Putting Briefings to Use<\/h2>\n
Right now, many digital newsletters for associations include the first sentence or hook \u00a0to get members to read feature stories and news without giving too much of the article away and losing a click-through. Unfortunately, hooks no longer work as a means to entice readers with little free time or patience to read an article from start to finish. Cater to association members\u2019 desires to retain as much information in as few words possible with helpful briefings of longer articles.<\/p>\n
Including summaries might feel like extra work, but if your association\u2019s goal is to increase readership of your newsletter, you\u2019ll need to put in some extra effort to change the status quo. Once associations can gauge readership engagement through click-through, open and forwarding rates for the eNewsletter summary format, you can begin adding even more briefing strategies to maintain member engagement.<\/p>\n
For instance, your association can introduce a special highlights newsletter that showcases the most-read article briefings of the month or year. A re-hashing of top articles attracts renewed interest in those topics because people are naturally curious about what\u2019s considered or deemed popular. This interest can increase newsletter click-through rates and interest for past articles, revealing evergreen topics in which members remain interested.<\/p>\n
Although this special newsletter has the potential of taking the spotlight away from traditional eNewsletters, this might be exactly what members want to stay updated about association news and feature articles without losing precious time.<\/p>\n
Use Social Media<\/h2>\n
To fully grasp members\u2019 attention, associations can promote these briefs on more platforms than just email. Social media platforms provide interactive, visually pleasing and most importantly, succinct messages that can entice members to engage in article briefings. Additionally, social media allows members to effortlessly navigate to an association\u2019s website for more information.<\/p>\n
The 2018 Benchmarking Study reveals an 8 percent increase in value for association blogs compared to past years. More explicitly, 36 percent of associations rate blogs as a valuable or extremely valuable communication channel. Consequently, including links to association blogs in eNewsletters can aid in engaging members into alternative sources for association updates and news. Furthermore, blogs usually promote interactivity through a comment section, which can increase the level of communication between an association and its members.<\/p>\n
Other platforms that associations can link to their eNewsletters include community forums and publication websites as well as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. All social media platforms can use the briefing format to promote the newest articles. A simple tweet or post that includes a summary and a link to a full article can exponentially increase traffic for publication websites and individual articles of interest.<\/p>\n
Although going digital has diminished our attention spans, associations can persevere and take advantage of this trend. With briefings and an increased use of social media and communication vehicles, associations can easily improve reader engagement and make members feel like their associations understand and support their shorter attention spans and busy lifestyles.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/11\/AA-Rachel-Walker-Bio-Pic.jpg\")
<\/div>