The Components of a Successful Fan Newsletter

Do you have a monthly newsletter to send to fans? If not, now is the time to start sending ones. Newsletters are the perfect way to stay in touch with fans, build your fan base, and announce news about upcoming tours and recordings.

Of course, the key to having a successful fan newsletter is knowing what to include in it. You don’t want to burden fans with unnecessary or dull information, and you do want to make sure to keep them in on the most important developments in your career. Here’s how to do it.

A Kick-Ass Headline/Subject Line

The first thing your newsletter needs is a fantastic headline, which can also serve as the subject line of your email. You want fans who see the headline to be eager to open the email and see what’s inside.

It’s a good idea to start each subject line with information about what’s inside. For example:

January Newsletter: Win Tix to Our Chicago Show!

This tells fans that your newsletter is in the email, and it also teases the fact that they can win tickets to a gig. That’s a very enticing offer and one that will probably inspire most fans to open the newsletter immediately.

A User-Friendly Design

The next thing you need is a user-friendly design, something that will make it super-easy for fans to read your content. That means you need:

• A design that fits on one page


• Plenty of white space to break up the text


• A mobile-friendly layout that won’t require fans to scroll horizontally to read

These things will ensure that fans can read your newsletter easily and won’t give up or get distracted if they are reading it on a mobile device.

Short and Snappy Copy

The point of a newsletter is that it should include only the most important updates and information about your band – and specifically, the things that are most likely to engage, entice, and excite your fans.

For example, your fans will likely be very excited to hear that you’ve booked a new tour or that you’re planning to hit the studio. They’ll love to hear about big developments. They also love to hear stories of fan encounters.

By contrast, information about your personal life isn’t really relevant unless you truly believe your fans want to hear it. If a band member gets engaged or has a baby, that’s worth reporting. If you bought a new car, though, it’s probably not.

The copy you share should be conversational, speaking directly to fans as if you were in the room with them. You don’t want to be too stand-offish or formal in a newsletter. Be friendly.

Irresistible Images

No music newsletter is complete without images to enhance the text. The saying says that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s really true. Your fans want to see you as well as read about you.

What images should you choose? The key is to pick clear, high-quality images that truly represent who you are and what you do. Do what you can to keep them a manageable size so that they download quickly.

It’s also very important to include alt text, captions, and descriptions of your images. Some fans may have aggressive spam filters or slow internet connections that prevent them from downloading images quickly. You want to make sure that if the images don’t load properly, fans can still get an idea of what’s in them.

A Call to Action

On the surface, the goal of your newsletter is to inform fans of what’s going on with you and your music. However, it’s also important for you to remember that the ultimate goal is to sell tickets and music. A newsletter is a marketing and sales tool just as much as it is a fan engagement tool.

What that means is that you absolutely must include at least one call to action in each newsletter you send. The call to action may do any of the following:

• Get fans to visit the iTunes store to download your latest single


• Direct them to the store on your website to get them to buy merchandise or CDs


• Direct them to a concert venue’s website to buy tickets for an upcoming gig


• Direct them to Amazon to buy a CD if you don’t have your own store

Whatever you want fans to do, make sure to include a direct request that’s compelling and strongly worded and a link to help them carry out the desired action.

In the End…

Your newsletter is a lifeline to your fans, a way of keeping them informed and engaged even when you’re not out on tour or selling a new CD. The information you include makes them feel that they matter – and that’s as it should be.

You may want to consider linking to a press release in your newsletter. To see how we can help you write compelling press releases, click here.

Source: ArtistPR Music Marketing