Does Your Newsletter Go Straight to Junk? Here's How to Get Back to the Inbox!

Do you write an email newsletter for yourself, your employer, or your organization? Have you been struggling to increase engagement lately?

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You’re in luck. Today’s newsletter is all about newsletters.

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Do you see what I did there? Starting from the very first line, I defined my target audience and stated how readers will benefit from this newsletter. ?

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Before sitting down to write your newsletter, ask yourself these three questions:

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·????? “Who is my audience?”

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·????? “What do they want/need from me/my organization?”

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·????? “What do they stand to gain from reading my newsletter?”

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One common reason that newsletters end up flagged, blocked, or forever relegated to the junk folder is their failure to address one or more of these three questions. If you’re not getting the level of engagement that you want, then go back to the drawing board and ask yourself, “Have I really answered those questions as clearly as I thought I did?” ?

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You may believe that you answered them. Perhaps you did answer them, for yourself, in your head. However, if your newsletter doesn’t clearly answer those questions for your readers—if you seem to be taking your readers for granted, in other words—then you’ll never get the level of engagement that you’re hoping for. ?

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Remember, your readers value their time just as you value yours. If you want them to read your newsletter, don’t just give them something of value in return. Make them feel valued. Show them that you respect them. Do not waste their time.

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Keep this in mind even after you’ve addressed those three questions and proceeded to the body of the newsletter. Make your points clearly and concisely. Vary your sentence structure to keep things interesting, but don’t use too many long, compound sentences. Prioritize simple, declarative phrases. Anticipate your readers’ questions and address them before they arise. ?

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If you’re writing for a general audience, avoid acronyms, technical language, or jargon. If you’re writing for an audience of specialists, use jargon and technical language only when they convey meaning that cannot be captured with commonplace language.

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Spell out acronyms the first time you use them. Even readers with experience in your field may not have heard of that particular group, protocol, concept, or organization until you brought it up.

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Think about your newsletter like a story. It should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It should hook your reader’s attention and draw them along using narrative tension. Once you’ve earned the reader’s trust, then you can take detours, but don’t make them too long. Make sure the reader comes away from each detour, and from the newsletter as a whole, feeling informed, enlightened, and entertained.

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Write the first draft of your newsletter a few weeks before you plan to send it. Let it sit for a while, then come back to review it again when you’re fresh. This way, you’ll catch things that you didn’t catch the first time: mistakes, typos, awkward sentences, unclear passages, and so on.

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You’ll never catch all your own mistakes as reliably as other people will, but by stepping away from a project and then returning to it, you can trick your brain into approaching it as if it’s someone else’s work.

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Hopefully, you’ve got someone in your life—a friend, mentor, partner, or family member—who’ll read your drafts and give you feedback. But even if you don’t, no worries: there’s nothing wrong with seeking professional support.

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If you’re not sure why your newsletter’s not getting engagement, I encourage you to reach out to a professional editor and/or marketing expert to help you identify and solve the issues that are holding back you or your organization. And as always, if you’ve got any questions or need further support, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.