This article will provide some best practices for writing an eNewsletter. Please keep in mind that each government is different with different needs, these best practices are simply here to guide you into creating your very own, unique eNewsletter.

Best Practices

• Be Brief
  • Create a summary of the article with a link to read the entire article on the appropriate area of your site
    • For example: "Title of the Hyperlinked Article - This is a small description of what you will find in the article when you click the link."
  • Keep the eNewsletter focused on a few important main articles at a time
• Be Timely
  • Keep your eNewsletter up-to-date and punctual, citizens would like to know what is happening in a relevant timeframe
  • CivicSend allows your articles to be quick to write and punctual, which makes your eNewsletter available to be sent even weekly, if applicable
  • Utilize CivicSend's scheduling tool to send your eNewsletter on time and choose and set a delivery day and time that is consistent
  • Mondays and Fridays seem to be the least effective days to send out eNewsletters because of the weekend; to generate more traffic, try it on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday
• Be Relevant
  • Know your audience
    • Include information that your audience would like to know, upcoming events, reminders, etc.
• Be Engaging
  • Use the eNewsletter to survey for feedback, this will give an idea of what your associates would like to know about
  • Include graphics that are fun to look at for larger events
• Be Prepared
  • Gather your information and make sure it is correct
  • Gather your URLs to use for the hyperlinks
  • Format your photos/graphics
  • Use the Civicsend features available to you
  • Use the previous eNewsletter as a template
    • Formatting is key to retaining consistency and saving time. Visit our article on how to copy a previous message.