Writing Memorable Newsletters: Summaries

Summaries also called blurbs are important for newsletters for several reasons. Effective summaries serve readers well because they allow readers to skim the headline and summaries of several articles “above the scroll.” Analogous to above the fold for newspapers. Many email publishers simply past the whole text of each article into the body of the newsletter. They assume people will read from to to bottom. While easy, this approach is overwhelming to busy readers. Multi-tasking readers are much more likely to skim and cherry-pick the content they are most interested in. Your newsletter will serve readers better by supporting this behavior. View the top screen of your newsletter as a table of contents with headlines and brief summaries or teasers for your content elements.

When writing these summaries keep in mind that what you are writing should be the two or three talking points that a reader will use to begin a discussion of the ideas in your article. These talking points are what comes after “I just read an interesting article about...”

If you want your email newsletters to add value to your readers lives it's important to write them in a way that makes it easy for readers to discover content they are interested in and help readers remember and talk about the ideas they read in your content. Relevant ideas they can talk about with their colleagues and coworkers are what will keep readers subscribed, forwarding your newsletters and valuing your company as a source for valuable information and know how.

Related:
Writing Memorable Newsletters: Focus
Writing Memorable Newsletters: Themes
Writing Memorable and Spreadable Email Newsletters
Storytelling vs. Story-Crafting
Why a Reader Forwards an Email Newsletter

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