Client question: "Does anyone read entire newsletters these days?"
Last week, a client asked about the reasons Embolden includes the introduction paragraph at the top of the suggested newsletter content, wondering if it makes a newsletter too long. “Do people read full newsletters these days?” the client wrote.
I love these questions! Here are a few thoughts:
Embolden began adding introductory material about a year ago at the suggestion of several of our clients. Clients have reported good results, especially related to the way the introductory material makes it easier to customize the newsletter for their own foundations as well as grab timely sound bites to deploy in other communications.
Many regular newsletters in the mainstream media offer introductions to signal to readers what the newsletter will cover and what's generally going on in the industry. The introduction makes the newsletter more casual and easier to get into by setting a friendly, personal tone.
The introduction also helps the reader identify the parts of the newsletter they want to read. Some of our community foundation clients are adding an index so the reader can jump to the topic they want to explore. (The index is a solution for those readers who don’t like to read an entire newsletter.)
Some of our clients are using only the introduction material as the entire text of their newsletters and then placing the articles themselves in separate blog posts on their websites. The newsletter includes links to those blog posts if the reader wants to go deeper.
Community foundations like using our content’s introduction section to add their own customized items about initiatives going on locally and ways people can engage with their foundation in real time.
Some community foundations are using the newsletters as a way to keep their staffs and boards updated, and the introduction section allows them to call out certain articles that they want staff or board to pay particular attention to.
As always, please reach out with questions! I am always happy to jump on a Zoom or phone call to brainstorm.