Among industry professionals, opinions regarding monthly or weekly email newsletters vary. Some see them as a waste of time that most will not bother to read, while others think they are a great way to maintain interaction between the company and its customers and clients.

For those that see real merit to email newsletters, there are a number of important mistakes to avoid. Here are three of them.

1. Too many words

Writing for Business 2 Community, John Hayes recently pointed out that one of the keys to an effective email marketing campaign is minimizing the number of words used. People receive so many emails in a given day that many are unwilling to spend more than a few minutes reading any given one.

This means that it is important for email marketers to ensure that their newsletters are brief and to the point. As Hayes noted, if the recipient has to struggle to find the most important information because it’s surrounded by unnecessary fluff, he or she is likely to never see the core of the message, which may have actually had a significant impact otherwise.

2. Low quality content

Another mistake that Hayes noted is including low quality content in newsletters. Because most newsletters operate on a regular schedule, marketers may sometimes feel pressured to produce content even when they have little of importance to convey at the moment.

In such situations, it is likely a mistake to send the newsletter if it lacks genuinely valuable content. While this may ensure that the message is sent at the previously establish time and with the standard length, those who read the newsletter will likely be turned off by its lack of substance. As a result, they will be less likely to read future newsletters, thereby defeating the purpose of the campaign.

3. No targeting

Another key mistake that many email marketers make regarding newsletters is failing to segment their lists. If the company is small enough and its offerings very narrow, then this may not be an issue. For larger firms with diverse products and services, however, a lack of targeting can diminish the effectiveness of the campaign. A customer who previously bought lumber from a hardware store and signed up for a monthly newsletter is not likely to be interested in the latest faucet selection, for example.

Segmenting newsletters may require more writing, but it can make the messages far more appealing and relevant to subscribers.