Newsletter structure
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Unfortunately, the design and usability boffins haven't paid much attention to email newsletters. But the basic principles of online writing transfer well. The main principle is to avoid clutter.
Too many newsletters pack too much material into too little space. So be generous with the space bar and enter key. Treat your publication to a few extra blank lines and a portion or two of white space.
It's very unlikely that your readers will print out your newsletter, take it to a comfy armchair, put on slippers, light up a cigar, pour themselves a brandy, sigh, and settle down to a concentrated session of reading.
Your structure must make it easy for people to scan your contents and navigate around your email without having to work too hard. Here are some tips on how...
Paragraph lengths
Break up text into short paragraphs. Anything longer than 6 or 7 lines is hard to read. If you have to, don't be afraid to break a paragraph at what writing traditionalists might call an "unnatural" point.
Reading from a screen is tiring work, so you need to break the text into bite-sized, readable chunks, or people will just gloss over the content and move on. Always leave a blank line between paragraphs.
View the following text to see the difference it makes.
Version 1:
Done well, your email newsletter converts subscribers into enthusiasts, into people who look forward to, open, read and save your mails. These enthusiasts provide you with feedback and pass your content on to friends and colleagues. They trust what you write, and respond to your advice, your offers, your recommendations or your advertisements. Email newsletters are, therefore, about gaining long-term influence and creating long-term impact.
Version 2:
Done well, your email newsletter converts subscribers into enthusiasts, into people who look forward to, open, read and save your mails.
These enthusiasts provide you with feedback and pass your content on to friends and colleagues. They trust what you write, and respond to your advice, your offers, your recommendations or your advertisements.
Email newsletters are, therefore, about gaining long-term influence and creating long-term impact.
Don't forget the line width restriction I mentioned earlier. If you write your text first, and narrow your margins only for the final layout, your 6 line paragraph can turn into a 10 line one.
Emphasis
Break up monotonous text by using emphasis now and then. This means bold text in HTML newsletter, or capitals in text-only ones.
Bulleted lists and hierarchies
Make good use of bulleted lists and sub-headings, to break up text and provide a structure for people to follow. Bulleted lists are easy in HTML newsletters. If you're using text, then use the space bar to indent lines and be creative in your choice of bullets, for example...
o Liverpool
o New York
o Paris
o Vienna
>> Liverpool
>> New York
>> Paris
>> Vienna
-> Liverpool
-> New York
-> Paris
-> Vienna
)- Liverpool
)- New York
)- Paris
)- Vienna
Headings and sub-headings are also easy in HTML, where you can adjust the size of fonts appropriately. In text newsletters, use capitals or rows of symbols to highlight a tile or sub-heading, for example...
A STAR IS BORN
**** A star is born ****
*******************
A star is born
*******************
------------------
| A STAR IS BORN
-------------------------------------
Segregation
Make plenty of use of white space. Separate different sections of your newsletter with at least two blank lines. Consider separating sections using borders built out of symbols, if your newsletter is text-only. For example...
*********************************************
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
///////***********/+++++++\***********\\\\\\
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