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The first few lines of a newsletter are important for the immediate message they communicate to the reader. The fact that most email software only displays the first 15-20 lines of your publication reinforces this importance.
What lies "above the fold" (the area viewable without scrolling) is thus another key factor determining whether your readers bother to read the rest of the mail.
There is very little consistency in the way different newsletters approach the header information, although nearly all do include some kind of masthead.
Given the limited space you have to make your impact, your header has to fulfill three objectives:
- Impart an aura of professionalism.
- Put the reader at ease; remind them what they're reading and provide a familiar setting.
- Give them an incentive to read the rest of the mail.
A narrow masthead fulfills the first two objectives. With a little effort, you can create an adequate masthead in just 3-5 lines of space, leaving you a further 12-17 lines to get on with the business of communicating with your readers.
A masthead that takes up the entire area above the fold does more for your ego than the success of your publication.
The masthead should contain:
- the name of the newsletter.
- the name of the publisher or editor (optional).
- a date and issue number (optional).
- a link to the associated website (optional).
Other administrative information, such as how to subscribe, unsubscribe etc. is best left to the end of the newsletter, where people expect to find it. By placing administrative information at the top, you're taking up valuable space you could put to better use.
With HTML newsletters, you can afford to put more links into your Masthead, since you don't need to print the URL in full, as you do with text-based newsletters.
The remainder of the "above the fold" area is now available for direct communication. Provide readers with a summary of the newsletter and highlight anything of particular importance or interest.
Use a contents list or short paragraph to "sell" the reader on the rest of the newsletter (but remember my comments on subject lines).
If you can express the contents in 3 or 4 lines, this still leaves you space to draw people into the actual content without them having to scroll down.
Another option is to use the remaining "above the fold" space to encourage people to pass on the newsletter to friends and colleagues.
Some newsletters put an advertisement or promotion above the fold, since this gives the copy maximum exposure to readers. While this may bring short-term success, I don't believe this makes sense for the newsletter in the long-term.
First, it doesn't fulfill any of the desired objectives cited above. Second, once readers learn that the real information begins below the first advertisement, many will scroll down immediately, and the value of being above the fold will decline anyway.
Some publishers also argue that summarizing the content at the top means far fewer actual readers, since people can make an immediate judgment and choose not to read the mail at all. This is true. But let's take that thought a little further.
If people are forced to scroll down to find enough information to make a decision on whether to read or not to read, then you don't change anything in terms of how much content is actually read. But you have forced the reader to waste their (precious) time.
If it's too much effort to find out if your content is worth reading, you may find people unsubscribing when they might otherwise have hung on for an issue or two, and given you a second opportunity to prove the value of your newsletter.
This all goes back to my basic thesis that it's about readers. The short-term benefits of "forcing" people to read advertisements or read mails may be high, but they are nothing compared to the long-term benefits of treating your reader with more respect.
Many newsletters also begin each issue with an explanation of why the recipient has got a copy. Phrases like, "You are getting this mail because you signed up for our What's New newsletter. If you've received it in error, please...".
This approach is designed to avoid mistaken accusations of spam. But rather than reassuring the reader, it actually sounds like spam, or at least gives the impression that you've been accused of it in the past.
If you work with a reputable service and yourselves respect the concept of opt-in permission, then you have no significant need to worry about mistaken spam accusations. Don't waste the space protesting your innocence.
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