How to Create Your Newsletter Strategy

As any marketer or communications expert will tell you, never underestimate the power of an email newsletter. They offer a deceptively simple yet powerful way to communicate with your audience, build brand awareness, and drive engagement. 

But how do you go about building a newsletter strategy that works for your nonprofit? Today we’ll be exploring some of the key components of a successful newsletter strategy, including audience targeting, content creation, and timing.

What are newsletters for?

Before we dive into the details, let's clarify why it is we’re even sending newsletters. At its core, a newsletter is a regular email sent to a list of subscribers with updates, news, and information about your organisation. 

It's purpose is to be a regular communication that serves as a way to stay top-of-mind with your audience, nurture relationships, and provide value. It’s also an invaluable vessel to communicate your latest projects and events so that your audience remains educated on your latest goings on and engaged with your organisation.

Creating the Strategy

Who are you sending it to?

The first step in creating a newsletter strategy is defining your broader target audience. Who are you sending the newsletter to? What are their interests, pain points, and preferences? Understanding your audience will help you create content that resonates with them and drives engagement.

You probably already have some data, or at the very least ‘gut feelings’ about who they are and what they’re interested in. If you’re not fully certain, try to survey your existing audience with a questionnaire about basic questions about why they’re interested in your organisation, which areas they care about most and the sort of content they would like to see from you. This can provide an invaluable resource and help you understand the makeup of your audience. 

Segmenting your newsletter list

Once you've defined this broader target audience, the next step is to segment your newsletter list. This means dividing your subscribers into groups based on their interests, behaviours, or demographics. By segmenting your list, you can send targeted content that's more likely to be relevant to each group, which increases engagement and reduces the likelihood of unsubscribes.

Students, parents and retirees are unlikely to have identically aligned interests for instance. And they may also want their content presented with different language in different contexts to fully engage. You might also consider geography - if you’re running in person events, it’s probably best to keep invites to a more localised mailing list than everyone in your database! There are lots of different ways you can split your data and while you shouldn’t overdo it, done well segmentation provides immense value for you and your recipients.

What should you use for content?

The tricky part! The key question of any newsletter content is what value it brings to your subscribers. When they see something on your newsletter what does it mean for them? What do they learn or what should be their takeaway?

A great advantage of , newsletters is that they can recycle content from elsewhere in the organisation. They are a highly effective distribution method - so sharing your latest reports, events and blog articles is always a valid strategy. Never assume your audience is browsing your website on a regular basis!

Of course, beyond that, general news, tips and tricks or exclusive offers can also offer incentives to engage with a newsletter. Make sure this content is easy to digest and strongly consider the order you present it. Generally lead with your most important topic - if your most important clickthrough is buried in the middle of your newsletter, chances are your readers might miss on it!

When should you send it?

The timing of your newsletter is vital to its success. You want to send it at a time when your subscribers are most likely to be engaged and have time to read it. Consider factors such as time zones, work schedules, and holidays. You can also test different send times to see which ones result in the highest open and click-through rates.

Also be prepared to ignore conventional wisdom! While you might see many websites recommend slots like Tuesday or Wednesday in the early morning, remember that everyone will be reading the same advice! And your audience might also be unique, especially in the nonprofit sector. What might hold true for professional related organisations  (avoid weekends) might not hold true for you, as people may consider your nonprofit something they engage with in their personal time.  

Conclusion

Creating a successful newsletter strategy requires careful planning and consideration of your audience, content, and timing. 

By understanding your subscribers, segmenting your list, creating valuable content, and sending it at the right time, you can build strong relationships with your audience and drive engagement for your organisation.

If you’d like to find out more about how to build great emails, try watching our webinar on the topic, or get in touch to find out how CiviPlus can help you.