Monthly Newsletter Feedback

[user9090]

Link to January 2024 Newsletter: https://conta.cc/48E8541  

Hello, we're looking for feedback on our nonprofit's monthly newsletter. The main goal of the newsletter is to inform our community about what we offer to educators and school counselors for 7-12th grades (our audience) and get them to request a visit for us to present our materials. Secondary goals are to: inform about special resources related to life skills and teen dating violence awareness and about research that we've completed, introduce our audience to new members of our team since this is the team that presents to the schools that request a visit, encourage people to visit our social media, and share a fun photo usually taken during a school visit or at a conference although this month we highlighted a team party photo. Feedback on the layout, design, length, headers, copy, images, CTA, fonts, and sections is appreciated. The majority of our readers read this on the desktop. 

Thank you!

[Chris-S]

Thank you for sharing this, @user9090  It is a wonderful cause.

I have reviewed it and have some thoughts to share.

Layout and Design

Pros: The sections are clearly defined, and the use of images and fonts is effective.

Suggestion: Some sections have too much text. Consider simplifying the content to keep the reader engaged.

Content

Pros: The topics discussed are relevant, including teen dating violence awareness, new team members, and resources.

Suggestion: Be more succinct. Highlight key points and actions more prominently.

Call to Action (CTA)

Pros: CTAs are present.

Overall I think you have done a remarkable job!

[user9090]

Your feedback is helpful! I'm definitely going to shorten the text or create more "Read More" buttons throughout. Thank you!

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @user9090! I'd be happy to share my thoughts.

The content is highly relevant and supports the overall goals you've mentioned. However, the first goal you mentioned talks about having counselors and educators request to have your organization come in and provide education. I wasn't able to easily find this call-to-action and it was buried within the second paragraph with no link attached to schedule your visit. I recommend having this stand out using a feature block with a visible border and have an easily identifiable button close by.

I like the breakout of the topics of discussion so a reader knows what is being discussed. The headers are a bit large and some are the same height as the text below the image. This is an easy fix by creating a shorter header image.

Did you know we have a built-in social follow block? This can be used in place of the images at the bottom of the email.

Thanks for joining us here and sharing your newsletter!

[user9090]

Thanks for suggesting the social follow block! I will definitely start using that.

[ACTIVATE]

@user9090 I like the feedback both Chris and Caitlin gave. I also recommend dialing *down* the size of the opening graphics. I'm a huge fan of big chunky, easy to read images, word blocks and content (and most of the time I have to convince people to make them larger!) but in your case I think making them slightly smaller will serve you. The reason I say that is all about the scroll line. In a newspaper the thing to pay attention to is keeping your critical content that draw them in "above the fold" and in an email it's "above the scroll". In your case the blocks at the top "January" and "What's new with" are so large that they likely take up the entire  area "above the scroll" meaning folks have to scroll and go lower to even start to engage the content. I would combine those two huge blocks into one single header and make it a littler smaller: "January: What's new with" can be one unit! 

I LOVE the use of photos, great job! I love the commitment to important and in depth content, but the email is pretty long so maybe host some of the content in those sections somewhere else (website? social? landing page? source link?) and then have the section in the newsletter be a little smaller. I often refer to this as a "magazine approach" because you are giving them a clear taste of the topic and content but not serving it all to them right there.

[user9090]

I really like your suggestions, and I have been concerned about the size of the headers and how long it takes people to scroll through the newsletter, so I'll be using your tips. Thanks!