If you’re somebody who thinks a weekly e-newsletter (a compendium/rundown of organizational updates from the prior week) is the key to winning new customers, voters or supporters … please read this post.
Because, unless your “e-newsletter” is going to a core group of supporters who have specifically opted-in to receive it — you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Quick tip: Emails should be short, with minimal graphics, a clear call to action, and timely, compelling content that is relevant to the lives of your recipients.
Let’s look at the ‘08 Presidential campaign for a simple, high-profile case study. For most of the campaign, John McCain sent out a Friday afternoon “e-newsletter” compendium. The newsletter (heavy on graphics) contained key speeches or announcements for the week, the candidate’s schedule and other news the campaign thought was important.
Obama? They focused on deploying short, timely action alerts with clear calls to action — whether it’s watching a video, emailing a friend, signing a petition or, yes, making a contribution. Every Obama that hit the email inbox had a clear goal. Minimal graphics (if any). No wasted news compendiums from the week. That’s what Web sites are for …
Needless to say, the McCain campaign killed their e-newsletters during the summer or fall of 2008. They realized it was worthless. It was a waste of resources and took up bandwidth that could be better spent on timely action emails.
A high profile case study, yes. But a good example of why you your organization should give your e-newsletters a quick death. Save your email recipients the energy used in hitting the delete button.
Concise. Short. Minimal graphics. Clear call-to-action.
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