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E-newsletter content: Teasers or the whole article?
by Debbie Weil, Publisher, WordBiz Report

Which content formula is the right one for your target audience - a teaser followed by a link to the full article on your site? Or inclusion of the complete article in your e-newsletter?

If you've launched an e-newsletter, you've already pondered this question. But you may not have the final answer. If you're planning an e-newsletter for the first time, this is a key consideration.

Here are five questions to help you decide how to handle this piece of your content formula:

What Is The Objective Of Your E-Newsletter?
Primarily Promotional

Be honest here. If your e-publication is primarily a promotional update on what's new with your products and services, then a promo blurb followed by a link back to your Web site may be most appropriate.

You want to drive readers back to your site to sign up for that special promotion or download a trial version of your latest software release or a sample chapter of a new book.

Stand-alone Editorial

If you're providing your readers with original, useful and thought-provoking content, with the objective of branding your company or organization as an expert, then including the full text of your articles makes sense.

What Do You Know About Your Target Audience's Reading Habits?
If you're like most publishers, you do an informal survey in your office to find out who likes to read on-screen and who prints out to read later.

One VP of Marketing Communications told me, "We made the conscious decision to do whole pieces in our e-newsletter, basically forcing us to write good copy and to write tight. That way people can read it on the train or in the loo ..." She admitted that her office survey showed a "propensity to print out our e-newsletters."