Many companies have an internal newsletter to keep staff updated about the firm’s activities, policies, products and services. When done well, newsletters can also help to boost morale and keep staff motivated, while creating a sense of family among employees. But when it’s not, it can have the opposite effect. So, how can you breathe life into your company’s internal newsletter, and ensure that the content is both interesting and engaging? Here are some tips.

Grab the reader with the headline

Employees are swamped with so much email and information in today’s fast-paced work environment. So, it’s essential to craft captivating headlines that provide the gist of the article, and yet also induce your readers to want to read your newsletter. Chances are, if your staff see your article title and think “I’ll read this later”, they probably would not get back to reading it at all.

Keep it short and simple

Today’s executives lead busy lives. Articles should be written concisely in plain English, such that readers can glean the information they need from your newsletter quickly and easily. So make an effort to write simply, rather than rambling. Try not to cram too much information into your articles, as you may lose your readers’ attention. Remember, less is more. 

Conversational rather than preachy

While newsletters serve as a communication tool within organisations, you still want your staff to enjoy reading the newsletter. Adopting a conversational tone while highlighting the positives will help to make it a more enjoyable read. This also increases the likelihood that your staff will look through the newsletter. However, adopting a lecturing tone in the newsletter to highlight bad employee behaviour, for example, may backfire and can be a sure-fire way to see your newsletter get tossed.

Use more images

With the growing popularity of social media, today’s readers are more attracted to the use of photos, images and infographics. Using more images can inject fun into corporate newsletters and make it more engaging to employees. What’s more, research shows that readers’ content recall is better when text is paired with images. So it seems “a picture really is worth a thousand words”.

So keep these tips in mind when planning your next newsletter, and keep your readers wanting more.