Questions you should ask before starting an internal newsletter
Email newsletters are a quick and direct way to reach your co-workers or employees and now with tools like Mailchimp, creating a newsletter for your company is easier than ever. Before you ‘send to all’ and commit to a new task on your enormous to-do list, here are some things to consider.
Do you have defined goals?
Is there a clear reason for putting in this new work? How you will measure your success? Write out some clear KPIs (key performance indicators) and a deadline, making sure there is a way to measure each objective. Your goal could be to increase engagement in company activities, and you could measure the increase in participation in your next volunteer day. Or you might want to help new joiners integrate better, so you could survey each new group on their experiences.
Ask yourself is an email newsletter the most effective way of reaching those goals?
Do you have time?
Do you have the time and resources to commit to this project? You’ll need to ensure you have enough people to help with writing and gathering content for the newsletter. If you find yourself taking a whole day to create one email, then sending it out once a week probably isn't a good idea.
Is it the most effective way to spend your time?
Who do you need?
Do you need to have a team who will oversee creating and distributing the newsletter? It might be beneficial to have a graphic designer create a template for you or even create some custom graphics if you have the resources. For companies with fewer resources you can contact us at Cova for additional design support. An editor might write additional copy and proofread. As well as spelling and grammar, an editor would also responsible for the authenticity of the information being sent out. Making sure a senior staff member is involved may help with content approval.
Who will be responsible if something confidential goes public?
Will it benefit the recipients?
“An average office worker receives 121 emails a day”
Who is going to be reading the newsletter? Making sure there is value for the recipients will ensure more success in the long run and a higher engagement rate on an ongoing basis. Consider that your employees will have different interests and concerns around their own specialty as well as interest in the company in general. Give your email every chance to cut through the noise. According to coschedule.com, the best days to send company emails are Tuesday and Thursday. The best times are 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. but do some tests with your company to see what works best.
Will they save it to read?
Consider a trial period
Testing out your idea on a small group to begin with will allow you to see what’s working and what’s useful. Put together a varied test group, people from across your company who have different roles and have been at the company for different lengths of time. This will mean you get more reliable feedback. What did they enjoy? What was useful and what wasn’t? What else would they like to see?
Set a time period for the trial and see if you can do the tasks when they are needed. If you find yourself getting delayed, distracted by other projects or running out of content, seriously consider the long term commitment of a newsletter.
Good luck!
If you have any other questions about internal newsletters please get in touch.
Cover photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash