Tips to Take Your Newsletter From Sleepy to Sensational

Connecting, engaging, and maintaining relationships with your target audience is becoming more challenging. As social media platforms shift their algorithms to favor paid subscribers and other complicated rules, it can be difficult for organizations to find their way into their followers’ news feeds. That’s why building your own mailing lists and communicating consistently with them is more important than ever.

One of the best ways to do that is through newsletters. Whether it’s print, digital, or both, the key to your newsletter’s success will be making sure it is valuable and engaging. You’ll want to create a thoughtfully designed publication with content that is well-written, educational, and entertaining.

Creating a Newsletter People Actually Want to Read

As you put together your newsletter, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

• Consider Your Audience: How does your audience prefer to receive your newsletter? Mailing physical copies to your community is a great way to reach people but it isn’t the only way! Those who partner with LPi have access to both physical and digital distribution of their newsletters to members.
  
  
• Craft content with intention: Best practices when it comes to newsletter content is to aim for a mix of 90% educational/informational copy and 10% self-promotion/donation requests. So, think about what interests your target audience and seek out writers and other contributers who can share their expertise. For example, if you are targeting adult children whose parents are considering a move to a senior living community, have someone write about overcoming family caregiver guilt or about the dangers of isolation for an older adult.
  
  
• Consider how to entertain and engage: Think about how you can entertain and engage your readers. While you’ll certainly want to have some “meaty” articles in your newsletter, it’s also helpful to lighten things up. Maybe have a cartoon in each issue or a joke of the month. You might also want to ask someone with a good sense of humor to write about the trials and tribulations of successful aging.
  
  
• Remind your team that looks matter: While designing a newsletter can be a challenge if you don’t have a team member with those skills, it is important to make the publication visually appealing. We are all bombarded with mail and email on a daily basis. To ensure your piece doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, you need a design that makes it pop. Tools like WeCreate, our library of content specifically curated for newsletters like yours, is a great resource for graphics, templates, and even cover designs! Don’t forget to cash in on the free newsletter design service for organizations who partner with LPi for their newsletters!

Looking for more inspiration for your organization’s newsletter communications? Find more newsletter content inside the “Newsletter Tools” section of our blog!