More and more day spas publish an email newsletter to prospects and customers. If you’re looking to get in on the act, here are a few tips to make your publications better.

Editorial Calendar

Plan ahead and create a calendar of topics for your e-mail newsletter. One easy way to create content is to focus on holidays. January is often centered on New Year’s resolutions, February on Valentine’s Day, March on Saint Patrick’s Day or First Day of Spring, etc.

Editorial Meetings

Hold monthly meetings with members of your team to brainstorm ideas and identify specific content for each issue. Who should attend these meetings?

• Marketing staff
• Therapists & regular content contributors
• Members of your creative team
• Freelance writers

Production & Publication Schedule

Don’t wait till the last minute to get your newsletter out the door. Set up a schedule to ensure that each newsletter publication is sent consistently around the same time and day each month. This single strategy will improve open rates as recipients become accustomed to receiving mail from you around that time. They’ll actually look forward to your communications.

If your spa publishes a monthly newsletter, your publication schedule might look like this:

• 10th day of month: Hold your editorial meeting for brainstorming ideas.
• 17th day of month: Get final approval on the newsletter content and ad copy.
• 20th day of month: Send the copy to the design team.
• 27th day of month: Get final approval of the design & copy in a “test” newsletter.
• 29th day of month: Upload your current email list to your e-mail service provider (ESP).
• 30th day of month: Send your spa newsletter out to the appropriate groups.

By sticking to a schedule, you’ll be able to duplicate the process month after month. Team members will know when their items are due and your newsletter will go out the door effortlessly - or certainly without major glitches.

Project Management

Who will be in charge of your newsletter and what level of ownership is given for the project? Ideally, one person should be responsible for the entire production. That person should ensure:

• A consistent tone or voice across every newsletter
• Relevant content for your target audience
• Copy and content in line with your business goals
• Engaging copy – i.e. “not boring”
• Error free

Following these steps will allow you to create an interesting newsletter that people actually open and read.  The consistent use of interesting topics and relevant content will drive response rates higher.

In-house publishing can be a daunting task. Let Spa Marketing work with you to improve your current newsletter. Need a new custom layout or design? Contact us at 860-655-2283 to get started.