Compton Communications

Articles

Setting an e-newsletter style

“Keeping with the wishes of the founder, today the Black Sheep Newsletter is much the same-friendly, almost family style, international forum, not a slick, overly commercial publication.” (Black Sheep Newsletter -  www.blacksheepnewsletter.com)

From the index page of the Black Sheep Newsletter comes these words of wisdom.  Unfortunately, many companies seem to be producing newsletters that have no style or are aimed at being just another “slick, overly commercial publication.” 

Although setting a style guide for publications is important, the editorial style goes beyond excellence in grammar and punctuation.  A more intangible part of newsletter style is aligning with the reader’s tastes and interests. An overly commercial style may seek to impress the publisher more than the reader.

Who are the readers?  Understanding tastes and interests begins with knowing reader demographics.  Black Sheep Newsletter readers are interested in scientific articles about fibers and humorous stories of raising sheep.  Family style as the introduction says. The Black Sheep Newsletter has little problem with style as readers submit the articles.  Even so, new writers are cautioned to review several issues to understand the “style and tone” of the newsletter. If your readership is diverse, as editors of company newsletters often face, then setting a common style or tone may be more difficult.

            In developing your newsletter style consider reading level, tone, voice and depth.

The best reading level is between 7.0 and 9.0 (seventh and ninth grade) for most groups. Set a level appropriate for your readership and periodically check the reading level of articles. If you use Word, you can select readability levels under options and get a summary when you check spelling and grammar. Since people tend to write at the reading level most appropriate for their level of education. 
Company presidents write at college level, while delivery clerks read at junior high level.  The newsletter editor has the problem of moving that reading level down from 15 years to 9 years.  It means removing corporate jargon and using simpler words and pictures.
(This article is at 10.2 level)

            Tone is set by article selection and attitude. Newsletter tone varies based on formality, use of humor, and article and graphic selection may also set the tone as serious, humorous, bizarre, etc.  For example, internal employee jokes or baby pictures may set a tone not appropriate to stockholders.

            Voice is a matter of presentation.  If your writers are columnists, they may write in the first person and express opinions.  News articles are expected to be third person voice and be objective and fact based.  Word choice can set a tone as directive (you will) or coercive (you should). The use of contraction often sets a more informal tone.

Depth is based on how many articles, length of articles and depth of explanation or references.  Depth is not particularly important in printed publications as the size of publication / page is fixed.  In online newsletters, depth is directly related to how the publication will be viewed – onscreen or offline.  HTML newsletters are designed primarily for onscreen or email preview. 
Text newsletters are more self-contained for offline reading or printing.  HTML newsletters need to be short, with graphics and linked to the Web site or article source for depth. Educational or tutorial articles also may require greater depth.

.           Michael Katz in his ebook, ‘Enewsletters that work’, says to be genuine and write in a spoken style. “So don’t worry about your ability to turn out something that your high school English teacher would be proud of.  Turn out something that breaks down the walls between your company and your customers and you will be just fine.”

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Book Review: Enewsletters that work