Technique - Marketing for Technology Companies Dallas, Texas Technology Advertising and High-Tech Dallas public relations agency. HiTech PR and Dallas Public Relations with Internet Marketing and Advertising for technology companies located in Dallas Texas and outside of the Dallas, Texas Area. M/C/C - LIVING THE UNEXPECTED. Dallas, Texas Technology Advertising and High-Tech Dallas public relations agency. HiTech PR and Dallas Public Relations with Internet Marketing and Advertising for technology companies located in Dallas Texas and outside of the Dallas, Texas Area. M/C/C - LIVING THE UNEXPECTED. Dallas, Texas Technology Advertising and High-Tech Dallas public relations agency. HiTech PR and Dallas Public Relations with Internet Marketing and Advertising for technology companies located in Dallas Texas and outside of the Dallas, Texas Area. M/C/C

Make Your Own News. Literally.
By Sadie McCrary

It is one of the more effective tools you can use to communicate with a specific target audience. It provides an unfiltered medium with which to disseminate your key messages and ultimately build and maintain relationships. While not a new communication method by any means, the corporate newsletter has become a key tool in the marketer’s bag of tricks. And now, with the advent of e-mail, the newsletter has taken on a new medium, making it easier to create, distribute and track.

Take a few seconds and search “newsletter” on Google. Chances are you’ll get a ton of hits from just about any field. I’ve found newsletters that cover the latest diabetic drugs to newsletters distributed to military families that provide tips and coupons for relocation. Even top-tier news outlets have created a series of newsletters for readers interested in a particular subject. More than likely, you subscribe to a few of these yourself. In fact, you’re reading one.

The truth is the newsletter has become downright ubiquitous. Always an extremely effective marketing tool, the newsletter communicates directly to a company’s target audiences without going through media filters. Plus, when the content is carefully crafted, the newsletter adds a level of credibility to the organization that other marketing methods aren’t able to achieve. As long as your newsletter conveys your messages to its target audiences you can be as outrageous or as sedate as your brand demands.

So if your business hasn’t considered this method of communication, isn’t it about time you tried it? While it can seem a bit daunting, it really isn’t if you ask yourself two very important questions: who am I trying to communicate with, and what kinds of information will they be interested in?

Frankly, if you are trying to create a newsletter that covers the things you think are relevant from your perspective, you are dead in the water before you’ve even begun. Your newsletter is a tool to communicate information your target audience wants to hear. Before you begin, it is always a safe bet to query your customers, your dealers or your employees – whichever group your newsletter will reach – and find out what they are interested in. More often than not, they will be more than willing to help you out, particularly since the newsletter will directly benefit them. Form a focus group. Contact your customers by phone. Do anything, but make sure that you understand the needs of your target audience, or the whole purpose of the newsletter is lost.

If you’ve done your homework correctly, your content should be based largely on feedback you’ve received from your target audience. And don’t worry, making your content audience-friendly does not mean that you have to ignore the things that you’d like to communicate. Oftentimes the best, and most interesting, publications are a mixture of both. Your job is to frame that information in a way that moves your audience.

For example, say you’ve decided to develop a newsletter to communicate company news to your employees. Chances are you will want to communicate the latest corporate news, company policy concerns, customer wins and executive hirings. And that’s fine because you are communicating news that should be of interest to you and your employees. In addition to those types of stories, you might find that your employees want to read about how your company has made the news or won awards.

Once you’ve decided on your content, you need to consider how best to showcase your content with the layout and other graphic elements. This might seem a bit more daunting than drafting the content. After all, how many of us are graphic designers? But you do have help here. As I mentioned above, there are a multitude of newsletters posted daily on the Internet that can show you the way. Find a few examples that strike you. Query your target audience about what layouts are pleasing to them. Find a third party that can design a layout for you. There are a lot of options out there for good ideas. Take advantage of them.

Developing a newsletter isn’t as hard as you might think but it does take a few people with the right combination of skills to produce. If you think the newsletter is the right communications tool for your business, seek help from a third party. As I mentioned above, the Web offers many resources. Just be honest. If you don’t have the skills in-house, seek out a partner. It’s worth it.

Though it does take time and effort, the newsletter provides a method of effective communication directly from your company to your target audience. If the newsletter is distributed regularly and filled with content that your readers find relevant and interesting, it will become one of your most important forms of communication – and the most relied upon.

E-mail the author: Sadie McCrary

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