newsletters ezines brochures

Newsletters, E-zines and Brochures

Chapter 12

PR 313

Corporate Publications

Newsletters Magazines Intranet sites Web sites E-zines

Purpose

To advance the organizational objectives of your client

To serve the interests of the employees (who are also the readers)

Editorial Freedom?

Unlike a traditional newspaper or magazine, there is less editorial freedom in this genre

The client is paying the cost of the publication – it is NOT meant to be “fair and balanced”

Beyond Propaganda

You should be careful to include content that is of interest to the reader If it is just company “propaganda,” the readers will

dismiss the information Include news that is relevant to the readers and

their jobs

The Shift

A shift is occurring from paper to online for corporate publications Online is more cost-effective Print is still popular but costly

Electronic Publishing Tools

Microsoft Word Microsoft Publisher Adobe InDesign Quark XPress

Templates Make it Easy

Until you get comfortable with these programs, use the templates Downloadable or plug-in applications that already

have the layout design ready

Think Visual

Present the info in a way that is visually pleasing

Use bullet points, if appropriate Use graphics and bold fonts Use white space to your advantage

Headlines

Most people scan headlines to determine whether they will read the story

A kicker can be used to supplement (and contextualize) a headline Example:

VOGEL’S LEAVES PULLMAN

Popular Clothing Store Closes Down

WSU 37 – UCLA 15

Victory for Cougars

E-Mail, Memos, Letters, Proposals &

Reports

Chapter 14

Strategic Memos

As part of your campaign, you may need to send formal memos that brief the stakeholders on the key developments

These should be written in an efficient, authoritative style

Internal E-mail Etiquette

Get to the point…fast! Remember that e-mail is ripe for

misunderstanding Minimize your distribution Never assume your e-mail is private Think before you “send”

E-mail Campaigns

E-mail campaigns are powerful, but tricky to do successfully

Some companies are using e-mail as only part of a larger digital online campaign Mobile phone marketing/Text messaging Blogging Social networking campaigns

Cutting Through the Clutter

Your e-mail campaign will be competing for the attention of the public

According to some estimates, the average worker sends and/or receives 200 e-mail messages a day

But the biggest challenge is…

E-mail Filters & “Spam”

Promotional campaigns via e-mail are often perceived as unwanted “spam” by users

Many e-mail filters prevent messages from even reaching the in-boxes of recipients

E-mail Campaigns

A study was conducted on the use of promotional e-mails

It tested variables relating to the opening of promotional e-mails in one’s inbox

Of the e-mails sent, 27% were opened Messages that included the company name

or brand in the subject line had significantly higher open rates — as much as a 12-point increase.

E-mail Campaigns

Images are not always more compelling than text, according to the study

B2B e-mail messages that were mostly text or had an equal amount of text and images generated higher click-through rates than image-heavy e-mails.

SOURCE: Silverpop.com

E-mail Campaigns Messages were classified into seven different format

categories. One column Two or more columns of equal size Two or more columns of varied size Letter Newsletter Varied cell blocks Postcard

The data clearly show that consumers prefer the newsletter format, and businesses prefer the postcard or varied block format.

External E-mail Etiquette

Make sure you have been granted permission to email your recipients through an online opt-in process or have been provided explicit permission offline.

External E-Mail Etiquette

Ensure the mailing is clearly labeled as coming FROM the person or company that has a relationship with the recipient. If you use a FROM label that a recipient doesn’t recognize, it may prompt them to unsubscribe, even if they are actually interested in your services.

External E-Mail Etiquette

Give your recipients an easy and obvious way to opt-out or unsubscribe from your mailings and remove them quickly from your mailings if they have already done so.

It’s the law and it reflects favorably upon your company when you act in a responsible manner. You don’t need the negative publicity that accompanies the “spammer” tag.

External E-Mail Etiquette

Make sure your SUBJECT LINE reflects the content of your email.

When recipients think they’re being tricked into opening the email they often become resentful - and unsubscribe in mass numbers.

Structure of the E-mail Campaign

Subject Line Salutation First Sentence or Paragraph Body of Message Closing

In-Class Activity

Create your own bulk e-mail campaign for your non-profit

Write your e-mail pitch Use I-Builder to test your mailing

After you establish an account, you will have access to the online tool