ontact How to publish an effective digital church newsletter Department of Communications THE OKLAHOMA UNITED METHODIST

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1 How to publish an effective digital church newsletter Department of Communications ontact THE OKLAHOMA UNITED METHODIST Contactwww.okumc.org Slide 2 What we will cover What is a digital (electronic) newsletter? Ways to publish an e-newsletter What to consider before starting your newsletter How to design a newsletter How to avoid filters for more information on how to create e-newsletters. Slide 3 What is a digital e-newsletter? It is the electronic counterpart to traditional print newsletters, and it typically is sent to subscribers on a regular interval. Available either on the Web or via subscription, either free or paid. In this class we will present formats that are simple to prepare, easy to read, and help prevent your e-newsletter from being flagged as. Slide 4 Ways to publish an e-newsletter Create a PDF document, post on your website, and then the link to subscribers. (print format sent electronically) Publish your PDF to an online publication service such as Issuu or Scribd. (from print format converted to a digital format) Use an online marketing service such as MailChimp. (created in a digital format within the software provided by MailChimp or other service.) Create a webpage on your website and then subscribers the link to the webpage. (created using code -- HTML or other code in a sofware program [Dreamweaver, Wordpress, etc.] or by hand-coding) Create a PDF document and then it as an attachment to your audience. (print format) This fifth format seems to dominate church communications. But is there a better way? Slide 5 Before you start your e-newsletter Consider where your newsletter will be opened. People are using a wide range of devices(from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors). They may look at your any time of day using many different clients (Outlook, Yahoo, Apple Mail, Gmail, etc.), also with a lot of other distractions--a good reason to keep it short, simple, and to the point! (An client, reader, or more formally mail user agent is a computer program used to access and manage a user's .) Right now iphones and Outlook have the largest market share in their categories. Understand the purpose of the content Who is your audience? What s in it for them? How will your e-newsletter help your reader? Do the articles celebrate successes? Slide 6 your e-newsletter Document setup The page dimensions really depend on what your end product will be print to pdf, code (html) format, etc. (think about what way most of your readers will view the finished piece) Establish a hierarchy (applies to both print and digital) Put your most important information first. Remind your readers what is happening in the next few days. If you spend too much time talking about events far in the future, you will lose their attention. Keep it simple (applies to both print and digital) Less is more. Keep design and copy minimal. Take a moment to consider if there are unnecessary words you can delete. This ensures that only the critical or most important content remains. Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what s left. Keep it short and engaging. If you want to expand on a topic, include a link to more information that is posted online. (you can include links in pdf documents also) Good writing is conversational, less formal, and relevant. Slide 7 Keep it legible (applies to both print and digital) Avoid placing light text on a light background or dark text on a dark background. Fonts: If you are working in digital format use at least 14 pixels for text and 24 pixels for headings, and for print use at least 11 points for text, and 18 points for headers. Provide adequate spacing (applies to both print and digital) Use margins, padding around your elements creating negative space (space not occupied by any visual or written elements). This really is okay. By allowing yourself a bit more breathing room, you increase the impact of your most important bits of information, such as headlines. Make sure your spacing is consistent. Align your elements (applies to both print and

