Page 235 - Duct Tape Marketing

219Chapter 14: Brochures, Promotions, Trade Shows, and More

In creating your newsletter, consider the following points:

ߜ Include many short items rather than a few long ones.

ߜ Establish a simple format and stick with it issue after issue. The more
your newsletter looks like a brochure, the less it looks newsy. If you
use Microsoft Word, you’ll find about a dozen newsletter templates avail-
able for free download at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/
templates/CT063469341033.aspx.

ߜ Invite reader responses to help you gauge the effectiveness of your
newsletter. If you’ve launched a new product offering, summarize the
news in an article and offer to send information or samples on request.
Find ways to inspire responses to verify that your newsletter is being
read.

ߜ Include valid dates when presenting time-specific offers. Newsletters
may be read well into the future, long after your offer has expired.

ߜ Use your newsletter to promote your Web address and give readers an
incentive to visit your site. A resort might include this item:

Our new online reservation service is already doing a brisk business.
More than half of our site visitors click to view room photos and floor
plans, and 38 percent of those who view our property online go on to
make a reservation request. If you haven’t visited our site lately, go to
www.[ourhotel].com. On our home page, be sure to click to enter our
Web-only sweepstakes for a free weekend stay. Also, if you’d rather
receive our newsletter electronically than by mail, just click on the
newsletter request icon, enter your e-mail address, and we’ll transfer
your mailing information into our confidential electronic file. Either way,
we look forward to sending you our quarterly updates, special packages,
and resort event news.

ߜ Combine sales messages with news updates so that readers will view
your newsletter as more than a promotional mailing. For example:

Rocky Mountain vacations are more popular than they’ve been in years,
based on the number of toll-free reservation calls and Web site visits.
Calls in April 2004 were up a full 22 percent over April 2003, with
Thanksgiving and Christmas reservations already coming in at a brisk
pace. Call us at 1-800-555-5555 just as soon as you know your vacation
dates so we can reserve your stay.

ߜ Include your company identification — your logo, phone number, mail-
ing address, e-mail address, and Web site address — on every page of
every issue to encourage communications.