilst you want your newsletter to appear professional, you don’t want it to look as though it has been slaved over by a team of designers for months. Keep it newsy in its style and use matt rather than glossy stock.
Don’t make it look like it will be hard work to read. Everybody is busy, so make it look as though your newsletter can be quickly read through with ‘top tips,’ short articles and plenty of space to break up the copy.
Use cartoons and photographs – especially on the cover – to grab people’s attention. Newspapers often use fun photographs to draw the passing readers’ attention to what otherwise might appear to be a rather dull article.
Use as little jargon as possible. Even if your newsletter is for people in the know, it’s best to assume that they don’t know all the industry speak. You could alienate potential customers who will quickly switch off.
Keep copy simple and use short sentences. Involve readers by asking them questions. Could your company also benefit from this? How much could this idea save you over the next six months? It makes sense to involve your readers as much as possible in everything you write.
Generate new leads by promoting free subscriptions to your newsletter. An easy way to generate sales leads is to add a line at the bottom of your company’s marketing materials: adverts, website, brochures, direct mail material etc. which offers prospects a free subscription to your newsletter. Make sure that you emphasise the news content and how useful it could be to your prospect when making this offer.
People who add their names to your mailing list make excellent qualified sales leads. With the exception of a few time wasters, almost everybody who wants your newsletter is interested in what you say, and typically over 80% have the possibility of being converted to a regular customer within the next 6 months. Without the newsletter, they could well drift into the arms of one of your competitors.
Never underestimate the power of the testimonial. Customer testimonials can be extremely persuasive for potential clients. You should always make any positive customer comments available to as wide an audience as possible, but a newsletter is probably the best place of all to use them. If you don’t actively seek out testimonials from customers, now is the time to start.
The Ideal Marketing Company supports Leicestershire and Northamptonshire companies as well as companies from across the UK with marketing, PR and direct mail. The Ideal Marketing Company helps support companies with marketing consultancy in order to generate new business wins as well as making the most of existing customers.

MD & Head of Digital Marketing
Jessica has worked in digital marketing for over 10 years and has watched it evolve from an experimental marketing option to an essential tool for most businesses. She is driven to help businesses achieve their objectives using the best digital marketing resources available and recognises that each business is different. Jessica devours the latest news about digital marketing and is constantly learning in order to stay ahead of the trends for clients.