2 Page 2 digital) Keep your margins the same width or spacing between lines the same height, etc. Coordinate your colors (applies to both print and digital). Again, determine the reaction your want your content to elicit. Warm colors=energetic. Cool colors= calm. Avoid using Word Art or generic clip art! Slide 8 Don t overuse drop shadows Strive for consistency Use a responsive design (important for digital formats, not for print) Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a Web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling across a wide range of devices (from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors). Use one-column layouts for smartphones. Appealing images But not too many. (below applies to digital format) Reduce image sizes for Web use. 67% of desktop software programs do not show images by default, 100% in webmail software programs, and 80% of mobile systems. Use colorful backgrounds instead of images, and always include alt tags with your images. Alt text is the alternative text that appears when images aren t loaded in an . Use a higher text-to-image ratio. Slide 9 Incorporate your Facebook page into your e-newsletter. For most nonprofits, the big challenge is getting new fans and there is no magic formula for that. You have to promote the page to get new fans. Most new fans come from mentioning the page in newsletters and asking people to become fans. Some will like the page if they see a Facebook icon in your e-newsletter, but most need to be prompted. The benefit is that if they do become a fan, then you have the ability to engage them daily on Facebook via Status Updates, whereas in an e-newsletter you can only engage them once every 7-14 days... depending on how often you send your e-newsletter. Slide 10 Anatomy of an newsletter Both print-to-pdf and coded newsletters should use this layout. Address To: Receiver's name. From: Your name. 73% of s are judged as by looking at the From line. Subject: 35% of users open a message because of the subject line content. Preheader Placed at the top of the newsletter. Includes text and links, extension to subject line, has a call to action, creative, doesn t repeat subject line, links to online viewing of newsletter or subscribe form for the newsletter. People will forward your newsletter to others and this will give that person the chance to sign up. Header Contains your logo, navigation links, social media icons. Should show your overall branding (tells who you are and why you exist) Slide 11 Anatomy Primary message The key message you want them to see. One paragraph at the maximum. Most people spend less than 10 seconds on an message, with lots of distractions while they are doing it. Use a bold title, one paragraph of text, and a call to action (you can include a read more link that takes them to a website in both a pdf and digital newsletter). Top left corner is the most important area. Secondary messages Set on the right-hand side or below primary message. Adds value, may have an image, a call to action, and short description. Don t use too many secondary messages. Index This is your newsletter table of contents. This provides a glimpse of what is included. Footer Gives additional chances to click through to other material, an unsubscribe link, phone number, , addresses, contact information, social media, and other links. Slide 12 Example of newsletter layout Slide 13 How to avoid Filters Spam filters calculate a spam score to detect junk mail. To determine whether an is spam, most filters consider a number of different attributes, such as content, length, percentage of text, use of images, number of recipients, headers etc. Usually the filters calculate the so-called spam score for every that passes the server. If the s score exceeds a certain threshold, the message is blocked and lands in the spam folder. Slide 14 Subscriptions ONLY In the first message you send out, ask the recipients to send back to you a message that confirms your newsletter was received. For instance, ask them to write back soon, got it, etc. once they ve received the newsletter and indicate that no further comment or instant reply to your mail is necessary. You must have permission from every single one of your recipients. They must subscribe to your newsletter even if it is free. This is the CAN- Act (law) for all commercial messages. CAN- rules comprise best practices for for any organization including nonprofits. Avoid attachments Keep your sender s name and consistent For example, if you use From: firstumc@att.net always use that in future messages. Motivate your users to add your to their

