How to Create a Corporate Alumni Newsletter

Research for the Corporate Alumni Benchmarking Report shows, that alumni programs communicate with their members on a quarterly basis (31% of companies) or a monthly basis (36% of companies). Newsletters are one of the top ways they do this, and provide a reminder via email to check back in with the network and read about alumni movers & shakers, inspiring stories, or company news.

Creating a captivating alumni newsletter can be a powerful tool for building relationships and keeping former employees connected to your company. By following these tips, you can create a newsletter that is informative, engaging, and tailored to your alumni's interests and needs.

1. Understand Your Audience

It’s essential to understand what appeals to your alumni members. Do they want to know about job opportunities, company news, or alumni events? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your newsletter to their interests and make it more engaging. What industries do they work in, and what topics matter to them? You can always conduct a survey to know where their core interests lie.

2. Choose a Clean, Catchy Design Template

Once you know your audience, it's time to choose a template. A newsletter template can make your job easier and give your newsletter a professional look while reflecting your brand’s colors and style.

Readers need to understand the point of the newsletter immediately, so choose something simple but catchy. You want to engage the reader using a conversational tone and brief but punchy content for easy readability. Content is best digested using short paragraphs, subheadings, and bullet points to break up the text.

3. Keep it Simple

The newsletter doesn’t need every piece of content published in the network and on the company website over the last three months. Choosing a small selection (4-6 items) is more than enough to catch the eye of your busy audience.

Less is more in a newsletter to ensure that it is something alumni look forward to.

4. Make Your Content Sing

Your newsletter's content is crucial to keeping your alumni interested, and it's an essential piece of your overall content strategy. The content should be informative, relevant, and interesting and offer a mix of company news, industry trends, and alumni success stories.

Storytelling is an effective way to connect with your audience, build curiosity, and effectively link to your call-to-action (CTA). The stories you include should primarily link back to your alumni network, encouraging members to log in, and update profiles, while also seeing other content that is relevant to them. Try not to drive them to other website properties.

Collaborate with your alumni and share spotlights on those that have achieved great things, overcame challenges, or have written articles on relevant topics. This will make your newsletter more relatable and interesting. Link content to other partners or thought leaders in the industry space so you can align your company with other experts or to trending topics and events.

5. Utilize a Strong Visual Library

A picture is worth 1,000 words. Imagery and videos are a great way to add visual interest to your newsletter. Use high-quality images and videos that are relevant to the content. Include photos of alumni events, team members, and your company's products or services. Creating your own GIFs to accompany pieces of content also provides a fun and personal touch.

6. Include Call-To-Actions

CTAs are essential to driving engagement and encouraging alumni to act. Include CTAs in your newsletter that encourage alumni to attend events, connect on social media, apply for job openings, and only use brief text to tease an article or blog post. Make sure the CTAs are clear, concise, and easy to follow.

7. Personalize Your Newsletter

Personalizing your newsletter can make it more engaging and help you build stronger relationships with your alumni. Consider including personalized messages, such as congratulating alumni on a recent promotion or acknowledging their work anniversary.

You can also use segmentation to send targeted content to specific groups of alumni based on their interests and needs.

8. Test and Analyze

Once you've created your newsletter, it's essential to test and analyze its effectiveness. Use email marketing software, or the reporting capabilities of a professional alumni management software such as the PeoplePath platform to track alumni metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Use this data to adjust your newsletter and improve its effectiveness over time.

An engaging corporate alumni newsletter will help you stay connected to your former employees. Remember to have fun with it and experiment with different formats and content. And most importantly, keep your alumni at the center of your newsletter by creating content that is personalized and relevant.

With these tips in mind, you'll be well on your way to creating a newsletter that your alumni will look forward to reading every time it lands in their inbox.

Good luck!