A beautifully formatted newsletter may catch your constituent’s eye and provide them with valuable information, but how can you be sure that they have been impacted by it? Give your newsletter interactive features, of course! Both buttons and surveys can give your constituents opportunities to learn more about your work on the Hill and in your district. And, both can give your constituents the chance to opt in to further communications, allowing your office to keep in contact with interested individuals.
Surveys
In your quest for engaged constituents, the survey reigns supreme. If your readers interact with your newsletter instead of only reading it, they will think critically about the information they’ve just absorbed. This transforms them from passive participants into active members of the conversation. If formatted correctly, our surveys automatically opt those who participate into further communications from your office, which fosters future positive engagement.
Tips for effective surveys:
- Keep it short – Only about 45% of people are willing to answer a survey that takes 1-5 minutes. The longer the survey gets, the number of people who don’t respond or respond incompletely increases dramatically. Keep it short to keep your response rate high!
- Clarity is key – Imprecise wording can limit your survey’s effectiveness, just like lengthy responses can. 71% of people give poor answers because of logistical problems with survey questions. By keeping questions straightforward, you increase your chances of accurate data.
Buttons
Newsletters are an accessible way to distribute information to constituents, but some things must be sacrificed to keep them short and engaging. Complex issues lose nuance when condensed into small amounts of space; your constituents should be able to regain the complexity of an issue if they choose to read further.
Here’s where buttons come in. Perhaps you’d like to link to someone else’s website because it provides valuable information on the topic you’ve discussed. Or, the button could lead to your office’s website, where the constituent can further engage with your work! The visual appeal of an embedded button makes further exploration of a topic intuitive, much more so than a simple hyperlink.
Want to learn more about how our updated Message Editor connects offices with constituents? Take a look at our product update.