{"id":5152,"date":"2014-03-30T20:06:08","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T00:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=5152"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:27:24","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:27:24","slug":"best-practices-email-newsletter-content-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/best-practices-email-newsletter-content-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Practices for Email Newsletter Content Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mailboxes\"
Special delivery? Only if we plan well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everyone loves to prognosticate about the future of email, including whether or not anyone still reads it or if we\u2019ll soon be able to check it via our refrigerators. <\/p>\n

For better or for worse, email remains a ubiquitous form of communication today. According to a July 2012 report by the McKinsey Global Institute<\/a>, we spend 13 hours per week dealing with email. Thirteen hours! That\u2019s a whole season of \u201cHouse of Cards,\u201d you know. Not surprisingly, there\u2019s a cottage industry of apps, like Mailstrom, Unroll.me, and The Email Game, designed solely to help people manage their inboxes more efficiently. <\/p>\n

Here in higher ed, we often rely on email newsletters to communicate information to key audiences. That could mean a university-wide email to all faculty and staff, a departmental newsletter sent to alumni, or anything in between. But no matter the size or scope, the challenges remain the same. <\/p>\n

Email presents a narrow window of opportunity within which we can attract attention, communicate information meaningfully, and spur action. And we\u2019re competing with the dozens or hundreds of other messages in someone\u2019s inbox.<\/p>\n

I like to think of content strategy as simply being thoughtful. Just as I likened the idea of focusing on readability to respecting your audience<\/a>, I think about content and communications plans as a way of being considerate to readers. <\/p>\n

People are constantly interrupted by little buzzes and notifications compelling them to check their inboxes \u2014 let\u2019s make it worth their while.<\/p>\n

Email Newsletter Checklist<\/h2>\n

As with all content, email newsletters are not self-indulgent exercises. We should aim to impart relevant, useful, and timely information. We should also be mindful of people\u2019s time and present that information in a quick and easy to read format. (On a related note, according to a report by Return Path in September 2013, 48 percent of email open rates come via mobile devices<\/a>. Within the education industry, that rate jumps slightly to 50 percent.) <\/p>\n

In short, we need to make email communications matter, and make them easily accessible an readable. But how do we achieve this? <\/p>\n

Depending on your available resources, you may be the one producing your email newsletter. Or maybe it\u2019s an administrative assistant or intern. As always, we need to support our content creators, particularly those who are not full-time communications professionals. They may not understand overarching communications goals, institutional style, publishing best practices, or content calendars.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a checklist to keep in mind when planning and crafting your newsletter content. You may need to tweak it to meet your unique needs, but it can help guide the production of an email newsletter.<\/p>\n

1. Set your goals, know your readers<\/h3>\n

The first step in putting together an email newsletter isn\u2019t selecting a mail service or a template — it\u2019s determining your goals and your readers\u2019 needs. <\/p>\n

What do we want our newsletter to accomplish? <\/p>\n