Printed newsletters chucked heartlessly into rubbish bins. A scenario repeatedly witnessed at Malaysian road shows & exhibitions. Time to examine one reason why this useful communication tool is failing to serve its purpose.
The Silent Boss
Do you consider what the ever-silent boss of your newsletter wants to read? That’s the end reader, by the way. The most important person in the process of producing a newsletter who only “speaks” when the final product is in his/her hands.
If you’re responsible for a newsletter, you’ve got to have a finger on the reader’s pulse to obtain a high readership.
Which leads to the question of whether an analysis on the targeted audience was carried out before the conceptualization stage.
Or perhaps it does not bother you to see your newsletter lying all crumpled up in a rubbish bin? That would be highly unlikely, considering the hours you would have slogged over it.
Analysing Your Audience
A very basic step, that sadly enough, often gets ignored. Here in Malaysia and worldwide.
Without it, your material may merely be something that you / your bosses / top management think will interest the reader but in reality it may not concern the reader in the least bit.
Printed Newsletters vs Popular E-Newsletters
At this point, you may be saying, “Why bother about printed newsletters when e-newsletters are the in-thing?” Simply because research still proves otherwise.
In a 4,0000-respondent survey carried out for Standard & Poor’s Financial Communications (a provider of marketing communications for financial services) by Northeastern University's Consulting Program, it was found that:
· 33% preferred printed newsletters as opposed to 21% for e-newsletters; whereas 41% choose both print and e-newsletters
· 83% read most or some articles in their printed newsletters
· 84% considered the information provided in the printed newsletter to be useful
Also, some studies note that e-newsletters hold a reader’s attention for less than a minute, whereas rightly done printed newsletters have a longer life span.
In short, printed newsletters are still a useful communications tool.
Benefits of Knowing Your Target Audience
So, if you are a Marketing / Corp. Comms / PR person who has had the unenviable experience of retrieving your little gem of a newsletter from the trash (whilst sobbing hysterically), here is a look at some of the benefits of knowing getting acquainted with your audience.
· Leads to effective articles
Should you insert a two pager for a launch highlighting a minister’s presence or would your readers prefer just a quick mention of it? Would your reader want to know exactly how a new invention works or just about the awards it has won? Do you do emotive pieces for the layperson or just quick factual stuff for decision makers.
· Right mix of information & writing styles
Lengthy serious articles filled with jargon vs. breezy to-the-point pieces. One long piece or more sidebars to add in extra information to keep, lets say two separate audiences happy.
· Action by the Reader
What do you want the reader to do with the info and is it possible for the person to do so? Think of a decision maker vs. a layperson. Plus you will also know the chances of them keeping the newsletter for future reference as opposed to just skimming through it.
· Packaging It Right
Audience analysis results in effective creative decisions. For example, choosing between a really bold, bright and daring look (think Lady Gaga) for a younger audience or settle for a more sedate look (Cliff Richard, perhaps) for an older generation.
· Distribution
Turn it into an exclusive hand delivered commodity, mail it out or leave it on counters.
Audience Analysis in Malaysia
Based on personal experience, many briefings for copywriters in Malaysia still lack sufficient information on the audience. The Internet carries the same complaints from foreign based copywriters.
On the other hand, in some cases where a basic audience analysis has been done, the excited client may still insist on a course of action that fails to capture the audience’s attention. This includes trying to cater to three distinctively different audiences at one go.
There’s lots more to audience analysis that will be covered in the coming weeks. Keep a look out for more material from Write Thot Solutions.
