{"id":1705,"date":"2011-09-20T07:17:44","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T11:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:09:03","slug":"liberate-your-pdf-newsletter-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/liberate-your-pdf-newsletter-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberate Your PDF Newsletter Content"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Red-tailed
If you love your newsletter, set it free.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve all received them\u2014heck, perhaps we\u2019ve even had to (shudder) distribute them. You know what I\u2019m talking about: PDF newsletters, sent as an email attachment to a distribution list or linked on a webpage. In some corners, they still lurk.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just going to say it: People use PDFs for a hundred different reasons, and about 97 of them are wrong. (Rick blogged about some of these content problems in April<\/a>.) The wrongest of the wrong, however, is to publish an electronic newsletter.<\/p>\n

The world is no longer issue-based. News and events do not take turns. PDFs are not made for this always-happening world. They compromise search, sharing, tracking and accessibility. They are not easily navigable, not interactive, not real-time… need I go on? I mean, what is the value to an email like this:<\/p>\n

\n

\nFrom: [Dean’s Administrative Coordinator]
\nTo: [school e-list]
\nSubject: December 2010 Dean’s Letter<\/p>\n

Attached please find the December 2010 issue of the Dean’s Letter.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

[Dean’s Administrative Coordinator]<\/p>\n

(Attachment: DLDec10(2) (2).pdf – 386K)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
You may have great content, but publishing it as a PDF newsletter does it a disservice. It\u2019s like buying a new car and then putting it up on cinder blocks in your driveway.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

You may have great content, but publishing it as a PDF newsletter does it a disservice. It\u2019s like buying a new car and then putting it up on cinder blocks in your driveway. You can\u2019t do print on the web. You need to do web on the web, so your content can actually live and breathe out in the world.<\/p>\n

So… Now that I\u2019ve talked you out of a PDF-centric newsletter publishing workflow, what should you do?<\/p>\n

Atomize Your Content<\/h2>\n

Often, a newsletter functions like an explosion. You\u2019ve been saving up content all month\/semester\/year and finally – finally! – it\u2019s time to publish and share it all with the world. Like all explosions, that is a messy and imperfect approach. By the time your PDF hits inboxes, a lot of that information is out of date. And you\u2019re likely throwing people a lot of information that they may or may not have time for. Also, as far as your website and Google are concerned, that content either never happened or is awfully well hidden.<\/p>\n

\n
Rather than saving everything up into a giant content brick, atomize that brick into bits of timely content that you publish on an ongoing basis, scheduled over time.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One solution is a blog. Rather than saving everything up into a giant content brick, atomize that brick into bits of timely content that you publish on an ongoing basis, scheduled over time. Now, your content lives on the web — organized, relevant and shareable — and when you send an email, it can be a front door as opposed to a hoarder\u2019s house. Eric Stoller of Inside Higher Ed recently wrote a great blog post on using WordPress as the backend for a mobile- and social-friendly email newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And if you like the idea of capturing your content in a blog but want to publish it in a print-friendly format down the road, look into the Anthologize plugin for WordPress<\/a>. (Hat tip to Michael Fienen for bringing that one to my attention a while back.)<\/p>\n

Think Mobile<\/h2>\n

I take public transit, which means I read a significant portion of my email on the go. If you\u2019re sending me a PDF newsletter, I\u2019m not going to read it. Even if I wanted to, I can\u2019t. And the chances of me following up to read it once I\u2019m sitting in front of a computer are slim. Alas. A perfect opportunity to convey information and value, squandered.<\/p>\n

According to research released by the Pew Internet Project last month<\/a>, email remains a top task for cell phone and smartphone owners. And in the 2011 Noel-Levitz E-Expectations report<\/a>, 86 percent of students (and 80 percent of parents) report using email. The onus is on us to make it worth their while. This requires us to make email an effective experience in a multiple contexts<\/a>, particularly mobile. And PDF does not fit the bill.<\/p>\n

It’s a big leap from PDF to mobile-friendly newsletters, so how should you get started? Get educated! Dive in to this archived \u201cMobile Email Marketing 101<\/a>\u201d webinar from What Counts\/Blue Sky Factory. Once you’re a little more acquainted, this recent blog entry on MediaPost provides some good tips for designing mobile-friendly emails. Even if you’re not doing the work yourself, it’s important to understand the considerations.<\/p>\n

Integrate Email Into Your Web Branding<\/h2>\n

I believe that PDF newsletters persist in this age of electronic self-publishing because they are relatively easy to create and distribute. (Two words: Microsoft Publisher.) Of course, ease on the publisher end does not necessarily translate to ease\u2014much less usefulness or usability\u2014on the reader end.<\/p>\n

\n
Ease on the publisher end does not necessarily translate to ease\u2014much less usefulness or usability\u2014on the reader end.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But, if a department is sensible enough to realize that PDF newsletters are counterproductive and want to pursue a truly electronic solution, how can we help make the process just as easy if not moreso? We don’t want a newsletter just being sent with a default third-party template, or dollars being shelled out to a vendor to create something splashy but potentially off-brand.<\/p>\n

When creating website templates and branding guidelines for our institution, we should extend those to email newsletters, offering templates, headers and anything else that will, one, save these units time and money, and two, reinforce brand consistency.<\/p>\n

Share the Wealth<\/h2>\n

By changing your workflow so that you\u2019re regularly publishing content on the web rather than saving it up for a print or PDF newsletter, you also open the door to more easily sharing content with communications peers on campus by virtue of more ongoing attention to your content.<\/p>\n

\n
One department\u2019s newsletter feature story may be one alumni magazine\u2019s class note.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Think of all the pertinent outlets — alumni magazine, central news office, school-wide publication (if you\u2019re within a school), campus social media, even campus distribution lists — and connect with them. (Is there a university content group<\/a> you can join?) Don\u2019t point the firehose at them, but pull out some nuggets that you feel would best fit their needs. After all, one department\u2019s newsletter feature story may be one alumni magazine\u2019s class note. <\/p>\n

Freedom!<\/h2>\n

Liberating your content from the confines of a PDF newsletter means not only giving the content a proper home on your website, but broadening its visibility and usefulness both on and off campus.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious about email marketing and want to learn more, check out these email marketing resources compiled by Email Marketing Info. You may also be interested in Corey Vilhauer\u2019s recent post about email content strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How do you approach newsletters? Have you made the PDF to web transition?<\/p>\n

Photo by mikebaird \/ Flickr Creative Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all received them\u2014heck, perhaps we\u2019ve even had to (shudder) distribute them. You know what I\u2019m talking about: PDF newsletters, sent as an email attachment to a distribution list or linked on a webpage. In some corners, they still lurk. I\u2019m just going to say it: People use PDFs for a hundred different reasons, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[75,35,45,10,72],"yoast_head":"\nLiberate Your PDF Newsletter Content | Meet Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You may have great content, but publishing it in a PDF newsletter does it a disservice. 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