The Importance of Creativity in Business Newsletter Content

Business Newsletter Content has never been in greater need of creativity.

"Creative thinking is the ultimate human resource. Yet we can never be satisfied with our most important skill. No matter how good we become, we should always want to be better." Edward de Bono, Six Thinking Hats.

Many times as marketing professionals there is so much pressure on us to get results now. We're expected to demonstrate immediate return-on-investment, not to mention creating materials that can gain the approval of both management and the our legal department. With all the pressure it is easy to forget about the importance of creativity. Yet one of the most reliable ways to be successful (other then a million dollar advertising budget) is to stand out in the marketplace by being creative.

Adding creativity to the marketing mix whether it is Financial Services Marketing, Law Firm Email Marketing or standard business to business comunication requires planning from a strategic and tactical point-of-view.

Precise definition of the target audience.
Identifying their “pain” or problem.
Touching these individuals with a creative message ... more than once.

Can You Be Creative? Of course you can. Being creative is not just about being able to paint a picture, compose a song, chisel granite or design a web site. For whatever reason this common assumption is just are not correct. You can be creative outside the “arts.”

Your strongest relationships have been built upon personal interaction and the ONLY way to establish a and longest lasting personal relationship is to show your true colors. So ... experiment and have a little fun in your business newsletter content.

Feature client success stories. You communications should not be "all about you."
Run a contest with a prize that readers will actually want.
Conduct an online survey. Keep it short. Avoid "yes/no" questions or at least make some of the questions unexpected, quirky or fun. Business can be serious, but it doesn't always have to take itself too seriously. Always include a field so the survey taker can elaborate.

A Few Words of Caution: By trying to be more creative you will make some mistakes that you may regret in hindsight. Rest assured the mistakes probably won't be career-enders. Your natural common sense should keep you from doing anything too crazy. Keep in mind that you'll also hit some "homeruns" that you can bring up in your annual review.

Sharing your creative spark will always give you satisfaction and may even spark other opportunities you never imagined.