eNewsletter Checklist

This page summarizes the points you need to consider when implementing an eNewsletter. An eNewsletter is much more than a simple email that you send out every two weeks.

Who is going to be reading your eNewsletter?

• Your customers - past (lapsed) and present
• Prospective customers who may not need your product/services at the moment but may do so in the future
• People who have never heard of your company before
• Current customers of your competitors
• Other 'customers' i.e. people with certain expectations of your company such as staff, suppliers, shareholders, government organizations, the media etc.

What's in it for them?

Consider what your newsletter will contain that will be of interest and value to your target audience

• Tips / useful information relating to your products or services
• Details of promotions / special offers / exclusive deals
• News about your company or industry
• Links to other sources of information that your audience may not otherwise know about
• Information about your company and its products and services
• Editorial or commentary

What do you think readers will want to get out of it?

• Save money or make money
• Find out information that is targeted to their needs or that helps them to solve a problem
• Be the first to find out things
• To get to know your company better, find out how it works and what it can do for them

What action do you want readers to take as a result of reading the newsletter?

• Remain loyal to your company
• Understand your company better
• Increase purchase value or purchase quantity
• Increase frequency of purchase
• Purchase new products or services from your company
• Change their attitude towards your company
• Recommend your company to other people

Why are readers going to want to read your eNewsletter?

Your goal should be to get people to read your eNewsletter for two reasons:

• Because it is informative and well-written
• Because it gives them access to exclusive information or early access to information

How often will they want to receive your eNewsletter?

We recommend that you send a minimum of one eNewsletter and ideally two per month. This ensures that your company remains front of mind without flooding your readers' inboxes.

What format is best for an eNewsletter?

Unless you are communicating with a very technologically advanced audience, it is best to opt for the lowest common denominator - that is to say text eNewsletters.

• Text is universally accepted (not everyone can read HTML email)
• It is easier to read. There are no graphics to distract readers. In any case, people will be reading the eNewsletter for its content in most cases, not to view graphics

Should it be an opt-in eNewsletter?

This is one of the most important issues regarding eNewsletters. Privacy is a hot topic because of the the amount of unsolicited email (commonly known as 'spam') that most people receive these days.

Unless you want to be accused of spamming, your eNewsletter MUST be opt-in. In other words you must get the recipient's permission before you add him or her to your mailing list.

Fail to do so and you could end up with at best some unhappy customers or bad publicity and in the worst case scenario you could be blacklisted by ISPs and your web site could be blocked causing you to lose business and of course revenue.

Do I have to give people a way to unsubscribe?

The simple answer is 'yes'. Many people will not bother to unsubscribe - they will just block your emails or report them as junk mail.

However, if you are serious about having a professional eNewsletter for your business then include an unsubscribe message at the end. And make sure you have the process in place to follow through and remove the person from mailing list or flag them as 'Do not mail' in your database.