You can create an engaging, great-looking periodic mailing by using the best newsletter format suited to the needs of your business. Although content is still the most important factor, nobody will read a newsletter that looks unprofessional or downright unusable.

Planning the Perfect Newsletter

Before you can get to the basics of design, you will need to set a concrete purpose for the mailing. Newsletters should be relevant and predictable – the readers will want to know what to expect each time they open it. For this reason, the newsletter format that you eventually decide on will need to be flexible enough for each mailing: switching up the format mid-campaign can confuse readers and diminish the power of branding.

Formats to Choose From

Simple purposes require a simple mailing format. If the purpose of your newsletter is to keep clients or customers informed of basic information and nothing else, you may want to stick with something easy to work with like text-only. This type of newsletter is cross-compatible with almost every email automatic responder – ensuring that your information can be read by anyone who receives it.

PDF formats are the polar opposite of text-only. This format allows for extensive graphics, links, and interactive forms. In email form, a PDF newsletter would need to be downloaded and viewed by each reader, definitely not the best choice for many marketing purposes. However, if your letter is intended for employees or clients the extra professionalism of a PDF may make a worthwhile positive impact.

Business owners that need something in between – a highly compatible layout with image and linking capabilities – may want to seek out a quality HTML format. These work on most, but not all, major email clients and can look nearly as good as a PDF.

There is a newsletter format out there for every business – but once you settle firm on a good design make sure to stick with it!