Write HOA newsletters with your community readers in mind. When homeowners associations create HOA newsletters, they’re making something that has the potential to bring about more engagement, greater interest, and better participation from members of the community. To make an HOA community newsletter that gets traction among your readers, there’s an order of things to follow. You want an HOA newsletter that caters to your community’s specific needs, so take the time to figure those out first.
Let’s look at the crucial tips on how to write HOA newsletters that leave an impression. When you’re done going through all the tips below, we have a bonus HOA newsletter template waiting for you, too!
Write HOA Newsletters That Make An Impact — Here’s How
The first thing that an HOA community newsletter should do is to inform – let your readers know about upcoming meetings, news, and other information they might find valuable. The newsletter for your HOA members could also inform residents about upcoming events, warnings to prepare for, and important information related to community maintenance.
Create HOA newsletters with a goal to inform your readers in mind. With that line of thought, you’ll be on your way to making a newsletter for your HOA that communicates well.
1. Understand Your Readership
To write HOA newsletters that make a difference, you need to understand who your readers are. First, consider where you are located. Then factor in the demographics – whether your community has young families, older residents, or students. Plan your HOA community newsletter based on these reader facts, and you can be sure that your content is attractive to your reader base.
On the other hand, failing to take the time to understand your readership otherwise means your newsletters may just end up in the spam folder. If you want your community members to read your newsletter and learn about important community events, consider their interests.
2. Attract Your Target Readers
Considering what kind of residents your community has, try to write HOA newsletters that include valuable information that are beneficial to their homes. For example, if most of the houses have large backyards, have one article that discusses lawn care, gardening, and other similar content that will provide value to your residents. Depending on where your community is located, articles can be based on the season or local concerns that residents will relate to. This is a great way to write HOA newsletters that are more attractive to your residents.
3. Write HOA Newsletters With Valuable Content
Writing valuable content for your readers is something that will make them look forward to your newsletter. Be sure to have consistent columns that residents can count on because it will encourage your resident readers to be loyal and have their expectations met regularly.
Try to tailor your content around relevant issues your residents may be facing or current events in your local city. This is a great way to build a following of your newsletter.
4. Include Community Members in Your Content
Creating a personal connection to your community newsletter should be your top priority. Including members of your HOA and your community is wise to motivate residents to establish closer relationships. Including a featured resident or HOA member is an excellent way to further develop relationships in your community through your HOA newsletter.
5. Promote Transparency of Your HOA’s Practices
One of the primary complaints about any HOA is when residents question what they are paying for. Your HOA newsletter is your opportunity to greatly help clarify what their membership dues are being used towards. Consider showcasing current improvement projects or services the HOA is providing to residents in engaging articles. This will create value in having an HOA for residents and help promote transparency about your HOA’s practices.
6. Have a Current Events Section
Your HOA should be hosting community events to further develop relationships between your residents. Having a current events section that is marked and colorful will enable residents to know when events are occurring that may be beneficial to them.
7. Have an Announcement Section with Key Reminders
In addition to your current event’s section, it is beneficial to have an announcement section with new rules, regulations, or deadlines that residents need to be aware of. For example, if the trash day is changing, put it in the announcement section to clarify the date change with residents.
8. Write Simple Effective Passages
Residents do not always have time to read your community newsletter. Write HOA newsletters with short and effective passages that make readers pay attention. A great way to do this is to put bullet point lists or divided up text combined with attractive design to further engage residents. If it has heavy blocks of paragraphs, you will seldom have a resident reading the entire body of text, which could cause them to miss important information as a result.
9. Add Photos and Graphics
Photographs and graphics are an excellent way to make your newsletter more attractive. Make sure you are using photographs of your community or resident events to make it more engaging. This will make your residents have a personal connection to your community newsletter and will make the text separate and easier to read. If you do not have current photos, inserting graphics is another excellent tip to make your community newsletter look more professional to your residents.
It’s also great to come up with your HOA’s own newsletter design. A graphic designer can easily help you with this.
10. Proofread Your Newsletter
Writing a newsletter can be very time-consuming. However, it is important to be sure that it is polished and professional. You need to proofread the text you are writing to make it look professional. Proofreading your newsletter is an additional effort that will have a substantial impact on your community’s perception of the newsletter.
11. Invite Community Members to Contribute
Having one guest column is a great way to have community members engaged in their HOA community newsletter. Neighbors may recognize the writer or even want to participate in the editorial process. This is a great way to further develop community relationships by giving residents a voice in your HOA newsletter.
12. Balance Advertising Carefully
Residents will not want to wade through a bunch of ads in a newsletter to get to the sections they want to read. It is important to balance advertisements that are relevant and useful to community members. Advertising revenue is beneficial to HOAs, and when used sparingly, can even add legitimacy to your publication.
Placing the ads in the back part of the newsletter is a good way to give relevant content priority. Limiting adverts to one per page or on every other page are also good ways to divide up ads.
A well-balanced ad layout ensures that residents can enjoy the content, feel a connection, and then respond to the advertisements that are relevant to their current needs.
13. Make Your HOA Newsletter Accessible
Making your HOA newsletter accessible is vital to the success of your HOA with your residents. HOA newsletters were previously distributed by paper. Now, it is important to have both an email distribution and perhaps a set of paper newsletters for common areas. This enables residents several different ways to have access to the newsletter and go with the one they prefer.
Bonus Tip: Send Your Newsletter Often
Balancing how often to send your HOA’s newsletter is important. Make sure to send it at least monthly or bi-weekly at maximum. Residents will value a monthly newsletter more because they will have time to read it. Be sure to carefully consider how often your newsletter is going out to avoid reader fatigue.
Click here to download this FREE HOA Newsletter Template from Cedar Management Group
How We Can Help You Write HOA Newsletters That People Want to Read
Writing HOA newsletters the right way can easily increase engagement and involvement among community residents. It is important that the HOA newsletter is written informatively, designed attractively, and distributed accordingly. If you need help with creating HOA newsletters that will resonate with your readers, let us help you.
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