Why No One Is Reading Your Newsletter

MicControl is one of my favorite blogs as it's always filled with useful articles to help musicians navigate the social world. A recent article posted by Brian Franke called "Why No One Is Reading Your Newsletter" especially caught my eye. Here are a few of the common mistakes that artists make with their newsletters that Brian listed.

• “Come to my show” is too Predictable: When I see an email from a musician, I know they’re a musician.  I’ve grown tired of emails that focus only on a bands shows–because I already know you’re going to play live somewhere.  There is more to your career and to YOU as an artist, so start sharing that.  It’s cool to announce an important show, but I get bored if all you talk about is where you’re playing and how great a show it will be and that you’d love to see me there.  It’s boring.  And I won’t go to your show.

• Newsletter is sent Sporadically or too often: Once I got a newsletter from a band I really enjoyed.  And then I didn’t get another update for a few months, at which point I sorta forgot who they were and actually didn’t know much about who they were as a band since so much time had passed.  Rarely do bands do the opposite in sending emails too often.  In both cases though, folks are likely to unsubscribe or to never read your newsletter because you’re either too in their faces or not in their face enough.

• WAAAAAAAYYYYY Too long: I have a good friend who goes on and on and on in his newsletter.  Time is your enemy in a newsletter–the longer it takes to read, the less one wants to read.  It’s not that your fans don’t care, it’s just that their time is short and they have other life things going on.  And if your newsletter is just all text, it isn’t visually appealing by the way.

• Gain their trust before selling anything: I’ve seen newsletters that read like a commercial every time asking folks to buy stuff.  If that’s all you do in your newsletter, it comes across as selfish or gives the perception that you just want someone’s money.

• The one-sided conversation: The best newsletters are the ones that ask the recipient to get involved. Ariel Hyatt calls this giving your fans a call to action.  Don’t just send a message, start a conversation!  If you don’t, you won’t know what people think of the newsletter.  I have some ideas at the bottom on what could work.

There's a lot more great advice in the article, which you can read in its entirety here.

Also, MicControl has just announced MicControl Consulting, and they're having their first webinar entitled "Get Your Music Featured On The Right Blogs" on August 2nd. You can register and get more info here.

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