4 strategies for starting an engaging school newsletter
Publishing a newsletter is a great way of keeping everyone informed and connected within the general school community.
But if you want to put out a school newsletter that is truly worth reading, then you’ve got to put some thought into your content and design processes.
Not too sure how to do so? Read on to learn some reasons for starting a school newsletter, how to design one and some strategies for getting the most out of your newsletter.
Why publish a school newsletter?
Launching and regularly publishing a school newsletter takes time, dedication and effort, but there are many benefits to doing so. Here are three of them:
Share the latest news with readers. Which school club recently won a competition? Is the upgrading of the new science lab done? Your readers are dying to know!
Reminding readers of school events (and including calls to action for these events). If your school is conducting a fundraiser, you could remind readers how they can make donations and the deadline for doing so.
Connecting with the community. Sharing about the latest school happenings can help foster a sense of belonging among your readers. You could even encourage engagement by accepting reader contributions!
How to design your school newsletter?
If you’re intimidated by the idea of having to come up with an appealing newsletter design, don’t fret!
PosterMyWall has a wide range of school newsletter templates that you can use. This saves you the trouble of having to design your newsletter from scratch.
Many of these templates are also designed by professional graphic designers. Which is why they look so good! Click any of the templates below to customize them directly in the PosterMyWall editor.
To get started, pick your favorite template and customize it using the drag-and-drop builder.
Fill out the template with your stories, add your school logo and photos, and change the color scheme to match your school’s colors.
When you’re happy with your design, you can send it as an email to your newsletter readers.
Alternatively, you could go old-school and print out your newsletter for distribution!
4 strategies to maximize the reach and impact of your school newsletter
1. Decide on the purpose of your newsletter
Before launching a newsletter, consider issues such as:
Who is the target audience of your newsletter?
What is the purpose of your newsletter? What will it cover?
How often will your newsletter be published?
Doing so will help you create content that’s relevant to your readers, and enough of such content to meet your publication timelines.
For example, if you manage a school sports club, you could publish a monthly newsletter for club members that covers past training sessions and upcoming competitions.
2. Create a newsletter template
While it can be fun to have a different look for each edition of your newsletter, constantly coming up with entirely new designs can be quite time-consuming.
Your readers may also get confused if they don’t recognize your newsletter’s design.
To avoid such issues, come up with—and stick to—an eye-catching newsletter design template for laying out your content.
Not only will this help draw eyeballs to your newsletters, but it will also help you cut down the time needed to prepare them.
(If you don’t already have a design in mind, check out these school newsletter templates for inspiration!)
3. Plan your newsletter content in advance
Add some structure to your newsletters by deciding their content themes and stories upfront.
As the school calendar is generally quite predictable, you can follow its major events when planning your newsletter’s content.
For example, if your school will be holding a performance in March, you can plan a story on that performance for the April edition of your newsletter.
At the same time, keep your content plan flexible. Just in case something interesting crops up at the last minute, and you’re keen to cover it!
4. Put your newsletter online
While newsletters are generally distributed in hardcopy format, it’s a good idea to make your newsletter available online.
This is especially if your school is holding classes remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic—if you print hard copies of your newsletters, no one may be in school to pick them up!
What’s more, online newsletters can be distributed cheaply, quickly and with potentially much wider reach.
For example, after you’ve emailed out the newsletters, your readers can forward the email to their friends or share your newsletter with all their social media followers.
If you’re keen to design your newsletter for online reading, keep in mind that it should be mobile-friendly. This will help cater to people who read your newsletter on their phones.
Start your school newsletter today
While publishing a school newsletter is a major endeavor, it can have significant payoffs—as well as being a lot of fun to do!
To streamline your publishing processes, set a clear vision for your newsletter and plan its topics ahead of time.
Also, use a well-designed newsletter template that makes your newsletter a joy to read.
But enough talk for now—go recruit your writers, photographers and designers. It’s time to start publishing!
