How to write an engaging golf newsletter

Posted: 9th July 2018 in Enews, Marketing and communications

The Newsletter

Golf newsletters are an easy way to increase engagement and connect with your members. As a form of communication, newsletters are quite straight forward. Essentially, you list everything that is happening at your club over the month, keeping everyone informed and promoting more golf. Anyone can send a newsletter, although it is easy to underestimate just how intricate it can be to construct a newsletter that actually gets read!

To get you started we put together this helpful list of tips on how to write an engaging golf newsletter.  

1. Keep it focused

Feature one key piece of content. Many newsletters lose readers because they are so cluttered with information. Your newsletter should have one key piece of information that sets the tone of the email. Readers will generally only spend a minute reading through your newsletters. So keep it focused! You could feature information about an upcoming competition, tips from your local golf pro, or other engaging content. Additional news items should be short and concise with links that direct readers to a page where they can read more. 

2. Know your readers

Personalise your email to reflect your club culture. If the newsletter is for your members, your content should speak to them. Consider what information your members are interested in and then provide it. Quality and personality in content will always be more engaging when it’s relevant to readers. 

3. Content ideas

  • Update from the board of directors, golf director, or general manager. 
  • Member profile
  • Pro athlete profile
  • Special offers
  • Q & A
  • Surveys and member feedback
  • Event feature
  • Event calendar
  • Competition results
  • Golf store product reviews
  • Images of staff and members
  • Images of the course and facilities

 

4. Design consistency

The key to designing professional looking newsletters is keeping it simple. Colours should be brand consistent and one font type should be used for all text. One common theme should also be consistent throughout all published newsletters. Too many colours or overstimulating designs can have a negative impact on the readability of the newsletter. The MiClub Enews system comes with a branded template designed by the MiClub creative team. This tool allows you to create newsletters with professional pre-designed snippets, saving time for administrators. 

Fore more information on design consistency, check out this great article from Design Shack.

5. Avoid excessive promotional content

Newsletters are supposed to be a source of information! Including too many ads dilutes the quality of your newsletter by taking readers attention away from the story. Limit newsletters to only one or two promotions to maximise engagement. 

6. Clear subject line and sender name

This is the first thing your recipients will see. Who is sending the email and what it is about. If the subject of the email is not relevant, chances are your content will not be read. The subject line should summarise the key topic of your newsletter while grabbing the recipient’s attention. In the “From Email” section include an address you want people to reply to. This might be “enquiry@golfclub.com.au”. The “From Name” will display the name of the sender. This could be the name of your golf club or a name that you have given your newsletter. 

sender-details

7. Call-to-action

Include one main call-to-action. A call-to-action is a button or link that incites clicks or a response: “Click here!”, “Call now!”, or “Sign-up!”. To ensure the reader’s attention is not diverted from your links or buttons, include only one main call-to-action near the top of the email.  

8. Add Links 

Using links in your newsletter are very useful when referencing websites or a contact email. To add links to the MiClub Enews system just highlight the text that you wish to link and then click the link icon. If you add a website URL into the “Link” field this will direct readers to that website. If you wish to add an email link, simply write the phrase “mailto:” into the link field, followed by the email address you wish to direct the person to.

 

9. Proofread and test!

Before sending your newsletter be sure to thoroughly proofread and test your email.

test-emails

Send a test email out to your personal email address for final check.

  • Are there any spelling or grammar errors?
  • Click on all links/buttons. Do they work? 
  • Does the email display correctly on mobile, tablet and desktop devices?

Email display can appear different on other mail clients or devices. The way an email looks in Outlook might look very different in Gmail. Your email might look great on a desktop computer, but when you look at it on a smartphone the images aren’t clear. If there are display issues you might need to make changes to your content. 

10. Analyse reports

Check campaign reports 2 weeks following the mail out. Improve the newsletter content by observing clicks and other performance metrics. How many recipients opened the email? If there was a low percentage of opened emails, then there could have been an issue with the subject line. How many recipients unsubscribed from the newsletter? If there are people unsubscribing, then the content in the email might not be what they signed up for. Identifying what your readers are engaging with can provide ideas for future newsletter content. 

For some more useful ideas on writing newsletters check out this nice article from HubSpot!