Newsletters Are Online News, Information and Advertising

Newsletters are technical documents gaining popularity online on the Web. They are basically a small newspapers containing news or information of interest to a particular group or audience.

Just like their big brother the daily newpaper, they contain news, features, and some advertising.

The accompanying photo on this page shows three printed sample newsletters.

Studies show that these technical communication documents trigger highly emotional reactions in readers. The average reader spends approximately 51 seconds reading one.

Difficulties with their layout and design along with faulty or difficult subscription processes results in 19% of the readers losing interest in newsletters.

Some common reasons why some newsletters are not read are:

• Headlines do not seem to offer any benefits to reader.
• Articles are poorly written or uninteresting.
• The newsletter layout and or design is unattractive.
• Too much type and not enough white spaces in the content.

Readers expect the content to be current, helpful, and relevant, communicating benefits to them in the subject line. It must also be very brief using as few words as possible, even if the subscription to the document is free.

Today, readers are overburdened by spam which they have to deal with each day therefore, their expectations must be addressed or they are turned off.

Quality newsletters properly created are worth the time spent. They are a real value added element to your product or service which helps distinguish yours from that of your "me too" competitors.

Whether you produce a traditional print version newsletter or one for the Web do your best to keep your brand or name front and center. Let your readers enjoy your valuable content and make the connection.

Your newsletter should be viewed as relationship building tool.

When you create a newsletter be mindful that it must be designed to let readers quickly grasp each issue's content and zero in on the specifics.

Content and writing style must support readers who only read part of the material. This is because studies have revealed that 57% of us skim, 27% never read the content, and 10% save it for later reading.

To have a sucessful one it must be carefully targeted and delivered not too frequently according to some studies.

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