The Content and Design of Newsletters

Newsletters can be used in almost any industry for connecting with customers or club members. Although newsletter printing can take a lot of time, they show recipients that their relationship with you is important. Both the content and the design takes careful consideration to create sales and impress clients, so use the following tips for newsletter printing that promotes loyal customers.

The Content

The copy included in a newsletter can be divided into five separate parts. All of these parts should be incorporated into the newsletter for the best results.

1. The nameplate is the section on the front page that contains your newsletter name, issue number or date, and your company logo and tagline. This should be large and colorful enough to capture attention easily and should also reinforce the brand of your company.
2. The running head is the strip located at the top of every page except the first one. It should include the newsletter name, issue number, and page number.
3. A call box is usually located on the second or fourth page. This area contains the contact information of staff and the publisher.
4. The table of contents is not always included in newsletter printing but should be. Listing the contents of the newsletter in a sidebar on the front page is what a hesitant reader needs to open the newsletter to that one intriguing article.
5. The body is the rest of the newsletter - the articles, tips, headlines, subheads, and games. This part of the copy should be organized into columns for easy reading.

The Design

Just as important as the content is the design of the newsletter. The five most important graphic design considerations for your newsletter are explained below.

1. Always include professional photographs to show that excellent quality is important to your company. You may want to design a collage page of photos from an event or of staff members. On pages containing copy, limit photographs to one or two per page.
2. Large headlines will guide the reader through your newsletter and also will provide easy skimming for those clients who just don't have time to read every word. Use a sans serif font and the same color for each headline. Drop caps and pull quotes can also have the same attention grabbing effect but can be a different color than your headlines.
3. Creativity goes a long way in newsletter printing. Just be sure to maintain a sense of balance and organization. For instance, use the same amount of columns for all pages except for the one feature article page. Include a collage page or use interesting symbols for your bulleted points.
4. Draw attention to the text you want noticed with highlighting effects. Pull quotes are oversized text within the body of regular sized text and are great for bringing attention to a line within a paragraph. You could also use colored boxes or sidebars for setting groups of information apart.
5. Too colorful of a newsletter will be overwhelming, while using just the right amount of contrasting color will create the perfect appeal for your newsletter. Colored text is too difficult to read, so reserve color for boxes, headlines, the nameplate or other concentrated areas. Be careful to group color together rather than spreading it out on a page for a more eye-catching design.

Remember that a newsletter needs to be timely, otherwise clients will not believe in your ability to follow through with high-quality services or products. Find a newsletter printing company that can handle your mailing so that your newsletters can be delivered on time and you won't be stuck with the headache of labeling and mailing hundreds of newsletters.

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