Meryl's Notes Blog

Jakob Nielsen’s latest Alertbox discusses newsletter usability and the competition for user attention. Nilesen reports that the original findings remain true today: “email newsletters are the best way to maintain customer relationships on the Internet.”

I love newsletters as a marketing tool. Done right, you provide valuable information to readers without annoying them with sales-speak. I try to focus on building relationships and let the chips fall.

One problem with some newsletters is the difficulty in unsubscribing to the newsletter. Keeping readers who don’t want your newsletter is not worth it. It’s a waste of money to email readers who want nothing to do with the newsletter. If they’re gonna delete it, then make it quick and painless to get off your list. Nielsen is absolutely right when he says that readers don’t “read” newsletters and it doesn’t surprise me that only 19% fully read them. I scan newsletters as I get to know each one’s unique style, I know where to look for things I want.

In spite of the findings saying that users skip the intro blah blah, InternetVIZ newsletters and mine continue to provide an intro. I read the intro for some newsletters as they’re well done. Don’t fear that having an intro will lead to unsubscribes. Those who don’t want to read it, but find other content valuable will skip over it.

Again, Nielsen is correct when he says, “Users often deliberately trade off newsletters against each other to reduce their email volume. A good newsletter might be booted if a better one comes along.” I’ve been unsubscribing to those I found I stopped reading. They’re good, but I have to be selective about what comes and what I read.

If you’re a newsletter publisher or thinking about it, this one is worth reading… or scanning.