How to produce a customer newsletterClick on a question to see the answer or scroll down the page. If you wish to print out this prompt, download the PDF version which is formatted for A4 size paper.
1. Why produce my customer newsletter? Before you start, be clear about why you are spending valuable time and money on producing a newsletter for your customers. Use questions 2-4 to identify your objectives and how to achieve them. Top of customer newsletter prompt 2. What do I want my customer newsletter to achieve?
Top of customer newsletter prompt 3. Who is my customer newsletter aimed at?
Top of customer newsletter prompt 4. How frequently should I publish my customer newsletter? Newsletters work best as communication vehicles and motivators when they are published to a set frequency. It is important to stick to your schedule.
Top of customer newsletter prompt 5. How do I plan my newsletter production? Working backwards,
calculate how much time it will take to complete each stage:
This will enable you to know when to start working on your newsletter in order for it to reach your audience on your desired publication date.
6. What format should my customer newsletter take? Printed newsletters are usually produced in standard A4 paper size format. For every sheet of paper, you have two pages. Calculate the number of pages:
If you prefer, you can choose to have A3, tabloid or a non-standard page size. Top of customer newsletter prompt 7. What paper types and printing should I use for my newsletter? Your printer should be able to show you samples of suitable paper. While black and white printing used to be cheaper, full colour is more affordable now. Ask your printer to give you a quotation for both, if necessary. Top of customer newsletter prompt 8. What should I call my customer newsletter? The name of your newsletter is very important and you need to establish what it will be before creating a basic design. The name should have significance for your readers and reflect the identity and values of your company - choose a name that will be both suitable and popular. Top of customer newsletter prompt 9. How do I design my newsletter? If you use an external designer or have an in-house designer, they need to be involved at the earliest possible stage. The visual style of the newsletter - the look and feel - should be agreed before the first issue is laid out. The design normally reflects an organisation’s corporate identity and often features its logo. By developing a design at this stage, it will enable you to calculate how many words will fit on each page, so that you know how many articles to write and how long they should be. Top of customer newsletter prompt 10. What content should I include in my customer newsletter? The answers to questions 1-4 should help you decide the content of articles.
To create continuity from one issue to the next, include regular features, eg profiles of departments, a focus on a specific product or special technique. If there is a lot of detailed information on a topic, make it more digestible by splitting into several articles in more than one issue. Top of customer newsletter prompt 11. What editorial tone should I use in my customer newsletter? While general communications with customers can tend to be formal in tone, a customer newsletter can be more informal. This could be influenced by whether your company provides business or consumer products or services and which sector it is in. Even where the tone is light-hearted, it is best to show respect for readers. Generally, the tone should be upbeat and enthusiastic - you want customers to be excited about your company, not depressed by it. If you do not have experience of writing or editing, an experienced copywriter can help write articles for you. Top of customer newsletter prompt 12. How do I get a quote for printing my newsletter? To prepare an accurate quote, your printer needs to know:
Top of customer newsletter prompt 13. How do I distribute my customer newsletter? Distributing thousands of newsletters adds packing and postage costs. When you know the quantity to be sent, you will need names and addresses from your customer data records to label the newsletters. You can have names and address printed directly on to individual copies of the newsletter. If you purchase a bulk mailing licence, you can also have the licence information printed on them too. Copies can then be shrink-wrapped in polythene and delivered to the appropriate Post Office for mailing. Alternatively, you can have the newsletters delivered to a mailing house which will pack, label and post them. You will need to supply address labels or the data needed to print labels. Top of customer newsletter prompt 14. How do I plan an issue of my customer newsletter? Once you
have all the above information, you can start to produce your first issue.
Next, you need to decide the content of the current issue:
Top of customer newsletter prompt 15. How do I write articles for my customer newsletter? If you are writing an article yourself:
If you ask colleagues or suppliers to contribute articles, give them a clear brief:
If you are using a professional copywriter, give them a similar detailed brief and as much information as possible. Top of customer newsletter prompt 16. How do I edit articles for my customer newsletter? If you have written an article itself, it should need no editing. Contributions from colleagues or suppliers should be edited to ensure:
The editor of the newsletter must ensure that high standards are maintained throughout. While senior managers may not want to have their articles changed, it is the editor’s responsibility to ensure everything is suitable. In some cases, this may be difficult to argue, but it is vital that the editor has control. Articles published in a customer newsletter can have a big impact on how your company is perceived and may even lead to legal action against it, so make sure that you have control over all material. Top of customer newsletter prompt 17. What about photographs and images for my newsletter? Photographs can produce a very strong impact and add a lot of interest to a newsletter - their inclusion should be considered when developing the basic newsletter design.
Use photographic prints the same size or bigger than each photograph as it will appear in the newsletter - even better, use transparencies. Digital photographs must be taken at 300 dots per inch resolution. Photographs taken at 72 dpi may look good on the internet, but are not good enough for quality printing. Top of customer newsletter prompt 18. How do I check my newsletter? Once you have all your articles and photographs, check everything:
If you have any concerns, this is the time to resolve them. Top of customer newsletter prompt 19. How is my newsletter laid out? Once you have all your material - articles, photographs or other images - hand these to the designer and discuss the layout as shown in your flat plan. Label photographs so the designer knows which articles they accompany. The designer should provide proofs to you so that you can check the newsletter before going to print. Top of customer newsletter prompt 20. How do I check proofs of my newsletter?
If there are any final corrections, advise these to the designer and request a corrected proof. Top of customer newsletter prompt 21. Printing and distributing my customer newsletter Once you have approved the layout, the approved version must be sent to the printer to print the finished copies of the newsletter. When you receive the printed copies, check to see that they are as you approved them. Occasionally, there are mix-ups where previous, incorrect versions are printed by mistake - ensure your approved version has been printed. When you are totally satisfied with the finished newsletter, distribute the newsletter or have it delivered to the mailing house to distribute. Top of customer newsletter prompt 22. The next issue of my customer newsletter Feedback is very important to ensure that your newsletter meets the needs of customers as well as the company. If customers do not like a newsletter, they will not read it - it could even destroy their loyalty. As well as asking people what they think of it, you can conduct reader surveys to ask what people like or dislike and what else they would like to see included. Use competitions, offers or feedback forms to encourage feedback. Use the results to plan the next issue of your customer newsletter. Top of customer newsletter prompt © Zarywacz 2006 |
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