A lot of business owners wonder what on Earth they would ever put in a company newsletter and as a veteran writer of countless newsletters over the years I don’t even blink. You might not realize it, but there is an endless supply of stories waiting to be written about your business that will support a customer’s decision to do business with you.

Here are some of the subjects your newsletter articles might focus on:

• Existing products and services
• New products and services
• Events (such as trade show participation, upcoming customer informational webinars etc.)
• Maintenance programs
• Statistics relating to your industry and what that means for your customers
• Other articles of relevance to customers and potential customers (What do they need to know? What do they want to know? How can you make their business better?)
• Members of the executive team – who they are and what they do
• Company policies that customers might not know about

And Here Is What Your Newsletter Also Should Include:

• Calls to action
• Links to your website
• Your contact information
• Links to your social media sites
• A newsletter sign-up form that’s located on your website
• Your company logo
• A link in the email version of your newsletter to the web version in case anyone on your mailing list wants to read it outside of their email program

I tend to be highly procedural in almost everything I do (I sometimes even use a process for thinking more creatively!) and I find that newsletters likewise work best if you can create a consistent process around their production. When I’m working with a newsletter client I usually start with a discussion around who our target audience is and what results we want. (If you’ve developed a Customer Persona, you’re ahead of the game!)

I also recommend my clients take a look at newsletters they’re already receiving and collect several whose format they like. While it’s most important that your customers like the newsletter, you also need to feel proud of your efforts. Having a template to follow makes it easier for your Newsletter Construction Crew.

By the way, you may have noticed that content marketing can rely heavily on written material. Make sure that any writer you hire asks good questions and writes in a straightforward style. You want any writing done on your behalf to be straightforward and free of lingo and technical terms that your customers might not know or understand. You aren’t writing to impress people, you are writing to connect with people. That requires some thought about how people are going to receive your information. And good, clear writing!

There are a number of steps you have to take in order to get a newsletter off the ground and you might not have the knowledge available in-house to make it happen. But as I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, a newsletter is an important way to support customer retention

If you’d like help with the project for your own business, please get in touch with me at susan@crossmancommunications.com. Me and my team are standing by to support you.