The Lost Art Of The Quarterly Newsletter

“Extra, extra, read all about it,” and read your recipients should straight from your quarterly newsletter. The newsletter is a cost-effective, timeless marketing tool that far too many companies forget to employ. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute recently found that 78 percent of respondents leveraged the power of newsletters within their content marketing strategy. In a separate study, the Nielsen Norman Group discovered that 90 percent of respondents preferred to receive important company updates via newsletter. With these important statistics at the ready, isn’t it time that you approached your marketing team with the task of creating a quarterly newsletter?

How Can A Newsletter Benefit Your Company?

Newsletters have multiple benefits including the ability to:

1. Increase Awareness — The beauty of a quarterly newsletter is that it lets you pick and choose your vital company news. In a succinct publication you can increase awareness, as well as understanding of your company’s achievements. Whether it is highlighting specific employees or acknowledging the successful release of new products, a quarterly newsletter is the perfect opportunity to increase brand awareness, while subtly singing company praises and including a CTA to “contact us for more detail.”
2. Demonstrate Expertise — Did you know that a newsletter can be used to demonstrate industry expertise? To properly establish your company as an industry leader, you will need to include well-researched insights into the latest industry hot topics. You can also use the newsletter to highlight upcoming speaking engagements or successful presentations that your company delivered throughout the quarter.
3. Confidently Display Company Achievements — The beauty of a newsletter is its format. You can use it as part of a larger marketing campaign that is designed to promote the launch of new services, products, or employee achievements. Whether you decide to include an exclusive offer to newsletter recipients, or want to highlight your customer service team, the quarterly newsletter can easily be integrated with other marketing efforts to create a cohesive campaign.
4. Effectively Engage — Newsletters can be used to connect with both loyal customers and new prospects. When you re-engage with customers you can more readily bridge the gap between sales. As noted within the previous benefit, newsletters can and should be used as part of a larger marketing campaign by serving as another touch-point that helps you to stay connected.
5. Expand Your Audience — Just as you encourage people to sign-up for the latest blog posts, so too can you use a newsletter as a way to target a larger audience of readers, followers, site visitors, and customers. The beauty of a newsletter is that you can include it as a PDF version on your website, or send it as a digital download when you create new marketing campaigns. The duality of the latter two approaches will allow you to expand the reach of your newsletter.

Using A Newsletter To Improve Employee Engagement

It is no secret that a quarterly newsletter can be a great communications tool for engaging with customers or other businesses. However, a newsletter is also a great way to improve internal communications with your company’s employees. Far too often large companies have a division between departments. This division, especially the all too familiar gap between sales and marketing, can easily be bridged with an internal company newsletter.

The newsletter should serve as an informal way for departments to share information, showcase achievements, discuss upcoming goals, and create a more unified company. With this in mind, there are a few tips that you should keep in mind when you create an internal newsletter.

1. Each department should write an article. This article should recognize the achievements of the department, while also highlighting the role that the department plays within the company at large. The article is also a chance to highlight the achievements of a specific employee. Being recognized for achievements is a great way to bolster company morale throughout the year.
2. Ask the CEO to include a note that discusses upcoming company goals, product or service releases, or succinctly communicates how the company is fairing in the current economic state. A simple note from the CEO provides the transparent communication that many employees crave from C-level executives.
3. Always include a section with helpful tips. Don’t forget that some employees are “seasoned team members,” while others are “newbies,” however all employees can still learn new tricks and tactics. If possible, try to make the tips generalized so that everyone can benefit.
4. Take a moment to celebrate personal and work achievements of various employees. Whether it is the birth of a daughter or a marriage, employees want to feel connected. It is important to note that this portion of the newsletter should also include employee submitted photos.
5. Make it easy for the newsletter to be shared by creating both a digital and in-print copy. The in-print copy can be hung in the break room, while the digital copy can be sent via email. No matter how you choose to deliver the newsletter, make sure that it has the appropriate amount of fanfare. In other words, your internal company newsletter should be something that all employees look forward to. Remember that the quarterly newsletter is a chance to remove department divides and unite your company together as one cohesive team.

The Bottom Line: Newsletters Can Be Effectively Used As Part Of Internal And External Communication Campaigns

The newsletter is a lost art that should be restored. A quarterly newsletter can be used as part of a larger marketing campaign that is designed to increase valuable touch points with customers or other businesses. As an internal communication mechanism, the quarterly newsletter is a great way to unite employees and bridge department divides. Whether you choose to use an internal or external quarterly newsletter, be sure to spend the time needed to create a high quality work of art that will be opened, read, and acted upon.