Harness the big power of newsletters: a regular newsletter is a small-budget way to keep your message in front of your customers

Art Business News, June, 2003 by Lynn Fey

One popular technique for staying in touch with customers and attracting new ones is a company newsletter. Newsletters (both printed and e-mail versions) are effective marketing tools because they:

* are relatively inexpensive

* Keep consumers involved and interested

* Express your personality and values

* Allow you to inform and sell

* Educate customers about framing

* Promote customer retention

And best of all, most small businesses don't know how powerful a well-produced newsletter can be. So you have a chance to outsmart your competitors on this one.

The first step in creating a successful newsletter is to identify your audience. Who is your primary audience? Will you be sending your newsletter to existing customers, potential customers or both?

Next, consider your budget. Today, newsletters can be produced to satisfy almost any budget. On a small budget, you can use a standard newsletter template found on most personal computer software programs and write and print the piece yourself. For more money, you can hire a newsletter designer, writer, printer and direct-mail house to handle the details for you.

Also, printing and mailing costs, which at one time were major factors in newsletter budgeting, can be eliminated completely if you choose to distribute your newsletter via e-mail or through your Web site.

Before firing up your PC or calling a designer, start collecting newsletters. Take note of what you like and dislike about each one. This process will help you narrow down the multitude of options available. And if you are already producing a newsletter, creating this file will help you discover ways to keep your piece fresh and exciting.

As you begin creating your own newsletter, here are the most important elements to consider.

Masthead

The masthead is the area that appears at the top of the newsletter. Mastheads usually contain the name of the newsletter, the name of the person or organization publishing it, the date of issue and the issue and volume numbers. All marketing mediums, including newsletters, represent your brand to the consumer, so proper care in naming and designing the piece is essential.

The design of the masthead should remain consistent throughout each issue of your newsletter, changing only the date and issue numbers. Consistency in the masthead brings brand identity to your publication. If you change it too often, customers may toss the newsletter out because they don't recognize who's sending it.

The masthead should also grab attention and set a positive tone for the newsletter. In many cases, designers will use fonts, color and graphics that help convey the nature of the newsletter content.

Content

Successful newsletters cover a variety of topics so they appeal to a wide audience, such as:

* News about your shop

* Information on products

* Trends and forecasts

* Details about an artist or key employees

* Reports on community involvement

* A calendar of local events

* Tips that consumers will find useful

* Stories featuring your customers who use your products and services

* Q&A with an expert (you)

A proper balance between sales and informational content is important. If it's too heavy on the sales side, the piece will read like an infomercial.

Although newsletters provide room for longer articles, keep the majority of articles short. Think about USA Today's format--small, bite-sized pieces of information.

If writing is not your strong suit, consider hiring a writer or making a trade with an aspiring writer friend to write or edit your articles. Catchy headlines and opening sentences greatly increase readership and can really make a difference in the overall success of your marketing efforts.

A newsletter lets you show off your knowledge and product savvy. Through it, your customers see you, your products and your store directly, so look to your newsletter as a credibility builder. Writing style, accuracy and proper use of grammar are important keys to establishing and reinforcing credibility.

Design

The newsletter layout should capture the readers' attention and invite them to read more. White space used effectively in newsletter design gives the articles breathing room. Just as in framing, you don't want the focal point to be crowded. One way to achieve this look is to create new paragraphs every few sentences and to interrupt long blocks of text with headers, bullet points or photos.

Many newsletter templates use a two- or three-column format for easy scanning. This allows the eye a shorter distance to stay on the line and not get sidetracked. If possible, keep articles together to make reading less frustrating for the reader. If you must continue an article on another page, make the jump easy to find.

Thanks to technology, designing a newsletter has never been easier. Software programs offer a generous selection of designs, graphics and mastheads. In the custom framing industry, it's important to remember that great design and creativity, whether in framing or in newsletter production, are important reflections of your artistry. The time and resources applied to your newsletter design are even more important than in other retail businesses.