Creating a Regional Newsletter
Creating a Regional Newsletter
In a further step to engage landcarers across the region, in 2021 we merged our local newsletter into one, singular, monthly regional newsletter.
Collaborations -
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The issue
For the dedicated Landcarers, newsletters are a fantastic way to stay engaged with their network, however in the days of spam boxes and social media, they are no longer a silver bullet for engagement. Despite their hit and miss click rates, a quality, regular, newsletter is no small commitment.
Historically, our networks have been producing their own newsletters in one form or another for their respective members. With the workload involved, and the ups and downs of reportable news, these were not always consistent, and readership was limited to local members. With so much coordinator time going into something, it was clear we could get higher engagement, in a more efficient way, if we did things a little differently.
The solution
Following our strategic planning session in late 2020, the interest in engagement across networks and groups was a clear output. As a result, in late 2021, Mid Coast 2 Tops Landcare launched a monthly newsletter, replacing the previous local newsletters from our member networks.
This newsletter, compiled by our Regional Coordinator, is a combined effort of all coordinators and project officers employed by our network, with each contributing 1-2 pieces a month, plus events. They offer a mix of awareness, education and events promotion, and are sent to a combined mailing list of 400 subscribers. These stories are then shared individually across our social media platforms, to offer content for the month to that audience.
The impact
By replacing local newsletters with one regional newsletter, we have been able to break out of the echo chambers, share events more broadly and offer this time intensive resource to our wider community. As our regional network does not offer individual membership, the decision was made to make this newsletter a wider community resource. Subscriptions now include local MP's, agency staff and local schools, while landcare members get information from all three local networks, including their own.
On the ground, the wider sharing of events has resulted in an increase in attendance of new faces at our events, demonstrating that our community is happy to travel to be involved.
Online, continuous activity on our social media has seen increased engagement, further widening our audience and awareness into the wider community.
Key facts
- Three local networks contribute to one regional newsletter
- Combined subscriptions of over 400, including school, MP's, and agency staff