by Debbie Weil
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How do you know if the content of your e-newsletter is on the mark? Answer: It depends on your goal.
If you're writing your e-newsletter as a communications and update tool, you'll measure your success by the kind of feedback you get.
Messages from readers such as “I loved the article in your latest issue” will be enough to make your day. But if the goal of your e-newsletter is to sell your product or service, then you're looking for a different reaction to your content: a purchase, either immediately or in the not-too-distant future.
The 3 Cs: Content, Community and Commerce
You might want to benchmark your newsletter against the three Cs: content, community and commerce. Remember them? At the height of the dot-com boom, the three Cs were the value proposition of every Internet business plan for a sticky Web site or portal.
They translate to an e-newsletter like this:
Digestible content
First, the content of your e-newsletter should be useful and relevant to your audience. It should be presented in digestible bites, offer food for thought and prompt readers to open your publication issue after issue.
A feel-good community
In addition, your content should make readers feel good about themselves. They should feel that they've made a wise choice by opening your latest email, that five minutes of reading time yielded an insight or best practice tip to use that day or tuck away for the next project.
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