12 Tips for making sure your offline newsletters get read

Are offline newsletters worth it?
​Most businesses who send newsletters send them via email, as it’s the most economic, fastest and easiest way to get your message in front of your prospects and clients regularly. 

But… while this can be beneficial, it not only leaves the offline audience untapped, but it also means you are just like everyone else. You do not ‘stand out from the crowd’ because EVERYONE is sending email newsletters. ​

How many times have you either just deleted a newsletter when it arrived in your inbox or left it there for weeks, kidding yourself you will read it when you get time, only to delete it a month later? Not having an offline newsletter means you could be missing out on plenty of business opportunities. 

12 tips for making sure your newsletter gets read.

1. Make it personal. Be different and stand out from the crowd. If everyone else is sending email newsletters, then send yours by post.   
2. Increase your read-conversion rates by writing the envelope by hand and popping a brightly coloured handwritten post-it note on the front. Yes, this takes time but may mean the difference between the customer or prospect reading it or not. Delegate or outsource this if possible. 
3. Mix it up. Have a schedule for sending your newsletters. Maybe send your monthly newsletter via email and your quarterly one by post. This will help to keep costs down. If you send it out too frequently, it ends up looking like junk mail and the customer or prospect will treat it that way. Most businesses that send out newsletters opt for either a monthly or every other month schedule. This helps to remind the person about your business but doesn’t overwhelm them.    
4. Don’t make it all about you. Don’t fill your newsletter with text that’s all about your products, services or company. Make it interesting and focus on the customers’ needs first. Talk about how you can solve their problems or fulfil their desires, as these are the only two reasons we buy.  
5. Make use of interesting and relevant case studies. Show them how others have used your products or services and what great results they have had.
6. Let your ‘raving fans’ tell everyone how good you are by using snippets of testimonials throughout your newsletter.   
7. Don’t make it too busy. Leave plenty of white space as this makes it easier to read.   
8. Don’t make your newsletter too long. Make it readable in 5 minutes or less or it will be filed in the ‘read later’ pile.   
9. Use a clear font that is easy to read. Don’t cram so much into the newsletter that you need to reduce the font size.   
10. Don’t forget to use a strong call to action. Make your newsletter contain numerous ways for the customer to contact you as well as any online sites you have including social media.   
11. Make sure your newsletter is visually appealing. Canva, the free graphic design site has numerous excellent newsletter templates and is easy to use. Or you can find someone on Fiverr to do it for you for a small investment.  
12. Proofread it, proofread it and then proofread it again. Don’t make yourself look sloppy by sending out newsletters with spelling or grammar mistakes.   

 
Good luck with your newsletters!