hi everyone,
i'd like to implement a quarterly email newsletter for my site. i have lots of volunteer writers and plenty of topics to write about but im wondering if anyone can give me tips on structure and other things i should include...like perhaps a "State of the Community" type piece.
any input?
thanks in advance!
I'm not sure I understand what you gain from sending an e-mail newsletter when you could just post the articles on your forums for all of your members to see.
I somewhat agree with Bey Brad;
I don't see the point of using it to send articles to users, unless its information on a company (ex: Nintendo sending out newsletters to its community etc.) just post it in the forums
However, I do think that email newsletters are great for a monthly "State of the Community" things, as you said.
Highlight the best or most active thought provoking posts, spotlight users, and introduce new features for the community, as well as a "hey did you know" tipd like "Did you know, you can have your login information saved so you don't have to keep logging in? Just check the remember me checkbox!" type of thing.
If you do send out an email newsletter; the best format is one that blends in with your forums/websites. Compose it in HTML and text because not all email clients support both. Make sure there is a clear link to UNSUBSCRIBE or you will chase off forum members who don't want to be bugged at their email.
i see what you guys mean about the articles. i suppose it would be more like lorddonk mentioned with member spotlights and site updates. a good compromise would be to get the articles up and introduce them with the newsletter.
thanks for the tips!
I find newsletters really useful, particularly for subtly reminding users about your site.
They just take time so i haven't done one for a while :p
Just make sure the newsletters don't come off as spammy emails which will fill up someone's inbox. You don't want to put a bad taste in a users mouth so to speak.