6 Fixable Mistakes That Make Your Company Newsletter Suck

Newsletters are a fantastic way to keep your business at the top of the mind of your prospects and customers. Copywrite Matters has a monthly newsletter – Copy & Co. News – and we write a few for clients. With so many businesses publishing blogs and newsletters, how do you make yours stand out?

If your subscriber count has stagnated, you might be making one of these (very fixable) newsletter mistakes.

It’s too long between drinks

Just like a good blogging schedule, frequency is mostly irrelevant if you’re offering your readers value. That theory doesn’t apply if your company newsletters are so infrequent that your readers forget about you between issues, which means you won’t be there when they need you.

Come up with a schedule you can maintain consistently. You’re better off ramping up your newsletter schedule after a while rather than trailing off because you couldn’t keep it up.

You make your newsletter too long and complicated

Company newsletters and ezines don’t have to be ‘War and Peace’. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Newsletters are read over a coffee, on the train or as a welcome distraction between tasks. They shouldn’t need lots of time to read.

Include multiple stories in your newsletter but mix and match the lengths so your reader can choose to dip in and out of stories, or read the whole newsletter.

You don’t say anything interesting or helpful

Now this might seem more problematic than it is. You do have plenty of interesting stories and advice to share with your newsletter readers; it’s just a matter of finding the right angle – the angle that gives your newsletter some zing.

Write newsletter stories that actively help your readers. You’ll boost your credibility and become a trustworthy source and that’s when your newsletter will pull customers in.

Your newsletter headlines are dull

Your headlines should act as enticing signposts for your stories. Most of your readers are going to skim your newsletter, jumping from headline to headline and deciding if they should spend time reading more.

I compiled this list of awesome headline resources to help you write really compelling signposts. Some quick tips are to avoid 10-dollar words and include a verb to give your newsletter story some action.

Your newsletter formatting is a hodge-podge

The words you use are important but the way you present them can have just as much influence on the success of your company newsletter. Your newsletter content needs to be visually appealing and too many fonts and sizes can be a real turn-off.

Keep things simple with only a few fonts and sizes and use them consistently. Don’t forget to use images as well. Your readers will find it much easier to read, which will help keep them away from that ‘unsubscribe’ link.

You don’t promote your newsletter

If you want to get more newsletter subscribers then you have show people what they’re missing out on! Company newsletters were traditionally printed but now with a shift to online content you can share your newsletter across lots of platforms.

Include a newsletter subscription form on your website and share your newsletters across social media to entice new subscribers.

So now it’s over to you to make your company newsletter spectacular, interesting and worthy of handing over a name and an email address.

Does your business have a newsletter? How often do you publish and do you keep it spicy?

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