The credit union newsletter debate should focus on content, not print or digital distribution

by. James Robert Lay

I came across a recent article that shared the “dirty little secret about electronic newsletters.” The author attempted to demonstrate how ineffective e-newsletters are, which puzzled me as credit unions and community banks continue to work towards operation in a humanized digital economy.

From my perspective, it appeared as if the author was stating electronic newsletters were ineffective and a waste of marketing dollars.

I strongly disagree with him.

Taking some time to reflect upon this article, it became clear that the issue of newsletters is not a matter of digital or print delivery. It’s about the content used within.

Newsletter (Both Print and Digitial) are About Content

When we audit a credit union’s or community bank’s digital marketing ecosystem, the majority of newsletter content, both print and electronic, provides no real value to the reader.

The content of many newsletters are poorly written articles that have been typically outsourced and written for the masses by a third party company. These ultimately provide no insight, inspiration or value to the reader. Many newsletters at best are advertorial pieces and oftentimes, credit unions and community banks try to fill in the dead space with the current promotions.

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