3 Page 3 whitelists within their client. Slide 15 Follow-up If possible, follow-up on your newsletter with a snail mail version sent to your reader's postal address. This is a great way to establish contact and stay in touch with a person! Reference the ed version you sent (including the date, time, and subject if possible). Send newsletters regularly Your subscribers will come to expect your to arrive in their inbox on the same day at the same time. This means that they are less likely to misunderstand your newsletter and report it as spam. Slide 16 Always insert the current date in the content. Text-to-Image Ratio (for digital format) The percentage of text should be higher than the percentage of HTML or images. Keep your message size between 20 and 40 Kb. Remember some of your members may still be using a dial-up Internet connection. Use CSS sparingly (for digital formats, coded) Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics (the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language. It can be placed in your code or come from a separate file located on the Web. (Depends on how you are publishing your newsletter, whether you would use CSS. ) Avoid graphics and complex HTML elements (for digital formats, coded) Many readers use software (e.g. Outlook) that automatically blocks images Slide 17 Test your newsletters before sending them out. You can check the spam score of your newsletters with Lyris ContentChecker contentchecker for . Slide 18 -prevention guidelines A few don ts : go crazy with exclamation points!!!!!! USE ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT'S LIKE YELLING IN AN code sloppy HTML (this usually occurs when you cut and paste text from Microsoft Word file into HTML coded page, or if you hand code a page and don t use the correct coding format.) use color fonts -- bright red or green use the word "test" in the subject line create an HTML that s nothing but one big image, with little or no text Slide 19 Color palette sites for ideas Photo editing Google Picasa ( PDF creators SourceForge Pdfforge Slide 20 Articles from the Oklahoma United Methodist Contact ( - Conference Publications News Archive) Sign up to receive the Daily or Weekly news digest complied by United Methodist News Service. Go to Our World News. Fill out the form by clicking the link Get the latest headlines by in the bottom right corner of that News page. These items may be used in your e-newsletter. (Use of stories and photos from these two resources is permitted by including a credit line) Observe copyright laws. An item appearing on the Web does not confer free use. And claiming anonymous will not protect your church from costly litigation. A story, photo, comic may be copyrighted. Do your homework on identifying sources and securing proof of permission to reprint or don t use it. Slide 21 We are not endorsing these companies. You need to do your own research and decide what is best for your church. MailChimp Constant Contact JangoMail Emma Vertical Response (10,000 s per month free) verticalresponse.com/non-profit/pricing GraphicMail (10,000 s per month free) graphicmail.com/gm/solutions/marketing-nonprofit/ Slide 22 ChurchPost.com (fee based) Graphic Mail (fee based) MyNewsletterBuilder The Oklahoma United Methodist 1501 N.W. 24th Oklahoma City, OK Joseph Harris, director of communications Holly McCray, editor Nyla Wallin, administrative assistant/video coordinator Alicia Galyon, Web Ministry/graphics design Amelia Ballew, Media Library Andrew Himes, Video Production

4 Oklahoma Conference of The UMC Department of Communications How to publish an effective digital church newsletter What we will cover What is a digital (electronic) newsletter? Ways to publish an e newsletter What to consider before starting your newsletter Howto designa newsletter How to avoid filters for more information on how to create e newsletters. Re ignite Workshops 2014 What is a digital e newsletter? It is the electronic counterpart to traditional print newsletters, and it typically is sent out to subscribers on a regular interval. Availableeither ith on the Web Wbor via e mail subscription, either free or paid. In this class we will present formats that are simple to prepare, easy to read, and help prevent your e newsletter from being flagged as. Ways to publish an e newsletter 1. Create a PDF document, post on your website, and then the link to subscribers. (print format sent electronically) 2. Publish your PDF to an online publication service such as Issuu or Scribd. (from print format converted to a digital format) 3. Use an online marketing service such as MailChimp. (created in a digital format within the software provided by MailChimp or other service.) 4. Create a page on your website and then subscribers the link to the page. (created using code HTML or other code in a sofware program [Dreamweaver, Wordpress, etc.] or by hand coding) 5. Create a PDF document and then it as an attachment. (print format) This fifth format seems to dominate church e communications. But is there a better way? Before you start your e newsletter Consider where your newsletter will be opened People are using a wide range of devices. They may look at your any time of day, using many different clients (Outlook, Yahoo, Apple Mail, Gmail, etc.), and also amid a lot of distractions. Understand the purpose of the content Who is your audience? What s in it for them? How will your e newsletter help your reader? Do the articles celebrate successes? your e newsletter Document setup The page dimensions really depend on what your end product will be print to pdf, code (html) format, etc. Establish a hierarchy (applies to both print and digital) Put your most important information first. Remind your readers what is happening in the next few days. Keep it simple (applies to both print and digital) Less is more. Keep design and copy minimal. Keep it short and engaging. Good writing is conversational, less formal, and RELEVANT. 1

