Do you produce a regular newsletter? If the answer is no, then the next question must be “Why not?”. A bit blunt, do you think?
Sure, but it must be asked because anyone with the responsibility of promoting any concern, whether it’s a non-profit or a commercial entity, must be aware of the power of newsletters in their promotional campaigning.
If you are not, then read Gaining Market Trust Through Newsletters.
Why Is Supporting Copy Necessary?
Many people underestimate the need for supporting copy because they have come to believe that it means ‘filler’ material, the sole function of which is to fill up the gaps that would otherwise be left. The truth is that there is far more to it than this.
All newsletters must be entertaining or they simply won’t be read. If they don’t get read then they are not fulfilling their function. Capturing the reader, therefore, is of paramount importance and well chosen, properly used, supporting copy captures readers.
What Types Are There?
There are many kinds of supporting copy that can be used to capture a reader’s attention. Casual readers tend to scan pages quickly, only stopping when an item catches their eye, so the importance of headlines cannot be overestimated. But any item cleverly headlined must have some element of further interest otherwise they’ll be flipping pages again almost immediately.
Quirky, magazine-type items and one-liners, such as quotations, tend to be very effective in this respect and a liberal sprinkling of them throughout a PR newsletter increases the chance of stopping the reader long enough to be diverted to something of more consequence.
How Can You Develop Reader Participation?
Reader participation can be developed by including ‘run-on’ features and regular spots such as ‘Focus on a Reader’ (excellent for employee newsletters), ‘Grassroots Comment’ (get a reader or readers to be a contributor), ‘Letters to the Editor’ etc. You can even try things like ‘Your Star Signs’, ‘Car Tip of the Week’, ‘Recipe of the Month’ etc depending, of course, on your readership.
There is no end to the possibilities when you know where to get the copy.