When creating content for employee newsletters, it’s easy to feel pulled in two directions; leaders want us to communicate important messages about the business and employees want to read engaging narratives. We know employees won’t read the dry, jargon-filled articles that leaders often propose, but that doesn’t make it easier to satisfy either party.
During a group discussion with five members who run their companies’ employee newsletters and magazines, a question about newsletter objectives prompted a moment of realization: we need to be asking leaders what they want employees to do as a result of reading our newsletters, NOT what content they’d like us to produce.
Once we have clear objectives, we can then design content targeting these outcomes that we know will engage employees. Simply put, the most effective newsletters marry the content delivery preferences of employees with the content goals of leaders to influence employee behaviors.
Maximize the Value of Your Employee Newsletters
1. Work with Leaders to Define Newsletter Objectives
Impactful newsletters need to have clear purpose behind the content. Working with leaders to define these objectives allows you to get their buy-in and sets you up to produce outcome-focused content.
CEC Resource: Use this consultative partnership framework to work with business partners to identify the gap between current and ideal employee behaviors
2. Understand Employees’ Information Consumption Preferences
Collecting employee feedback on how they prefer to consume information allows you to package content to maximize engagement.
CEC Resource: Use this employee survey template to collect feedback from employees on their consumption preferences so you can position important information and stories for maximum impact.
3. Measure Newsletter Impact to Prove Value
Transactional metrics like page views don’t capture how your newsletter supports business objectives. Instead, focus on “return on objectives” (ROO) measurement, which connects the business goals you are trying to achieve to employee behaviors.
CEC Resource: Use this return-on-objectives measurement framework to link transactional metrics like employee submissions and sharing to the business objectives you are supporting with newsletter content.
CEC Related Resources
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