5 Keep it legible (applies to both print and digital) Avoid placing light text on a light background or dark text on a dark background. Use the correct font size. Provide adequate spacing (applies to both print and digital) Use margins, padding around your elements, creating negative space. Align your elements (applies to both print and digital) Keep your margins the same width or spacing between lines the same height, etc. Coordinate your colors (applies to both print and digital) Again, determine the reaction you want your content to elicit. Warm colors=energetic. Cool colors= calm. Avoid using Word Art or generic clip art! Don t overuse drop shadows Strive for consistency Use a responsive design (important for digital formats, not for print) Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a Web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience. RWD adapts the view for the mobile device. Appealing images But not too many. Reduce image sizes for Web use. (applies to digital format) Incorporate your Facebook page into your e newsletter. You have to promote the page to get new fans. Most new fans come from mentioning the page in e mail newsletters and asking people to become fans. Anatomy of an newsletter Both print to pdf and coded newsletters should use this layout. Address To: Receiver s name. From: Your name. 73% of s are judged as by looking at the From line. Subject: 35% of users open a message because of the subject line content. Preheader Placed at the top of the newsletter. Header Contains your logo, navigation links, social media icons. Anatomy Primary message One paragraph at the maximum. Use a bold title, one paragraph of text, and a call to action. Top left corner is the most important area. Secondary messages Set on the right side or below primary message. Adds value, may have an image, a call to action, and short description. Index This is your newsletter table of contents. Footer Gives additional chances to click through to other material. Sample e newsletter = Preheader Header Primary message Secondary messages Index Footer 2

6 How to avoid filters Spam filters calculate a spam score to detect junk mail. To determine whether an e mail is spam, most filters consider a number of different attributes, such as content, length, percentage of text, use of images, number of recipients, headers, etc. Subscriptions ONLY Confirm that your newsletter was received. You must have permission to send to every single one of your recipients. CAN rules comprise best practices for for any organization. Avoid attachments Keep your sender s name and consistent For example, if you use From: firstumc@att.net always use that in future messages. Motivate your users to add your to their whitelists within their client. Follow up with U.S. Mail If possible, follow up on your newsletter e mail with a snail mail version sent to your readers postal addresses. Send e newsletters regularly Your subscribers will come to expect your to arrive in their inbox on the same day, at the same time. Always insert the current date in the content. Text to Image Ratio (for digital format) The percentage of text should be higher than the percentage of HTML or images. Use CSS sparingly (for digital formats, coded) Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics (the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language. Avoid graphics and complex HTML elements (for digital formats, coded) Many readers use software (e.g. Outlook) that automatically blocks images. Test your newsletters before sending them out. You can check the spam score of your newsletters with Lyris ContentChecker en/contentchecker for . prevention guidelines A few don ts : go crazy with exclamation points!!!!!! USE ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT'S LIKE YELLING IN AN code sloppy HTML use color fonts bright red or green use the word "test" in the subject line create an HTML that s nothing but one big image, with little or no text 3

7 Color palette sites for ideas seeds.com/ Photo editing Google Picasa ( PDF creators SourceForge Pdfforge Articles from the Oklahoma United Methodist Contact ( Conference Publications News Archive) United Methodist News Service Sign up to receive the Dil Daily or Weekly news digest complied by UMNS. Go to Our World News. Observe copyright laws An item appearing on the Web does not confer free use. And claiming anonymous will not protect your church from costly litigation. We are not endorsing these companies. You need to do your own research and decide what is best for your church. MailChimp Constant Contact JangoMail Emma Vertical Response (10,000 s per month free) profit/pricing We are not endorsing these companies. You need to do your own research and decide what is best for your church. ChurchPost.com (fee based) Graphic Mail (fee based) hi il / /h / MyNewsletterBuilder GraphicMail (10,000 s per month free) nonprofit/ Thank you for coming today. Let us know how we can help. Department of Communications 1501 N.W. 24 th St. Oklahoma City, OK