Newsletters are great for keeping in touch with your customers and building awareness around your upcoming events. But how do you make sure that you’re getting the most out of your newsletters? Here are a few top tips on how you can create effective newsletters.
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Make it meaningful: know who you’re targeting and why
Before you spend time creating your newsletter, ask yourself a few key questions:
WHO are you creating your newsletter for?
First things first: decide what segment of your contact database you’re planning on sending your newsletter to. Consider what content you’ll include, and only include the contact groups that you think will find at least one piece of news interesting.
WHAT is the point of it?
Decide why you’re creating your newsletter: it’ll help all the other puzzle pieces fall into place. Are you informing people about upcoming events, or offering links to video clips of events that have taken place? Keep it focused so you’re giving your customers what they need.
WHEN is the best time to send it?
It’s a good idea to send out newsletters at regular intervals, but only if you have enough interesting information to include. Try to deliver your newsletters at a consistent time – say, on the last Tuesday of every month.
Keep it interesting: what content to include
Now that you’ve got a good idea of whom you’re targeting and why, the next step is to come up with compelling content that’ll appeal to your contacts.
Newsletters shouldn’t be solely about attracting attendees to a specific event: rather, they should keep your contacts informed about the types of events you run and overall company activity. Here are a few ideas of content that you should, and really shouldn’t include in your newsletter:
INCLUDE: detail on upcoming shows, deals, or promotions; reviews of previous events; general information about your company; links to more information or interesting articles; an opt-out option; short and relevant testimonials.
DON’T INCLUDE: too much content; long sponsor or supporter messages; advertisements or direct sales pitches; personal information about anyone unless permission is given; information that’s not relevant to your events, contacts and company.
Make it simple: balance your text and images
Your newsletter’s design will determine how many people are going to read it – really, it’s that important! If you’ve ever received a newsletter packed to the brim with dense paragraphs of text in small print, you’ll agree. Keep them looking clean and simple, and avoid using too many font sizes or colours. Here’s a great newsletter example, designed by John at the Bicha Gallery:
Really text-heavy newsletters will discourage your recipients from taking interest, so keep it short and informative! Make sure you include enough images – they resonate faster than text does. Great image options are fun pictures from past events or ‘sneak peek’ images for upcoming events.
Some of the most appealing newsletters have two columns (columns keep them looking clean!), like John’s ViewsNews newsletter below: reviews, updates and pictures go on one side, while information about your venue or company, along with contact details, can go on the other.
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A huge thanks to John at the Bicha Gallery for providing great examples of his event newsletters.
For More Marketing Advice – https://evvnt.com/blog/category/event-marketing/