10
Deadly Sins of Newsletter Production
Aimlessness
One very basic fault of many new newsletters is not setting appropriate
objectives. A newsletter plan whose goal is to "increase sales" is
too vague and general.
How To Fix It
Set objectives that are specific, attainable, and measurable. Find out
why that market would purchase your goods or services, and what market
share belongs to you. For an internal newsletter, decide which goals
and objectives to communicate, what features and articles serve them
best, and how to spotlight individuals and programs.
Miserliness
The most prevalent problem troubling new newsletters is the failure
to determine an appropriate budget that will incorporate all the
elements of
the newsletter. Are you buying quality writing and art, printing on
high quality stock if appropriate, and mailing frequently to the
right list?
How To Fix It
Rise above the "noise level" of your competitors' activities.
Commit to making a real impact on prospects. If you are faced with a
small or tight budget, set priorities. Give full support to what is most
important and set limited objectives for all else.
Vanity
A particular problem with newsletters produced by ad agencies or
design shops is the desire to "be creative" or "stand
out." That can
be a killer for newsletters. The goals of a newsletter are to communicate
features and benefits, build loyalty, and more, but not to make displaying
your creative genius a priority.
How to Fix It
Use layouts relevant to readership, not simply art-for-art's-sake.
Avoid self-involved stories which say little to the reader about
things which
will help, improve, or make his/her life easier.
Arrogance
Your audience reads favorite publications and listens to favorite
stations and reads favorite newsletters to become more professional,
to keep
up-to-date, and to fulfill their interests. They don't differentiate
between editorial
and advertising as much as clients and agency people think they
do.
How To Fix It
With the exception of purchasing agents, no one is paid to buy
anything. Audiences buy because your product or service solves
problems: focus
your newsletter on problem-solving, and they'll read it and respond
to it.
Laziness
Those editors who succeed at everything else often commit this
sin. They fail to prod their prospects or readers into action.
How To Fix It
Smart newsletter publishers offer something to encourage action
by the reader: free literature, an evaluation of the prospect's
needs,
a free
sample, or trial offer. And they make it easy for the prospect
to respond, via a coupon, business reply card adjacent to the
ad, or
a toll-free
number.
Negligence
Even when superbly executed, a newsletter can only accomplish
part of the task of marketing. Often clients fail to use all
the tools
of marketing
communications, such as publicity, technical literature, special
reports, sales aids, and advertising to influence prospective
buyers or readers.
How To Fix It
Make a checklist of available tools, and use them appropriately
in each issue.
Unfaithfulness
Many newsletters aren't sent often enough, nor produced with
enough attention to detail, to have significant impact. It's
easy to miss
a deadline,
to put off writing a story, to slide from monthly to bimonthly
to quarterly.
How To Fix It
Set specific timelines/deadlines. Hold yourself and your
staff to them.
Writeritis
The journalistic subset of vanity, writeritis occurs when
style overcomes substance, and the writer becomes more
important than the writing.
Articles lack relevance and immediacy for readers.
How To Fix It
Make article guidelines clear to the writer at the outset
of the assignment, and edit out any material that either
doesn't
comply
with guidelines
or doesn't meet relevance tests for readers.
Apologetics
Most obvious in internal newsletters with bad news to convey,
the look and content feels like an apology to the readers.
Copy never
quite
gets to the point, and layout and design are weak. The
editor is caught between
knowing what the readership wants and what company goals
demand.
How To Fix It
Balance the reporting of bad news with positive human
interest stories and ongoing articles of goals accomplished.
Try
to convey bad news
with a positive editorial tone and make sure that all
sides of a situation are examined.
Monotony
The same page layout issue after issue, the same columns,
the same names in the news, and the same topics are
monotonous and will
contribute to
lack of interest.
How To Fix It
Keep a list of the topics you cover; remember to vary
content. Sidestep boring layouts by viewing facing
pages as templates,
and regrouping
blocks of copy and artwork until pages are more visually
interesting.
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