Does Your E-Newsletter Need a Makeover?
Here are five signs that it’s time to give your email newsletter a makeover (and read on to see how I can help you with that next week):
1) You hate writing it. If writing your newsletter is a total drag or bore, you are doing it wrong! Your newsletter should be a great tool to communicate with your readers about all of the exciting work you are doing and about how important their support is to you. If you have passion for your job and your organization’s mission, you should have passion for your newsletter too.
2) You know it’s too long, but . . . you just can’t figure out how to make it shorter. There’s always something to cut. The problem is that you are either not sure what your readers really care about and/or too invested in all of the stories to look at the newsletter objectively. It’s time to step back and put yourself into your readers’ shoes.
3) You transitioned from a print version to an email version in a hurry. Print and email are very different formats and making that transition takes some careful consideration. If you threw pretty much everything from your print newsletter into your email newsletter, it’s time to take a deep breathe and look it all over again.
4) You use the same subject line over and over. “Charity Newsletter, Volume 5″ ring a bell? Time to makeover those subject lines! They should be different with every single edition and they should describe what’s in the body of the email.
5) The newsletter rarely links back to your website. If you aren’t sending e-newsletters with lots of links that let your supporters donate, volunteer, comment, advocate, or get more information, why are you sending it? Always offer your readers a next step.
Next week, on Tuesday, June 16, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific), I’m hosting a brand-new webinar called E-Newsletter Makeovers: How to Get Your E-Newsletter into Better Shape. During the webinar, I’ll be making over parts of several e-newsletters submitted by participants in the webinar. After you register, you’ll receive instructions on how to submit your newsletter as an example. You’ll also receive plenty of tips to makeover your newsletter on your own.
Get the Webinar Details and Register | All-Access Pass Holders RSVP
So, I’ve found something very odd about #4. After testing and testing different subject lines, we got a much better average open rate when we went with the generic “Museum Newsletter May 5″ rather than a subject line describing the content or making a call to action. Titles like “meet our new wolves,” “don’t miss out on member registration for camps” and “robots invade the Museum” consistently lose out by 5-10% to the more generic newsletter/date format.
I’m wondering if other people who have tested various subject lines have found something similar?
Hi Jeff,
My guess would be that your readership really loves you guys and really anticipates what’s next, thus the more generic subject lines are actually good teasers — we have to open it to see all the cool stuff coming up.
I admit there are a few orgs who send me newsletters with generic subject lines and I do open them, because I’m really very interested in what they are doing. However, I wouldn’t expect most nonprofits to have lists that are so engaged, and thus the more specific subject lines will help those groups.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
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