Tips On Creating A Quality Customer Newsletter

 When you're not able to keep in touch with customers as often
as you like, a customer newsletter is a great way to keep your
company on their radar screen.

It's also an economical promotion activity, especially if you
publish it via email.

Having written and edited corporate newsletters over the last
few years, here are some of my tips on producing a quality
customer newsletter. 

1 ) Make the most impact by having information that your target
market finds valuable. Approach it from the perspective of your
customers. This doesn't mean you can't sell or promote your
products but be sure there is a mix of how-to articles and other
useful information.

2 ) Always ask yourself when reviewing your newsletter "What
does this information mean to our customers?" Keep the "big
picture" in mind. Avoid the "diary/journal" article of "We did
this, then we did that." Writing a sequence of events doesn't
necessarily make interesting reading.

3) For printed newsletters publish at least four times a year to
build awareness and be consistent in design format so customers
become familiar with it. For ezines, publish at least monthly.

4) Encourage feedback. Print your email address to accept
comments. After all an unread newsletter is a waste of time,
money and resources.

5) You may want to incorporate company news from other sources,
such as press releases, speeches and presentations. 

6) Regular features could include a column by the president or
other executives, question and answer,letters to the editor, a
product or service related story, and a preview of what's coming
up in the next newsletter.

7) Have a couple of back-up articles ready to go in case you
need to drop or reschedule an article. It's always better to
have too many articles than too few.

8) Quotation marks make writing look lively and compelling. Use
them frequently in your articles. You can also include relevant
quotes from noted personalities and business leaders.

9) If your newsletter appears as a web page on your company's
site, you still need to entice customers to go and read it. Send
an email to customers (you have permission, right?) announcing a
new edition has been posted. Include the article titles. 

10) Make one staff person responsible for final approval. Never
approve by committee. You'll never get everyone to agree. Trying
to incorporate everyone's comments will only create a convoluted
newsletter.