How to write a newsletter that clients will actually read

Anyone who uses email regularly for work will know only too well how annoying those emailed newsletters can be. Every day dozens of them land in your inbox, and we rarely open any of them. So you can imagine that, if you’re a real estate professional sending out your own regular newsletter, just how annoying it must be for your customers too.

But email newsletters don’t have to be annoying, says Forbes columnist William Arruda, founder of Reach Personal Branding and author of Ditch.Dare.Do! and Career Distinction. Instead, he offered the following tips to draft compelling newsletters that people will actually welcome each time they land in their inbox.

How to properly write a newsletter:

First up, make sure the news you deliver is actually useful and interesting to your clients. Not just crap filler. “"Do your articles truly inform, or do they just state the obvious?" Arruda says. "Start keeping a list of every time you encounter a newsworthy triumph, industry change, surprising statistic, or upcoming event that would make for good content."

Arruda also recommends showcasing your clients, rather than shining the spotlight on yourself. He suggests detailing client’s recent success stories with buying and selling homes. Apparently, “this is a great way to provide added value because you're sharing exposure to your client base," he said.

It’s also important to keep things brief, Arruda says. That means avoiding long posts at all costs, keep them short and sweet – 250 to 350 words is more than enough. You’re not crafting a whitepaper after all. If you must include lengthier content, write a brief summary or intro and include a link to it instead. After all, newsletters are meant to be concise and to the point, so readers can scan it in a couple of minutes or less.

Lastly, Arruda says it’s important to maintain “frequency” when it comes to delivering your newsletters. As such, you should deliver your newsletter at the same time, according to a planned schedule.

"Your goal should be for your e-newsletters to become a true treat — a welcome distraction for your clients to savor during a lunch break or a commute — that reinforces your positive brand traits," Arruda explained. "The ultimate goal is for your readers to forward your insight to others."