There’s a really interesting discussion going on in the comment section of Bryan’s post – The More You Post, The Better You Rank.  Technorati released a report that found the top blogs post multiple times a day.   Bryan asked if readers prefer blogs with multiple posts or a single daily posts   The reaction has been mixed.   Some prefer multiple posts, some prefer one meaty post.

There’s an important parallel here with newsletters.  If you’re going to go through the effort of creating a newsletter, you want it to get read.  And there has to be a strategic business purpose for publishing a newsletter.

Here’s a great email case study from Marketing Sherpa.  Drs. Foster and Smith ran an A/B test to see whether a straight product promotion, or education focused with a product promotion would result in more sales.

“The winning design in both tests was information more prominent, offer less prominent. Remember, the informational call to action translated to a 15% increase in sales over the promotional offer.

The all-important landing page used shorter copy with a top image hot-linked to a product page where readers could purchase products relevant to the information. In a sense, readers were being pre-sold on an item with expert advice which further motivated the purchase.

Marketing Sherpa summed up the key takeaway as “Their audience responds better to relevant content than to a heavy-duty sales pitch.”

I think much of this learning applies to newsletters as well.  So, Here are some strategies for writing newsletters that actually get read:

1. If you have a large, more diverse audience, go with the multiple article format (like Grokdotcom).  Readers have the choice to read the whole thing, or cherry-pick the articles of most interest.   With multiple articles, there’s a greater chance a reader will find something of value for their particular situation.
2. If you have a more focused subject of expertise, go with the single article approach.   There’s a greater chance that one article will resonate with your more focused audience.   And short and sweet is a true winning strategy for today’s time-starved reader with an overflowing inbox.   There may be a greater chance they’ll open it up and read it since they know it won’t take much time.
3. Have a voice.    In our Soccer Mom Myth Newsletter, Michele and I are big believers in the use of humor.   Who doesn’t love a good laugh once in a while?   Roy Williams’ extremely popular Monday Morning Memo always has something profound to say and features Roy’s unique way of expressing his ideas.   Here are some tips on how to create a voice for your website or your newsletter.
4. Use a mix of “how to” articles and “wow, that gets me thinking” articles.    We all love articles or blog posts that give us practical tips we can apply right away to our daily work activities.    But also throw in articles that are designed to get people thinking, to help change their perspective or touch on a universal truth.   These types of articles are an incredible way to create an emotional connection with your reader.   It’s a great “how to” logical and “get me thinking” emotional one-two punch.
5. Use personal stories.   Yeah, I know, I’m a humanistic.  I’m a sucker for them.  But these stories help the reader to feel like he or she really knows you.  If you are in the services or consulting business, creating a relationship with your readers is the best way to promote yourself and your services.

What about you?  What techniques do you use to create successful newsletters that people actually read?