Basic Newsletter Planning
Planning your newsletter has five basic parts:
1. Size
2. Content/Theme
3. Who will receive it
4. Budget
5. How often to publish it
These five choices work together.
In most cases, the larger the newsletter, the less frequently it
will be distributed. Conversely, a one- or two-page piece can be
produced and set out often, even daily if the need exists. Your
audience may not want a big publication in their mailbox each
week, but may welcome it monthly.
Your content, and the type of content or the theme will affect
size and frequency as well. Obviously, if your content is
time-sensitive, it can't wait three months for a quarterly issue
and will need to be published at least once a month.
Alternatively, you could publish in-depth features that require
lots of research and interviews with sources, and doing these
properly may take more than a few days or weeks.
Who will receive your newsletter? Will it go to residents in a
geographic region, people who have signed up for a mailing list,
past and current customers, or a demographic such as households
with children under ten? If your list of recipients is large,
you might want to restrict the size and frequency of your
publication. Larger pieces are more appropriate for tightly
targeted lists.
Your newsletter budget includes more than just money - it also
takes into consideration the expenditure of time and labor. Are
you committed to putting forth the effort to create a quality
piece each month? If not, could you do it every three months
instead? Surprisingly, many companies find it's more efficient
in terms of money, time and labor to put out a small newsletter
more frequently than a large, elaborate piece every few months.
Considering size, content, readership and budget will help you
to determine the frequency of your publication. Getting this
right is an important step, because you're going to have to
stick with it for maximum results. Plan on committing to your
newsletter schedule for at least a year before reviewing results
and making changes.