The days of taping up paper fliers in the elevator are over! Newsletters are one of the most simple and effective ways to keep your residents informed about what’s happening in your community. In this post, we break down everything you need to know about creating an email newsletter that keeps residents engaged and reminds them of all the benefits that your community provides.
What is a community newsletter?
A community newsletter is an email that is sent periodically to inform your residents of the latest news, events, or updates relating to your community. In addition to keeping residents informed, newsletters can also be used to encourage residents to take some form of action, such as RSVPing to a community event. Many property managers typically send newsletters containing this type of information on a weekly or monthly basis.
What are the benefits of a digital vs. a paper community newsletter?
Creating a newsletter is a powerful way to provide your community with important updates. It allows your community to:
- Spread the word regarding news, events, and policies
- Highlight noteworthy accomplishments
- Gather feedback from residents
- Proactively address concerns
Furthermore, creating a digital community newsletter has many advantages over creating a physical one:
- Requires no physical resources so less expensive to produce
- Doesn’t need to be manually distributed
- Can track engagement metrics such as open and click rates
- Can hyperlink to website for more engagement
Ultimately, by providing your residents with valuable content, a well-crafted digital newsletter can build trust with your community and improve retention.
How do you create a community newsletter?
The easiest way to create a community newsletter is to find an appropriate email template and fill in the sections with your unique information. Remember that templates are just a starting point and you can remove or add sections, as well as change colors, fonts, and more to match your community’s branding.
You can also leverage BuildingLink’s Send Email features to create professional-looking newsletters. Our enhanced email capabilities include:
- Scheduled Email Delivery: Plan and dispatch your emails at the most opportune times, ensuring consistent and timely communication with residents.
- Easy Image Embedding: Enrich your emails with easily embedded images, adding visual appeal to your messages.
- Advanced Formatting Options: Craft more engaging and professional-looking tools with our improved formatting tools.
- Innovative Email Templates: Use our all-new templates to streamline your communication process, ensuring efficiency and brand consistency.
- Expanded Attachment Limits: Accommodate larger files with ease, thanks to our increased attachment limit of 40MB (body + attachments).
What should you include in a community newsletter?
To keep your residents informed and engaged, here are our top suggestions for what to include in your newsletter:
- Important updates: Updates to policies are common at properties, such as a change in pool hours or the pet policy, so it’s important to be clear and transparent when communicating a change.
- Community events: Planning an exciting cocktail hour for your residents? Your newsletter is a great way to let your residents know about special community events.
- Local events: Encourage residents to explore the neighborhood by sharing news of local events, such as a new ballet or play that’s getting rave reviews.
- Community accomplishments: Finishing renovations on a pool or adding more equipment to the fitness center? By keeping residents updated on the improvements you’re making to their community, you can foster a deeper sense of appreciation while also driving amenity usage.
- Pet of the Month: Who doesn’t love sharing a cute photo of their pet? Encourage your residents to submit a photo of their pet for their chance to be featured in your newsletter. This is a great and fun way to keep residents engaged and foster a sense of community.
What are community newsletter best practices?
Creating a great newsletter that your residents value and love to read requires more than whipping up a fast email. Here are our best practices when it comes to creating a community newsletter:
- Brand your newsletter: From creating a unique newsletter name to using a consistent email format, it’s important that you brand your newsletter and keep a cohesive look across your communications. Doing so will make your newsletter stand out, give your community more credibility, and make your emails more recognizable.
- Send on a regular and consistent basis: By publishing your newsletter on a regular and consistent basis, you build a trusting relationship with your audience. It lets your residents know when they can expect to hear from you, and helps them look forward to the next newsletter.
- Make your newsletter easy to digest: Make it easier for your residents to stay informed by putting important information at the top of the newsletter. Be sure to also use clear, legible fonts and use visuals to engage your readers.
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