Behold that newsletter!
It’s standard fare in my workshops globally.
It ranks up there with creating and designing for the smallest platform first, as in the smartphone.
It is as important as developing mobile, linear, visual storytelling strategies.
It is the email newsletter.
Users love them. Why? Because email newsletters sort of bring the herd of cattle into one place. We are bombarded by information from all sides. A well curated email newsletter is the greatest service a newspaper/magazine can provide for its audience.
An intriguing piece from the Nieman Lab folks zeroes in on a question about email newsletters. It has to do with “who owns” the email newsletter, the editorial or the business side of the operation?
I’d say both. And here is why. Newsletters help expand subscriptions. If a newsletter manages the sometimes difficult task of becoming part of the user’s “information ritual” in the morning, then the exposure such newsletter gives to your brand and its content, is more likely to generate loyal followers, which translate into subscriptions.
The best newsletters I know (and I include The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and Axios, which you can see below) have been planned by teams that involve editorial, marketing/advertising, technology. It does take a village.
Here is my Axios PM Newsletter from last night. Complete. Easy to read. The user dances into it and out of it. Usually there is at least one story of interest there for me, sometimes more.
I am currently involved in three vibrant newsroom transformation projects and in every case, the creation of a digital brand goes hand in hand with the planning of at least one newsletter. Newsletters can be on specified topics, or, as I prefer, the more general “top five/ten” stories you need to know about today.
What constitutes a great newsletter?
The best newsletters are:
- Focused. Less is best. You are not going to help me if your newsletter includes 25 “must read” stories. Try 5-10
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Visual–include at least one or two photos. (Videos are not recommended for morning briefings, but work better in evening newsletters). This is something that the Nieman Lab piece echoes: Good product design is also critical. Keeping the newsletter to a certain size, understanding the impact of images, and experimenting with interactive elements are all examples of powerful tools for successful newsletters
- Include sponsors. Find an advertiser that wants to have its brand associated with that one important newsletter you produce.
- Conversational: a chatty newsletter is better than a starchy, formal one. Say good morning, or good evening. Put your arm around the user and tell him/her: let’s talk. That talk may include tips for today’s weather. Or even a recipe that is easy to prepare before you go to work, or when you return.
A good email newsletter is a mini newspaper, that publication we all dreaming of getting at our doorstep, that keeps us informed, knows who we are and emphasizes our preferences and guides me to have a better life simply because we are best informed.
Remember, 2019 will be the year of the newsletter.
TheMarioBlog post #2947