Getting the News Out

Every company faces the same challenges when it comes to putting their own news out. Everyone seems to want regular news out but few get organized to achieve that goal. 

Sales departments want to get a regular newsletter started, but there is internal staff member who can pull it all together. Who is going to come up with the topics, write the stories, get company or customer sign-offs, design the template and execute the distribution?

There are a lot of things that must come together to publish a successful, ongoing newsletter. Someone has to gather the newsworthy information and companies assign stories to different people. But if one person drops the ball, the whole project gets held up and news can become outdated quickly. We recommend one point-person for the newsletter who will assign and review articles and keep the project on-time.

Speaking of timing, what is the right amount of frequency for a newsletter? Quarterly seems manageable, but if articles are in-depth, you need to be working on the next issue as soon as you finish one. By the time it gets written, edited, signed-off and distributed, months can fly by. Monthly allows more timely news but can be hard to turn it that quickly without a dedicated team committed to the issue deadline.

Then there is the question of distribution, email or print. Many are ditching the printed version for an electronic form; either a PDF attachment or html email. But how often do these newsletters go unread because they get lost amongst thousands of emails? Should you email and print? Do you want the newsletter in a sales kit?

One of our clients has written a 4-page quarterly newsletter for his financial planning clients for years now. He did a survey and most of his audience preferred a printed version. His clients continue to tell him they like to receive it in the mail. Clients sit down with a cup of coffee or stick the issue in their bag to read on the plane or while waiting for a meeting. One survey by Vertis Communications said that only 53% of women ages 25-44 read email advertisements while 85% read direct mail marketing pieces. Maybe there is something to be said for staying with a printed version.

If your newsletter goes out electronically, you might use a PDF because the end users can print it themselves. An html e-blast can be more valuable so the stories can be searchable and housed within a website. Many services allow you to customize their html templates, upload your list and bam – send it out. The key is to pick a service that is easy to use, cost-effective and has subscribe/unsubscribe features to keep your email list up to date.

Which brings us to audience. As with any communication, know your audience, what they will value reading, and how they prefer to get their news. When in doubt, ask! It’s a great idea to add a survey to your next issue.

Does anyone else have tips for creating and maintaining a company newsletter?