- Define Your Purpose, Hook Your Reader
Are you trying to reinforce your identity, overcome ill perceptions, encourage purchases? Tailor your articles to each specific purpose.
Remember that no matter the subject, an article should offer a lead-in or headline that serves to hook the reader early on. Make headlines sound new and exciting so that readers will feel they are receiving exclusive information that others haven’t yet been allowed to receive. This will encourage them to continue to check your newsletter for proprietary or exclusive information that may benefit them and that they think they may not otherwise hear about.
- Know Your Audience
Before including an article, ask yourself what reader need it satisfies or what reader problem it solves. It could be direct — announcing a new fitness facility that will improve residents’ well being — or indirect — like an editorial tour of cultural events in your area that positions your community as a place where life is better than anywhere else.
Remember to tailor your ideas to your readers’ lives.
- Call Readers to Action: Tell Them How to Respond
Ask readers to pass your newsletter along to an interested friend. Or include an attached business reply card in your newsletter to encourage reader response.
If you are announcing a new neighborhood, specifically urge interested readers to call immediately for the best selection. If you are showcasing upcoming community or city events, ask out-of-town readers to call to schedule a coinciding visit. If you have the resources, offer mini-concierge services that will position your community as a high-service, personally involved host.
You can even ask for reader feedback. Knowing what readers would like to read about in future editions is useful, and it’s an easy way to track what type of articles are garnering interest.
- Make It Beautiful, Visually and Mentally
The best way to get your newsletter opened is through an eye-catching design. Full color images and an unusual format or size will help it stand out from other mail.
Focus on ease of navigation, legibility and professional design. But do more than make it visually beautiful. Take advantage of your community’s best features to evoke a pleasant feeling in the minds of your readers.
For instance, if you are in a subtropical location, include the weather forecasts for the upcoming months. Readers in cold climates will look forward to their monthly “escape” via your newsletter as they dream about a warm, lush locale. Design and write your newsletter to convey the feeling of your community and to transport readers to a special, inviting environment of your making.
Amy Tharrington is president of Maximum Design & Advertising, Inc., an award-winning, advertising and design agency that specializes in real estate marketing. Headquartered in Wilmington, NC, Maximum provides successful sales and marketing solutions for projects nationally. Tharrington can be reached at 800-609-0930.
Subscribe to NAHB's Sales & Marketing Ideas Magazine
For additional cutting-edge sales and marketing information, subscribe to NAHB’s Sales & Marketing Ideas magazine. Call 800-368-5242 x8192 to subscribe or order a copy. Visit www.nahb.org, keyword: NSMC, to learn about membership benefits of the Nationals Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing.
BuilderBooks.com Has Sales and Marketing Publications
BuilderBooks.com offers a variety of sales and marketing publications online. To view or purchase these publications, click here.
University of Housing Offers Sales and Marketing Designations
The NAHB University of Housing offers designation programs specifically for sales and marketing professionals. For more information on these programs, click here, or call 800-368-5242 x8EDU.
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