making the most of your print and electronic communications · making the most of your print and...
TRANSCRIPT
Making the most of your print and electronic communications
MARC Newsletters
Getting Started
Getting Started
•Purpose What do you need to convey?• Education/Information?• Calls to Action?• Fundraising?
1
Who are you trying to reach?• Partners?• Customers?• Funders?• Decision makers?
2
What’s in it for them?3
Getting Started
•Frequency How often should you publish?• Weekly? Biweekly? Monthly? Quarterly?
1
Frequency should be tied to length2
Can you keep up the pace — with worthwhile content?
3
Getting Started
• Frequency
•Production Who will be responsible?• Writing, editing, layout and review
1
What tools/skills do you need?• Print — page design software• Web — HTML coding or templates
2
Getting Started
• Frequency
• Production
•Delivery
Do you have a distribution list?• Print — mailing addresses• Email — in house or through a service
1
Pros and cons of services• Templates• Analytics• Contact management
3
How do you maintain it?2
Getting Started
benchmarkemail.commailchimp.com madmimi.comconstantcontact.com icontact.com
Creating the Content
121
25 percent
Under 3 percent
Creating the Content
Creating the Content
•Subject Line
Subject: January Newsletter
Subject: Workforce Indicators Newsletter [December dataset]
Your first impression
Creating the Content
•Subject Line Make it interesting:• Be funny• Be clever• Be seasonal• Be current• Be compelling
Don’t:• Make it too long• Use “spam” words• SHOUT!
Creating the Content
Subject: Employment by Gender
Subject: Are nurses from Venus and engineers from Mars?
Halloween Issue: Spooked by Home Repairs?
In this issue: A long time ago (well, last year) in a galaxy far, far away (okay, it was Kansas)…
BikeWalkKC: We’re a third of the way to Awesome!
Creating the Content
•Design Make it visually appealing:• Colors• Fonts• Layout• Images
Creating the Content
color.adobe.com
pantone.com
Creating the Content
Serif vs. Sans Serif
Creating the Content
Just because you have a font,it doesn’t mean you have to use it
“Style has to do with limits, with discipline…”
Elements of Style, Strunk & White
Creating the Content
Page Layout
• Watch where the eye goes
• Pay attention to the “fold”
• White space is your friend.
Creating the Content
• Design
•Stories • Headlines• Subheads• Body• Links
Creating the Content
Much like subject lines:• Short — seven syllables is ideal• Parallel in tense and structure• Clever or funny
Creating the Content
Much like subject lines:• Short — seven syllables is ideal• Parallel in tense and structure• Clever or funny
Creating the Content
Seven syllables
Ann Wylie: Camp town races here we come, doo dah, doo dah
2006
Peyton Manning: Don’t open that cellar door!
2016
• Giving kids a healthy start• Streetcar soon rolls into town
Creating the Content
Clever samples from KCBJ
• Feeling the love, feeling the hate(A public meeting on a controversial development)
• McCormick Distilling drinks up(Acquisition of Broker’s London Dry Gin)
• A sunny forecast on potential(KCPL’s proposed solar farm)
Creating the Content
• Design
•Stories • Headlines• Subheads• Body• Links
Supplement your short headline witha little longer explanation
Creating the Content
• Design
•Stories • Headlines• Subheads• Body• Links
Don’t bury the lead!Establish style rules and stick to them.Use an active voice.Don’t waste words.
Creating the Content
• Design
•Stories • Headlines• Subheads• Body• Links
Supplement your short, tightly written articles with a web link
“The email is the invitation, but the web page is the party.”
Finishing Touches
Questions?
Barbara HensleyPublic Affairs Director
Mid-America Regional [email protected] or 816-701-8219