Determining The Most Appropriate Newsletter Type For Your Publication
It is important to clarify at the planning stages of your newsletter production, exactly what sort of a newsletter you plan to produce. There is a diverse range of newsletters distributed now-a-days including:
Daycare newsletters: to board or council members, to staff, to parents;
Medical newsletters: to medical practitioners, to patients;
Health care newsletters: to professional employees, to medical associates, to practitioners;
Family newsletters: to nuclear family members, to wider family members, to friends on special occasions;
Spa newsletters: to clients, to equipment suppliers;
Hospital newsletters: to medical staff, to administration staff, to support staff;
Real estate newsletters: to real estate staff, to prospective buyers or rental property seekers;
Homeschool group newsletters: to co-op organizers, to family group members;
Club newsletters: to club members, to club employees, to management committee members;
Church newsletters: to clergy, to parish council members and to congregation members;
Association newsletters: to members, to potential members;
Network newsletters: to members, to industry professionals;
Company and business newsletters: to partners, to administration staff and employees, to clients;
and
Product and sales newsletters: to factories, to suppliers, to retail outlets.
Clearly identifying the type of newsletter you’re planning will assist you to meet the needs of your targeted audience.
It also helps you to tailor the writing style to suit your newsletter’s purpose and agenda. Newsletters can generally be grouped into four main types:
• Sales or advertising
• Instructional, factual or educational
• Corporate or business
• Conversational
The sales and advertising approach is very upfront. The style of writing is enthusiastic, up beat. It aims to convince the reader to do something – whether it be to click a button, to read further information, to buy a produce, to visit a business, to ring
Fed up with cleaning and ironing? Call us now to have Mrs Sparkle™ come and spring clean your whole house! If you call today you get a special discount! Call now and don’t delay!
Successful market-related newsletters avoid using too much sales and advertising hype! It is always best to present useful tips or advice before you begin any sales promotions.
The factual or educational style of writing is usually used in technical and educational newsletters. This style seeks to present facts with little colourful detail, for example,
Mrs Sparkle™ cleaners are available to come to the client’s home or office. Our cleaners will clean, vacuum and dust. They will not move furniture, wash curtains or clean the inside of cupboards. If these services are required extra charges will apply.
This style of writing is appropriate if the purpose of the newsletter is to inform its readers about a new method or product as accompanying technical information may need to be included.
Corporate or Business approach often incorporates the company or business name as presenting the news, for example,
Mrs Sparkle™ is ready to come to your home now. She will use our latest range of organic cleaning products Sparkly Clean™. Our products have won the industry standard award for ‘Most ecologically packaged cleaning products’ for 2005. Of course all the equipment that Mrs Sparkle™ uses is state of the art to ensure your house sparkles!
The conversational style of writing simply presents news as it is spoken. It is generally warm and friendly in its style. You will often find this style of writing on family website pages, for example,
I’ve just got home from work. I’m tired. But, of course, there is the dinner to prepare, the ironing and I haven’t vacuumed for two weeks! I am so glad that tomorrow Mrs Sparkle™ is coming and she will totally transform the place! She does all the cleaning, the vacuuming and even washes the windows. It’s so reassuring to know that my house is in good hands.
Conversational approach can be a very powerful marketing tool as it captures the attention of readers very quickly. It helps bridge the gap between writer and reader. However, conversational writing can be hard to understand. Its informal approach can sometimes give a mixed message.
Most newsletters use a mix of these styles of writing as different styles are suited to particular types of newsletters. Some styles work together better than others. The sales and advertising approach works well with the conversational style. The instructional and educational style can be used to reassure the reader that the writer is knowledgeable about a topic. It would be inappropriate to use a conversational approach with highly technical material or legal matters.
It is important however to ensure the mood and writing style is consistent within the issue, and from publication to publication. Rapport is built as readers become familiar with a particular style of presentation.
©This article is copyright protected, newsPAL®, 2007. Melinda McMahon, Director of newsPAL, runs a successful newsletter publishing business empowering developers to plan, implement and manage their own print or online newsletters. Subscribe to newsPAL.LinkUp at http://www.publish-a-newsletter.com/newsPAL-LinkUp.html If you subscribe now you will receive access to five free newsPAL resources including our free 30 page ebook, newsPAL.HandyGuide.
Tags: ezine styles, newsletter styles, Newsletter types, writing styles