As moments in my week go, 1 pm on a Monday is high up on the list.

Because that’s when Colby Kultgen’s 1% Better newsletter lands in my inbox, and it’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll read it right away. His emails are:

• Educational, not self-promotional
• Always sharp, relevant, and interesting
• Consistent – I know what to expect and when
• Well-written (by a human!) with a clear design and structure.

The trouble is that many financial adviser/planner newsletters don’t have that same impact.

Instead, we see the same basic mistakes. The kind that undermine your credibility, reduce trust, and make it harder to nurture prospects.

Here are seven of the most common problems, and how to fix them.

1. Broken links and typos

Unsurprisingly, these are huge credibility killers. It’s the digital equivalent of inviting a client for a meeting at your office but sending them to the wrong address or forgetting their name.

When your newsletter contains errors you could have easily avoided, what does that subconsciously tell readers about your attention to detail with their hard-earned money?

It isn’t just about trust either. Every broken link is a missed opportunity to measure what your audience engages with.

This is exactly why we combine technology with the power of two fully employed proofreaders (Rebecca and Tom) at Yardstick. Every piece of content we produce has at least two pairs of human eyes on it, and they’ll pick up things we know tools like ChatGPT often miss. When it comes to protecting your reputation, your work deserves more than a robot’s once-over.

2. Low engagement

If you outsource your newsletter, the provider should give you detailed management report information, including open and click-through rates. Understanding how many people open (and click the links within) your newsletter is important.

If numbers are low, that’s a clear sign your content is missing the mark.

And, much like one bad experience with the dentist puts you off for life, one boring, irrelevant, or error-laden newsletter means readers might ignore your future emails.

3. Signing up for a service that isn’t fully “done-for-you”

Buying content off the shelf is only part of the job; you still need to add it to your website, build the newsletter, check it, and then hit “send”. And let’s face it, that’s not your day job and you have time pressures like everyone else.

Paying for a service that only gives you the content, doesn’t include distribution, and requires significant input from you is how newsletters end up being sent late, skipped, or forgotten entirely. But it’s consistency that builds trust and engagement over time.

Writing the content is just one piece of the puzzle. A truly done-for-you service also handles proofreading, compliance approval, uploading the articles to your website, building, checking, and sending the newsletter, managing your database, and producing a performance report.

4. Including links to third-party websites

Your newsletter should be a touchpoint with your brand, not someone else’s.

By including links to other people’s work, you’re sending your audience straight into someone else’s arms. It positions you as a curator of content rather than a subject matter expert.

There will be times when an important piece of external content deserves a place in your newsletter – for example, when you quote valuable research – but that should be the exception to the rule.

5. Content written for you, not your clients

Too many newsletters fail because they’re written for the sender, not the reader.

Long, technical articles might feel impressive and interesting to you, but they’ll likely feel jargon-heavy and boring to your audience. If you don’t speak to your clients’ financial challenges, pain points, and aspirations in their preferred style, your newsletter won’t connect with them.

In other words, meet them where they are. Don’t expect them to come to you.

Ask yourself: what keeps my clients and prospects awake at night? Address those concerns with your content. And, when it comes to length, we’ve found the sweet spot to be around 1,000 words per article. Long enough to add value, short enough to hold attention.

6. Sending newsletters as PDFs or in the post

Printed or PDF newsletters can look great, but that’s where the benefits end.

With PDFs, you can’t access data to show who visited the blogs on your website, how long they spent there, or if they left your site after reading. Equally, they don’t help with SEO, add unnecessary extra clicks for the reader, are a pain to update, and aren’t mobile friendly.

We understand that you may have clients who don’t (or won’t) have an email address, but they’re going to be few and far between. Postal newsletters are inherently slower than digital communication, can be easily lost in transit, can’t be amended once sent, and aren’t great for the planet. And, much like PDFs, your ability to track their effectiveness is limited.

Finally, both options are expensive to produce, which likely means you’ll send them less frequently than you should.

With that in mind, we recommend you upload each blog to your website as an individual web page and send your newsletters digitally using a reputable email platform.

7. Choosing quarterly over monthly

Sending a newsletter every three months simply isn’t enough to stay front of mind with clients, prospects, and professional connections.

When readers hear from you monthly, you have four times as many opportunities to educate, inform, and add value. You create more touchpoints with your brand, reinforcing trust and familiarity. You also build rhythm – clients know when to expect your newsletter and look out for it.

And before you say it, no, you’re absolutely not “bombarding clients”.

A couple of years ago, we took over a client from another marketing agency that recommended sending newsletters quarterly. The two they sent in the first half of 2022 had open rates of 48.99% and 43.57%. At the end of the year, we moved them to monthly newsletters. Their open rate leapt up to an average of 73.97%.

Have a read of our definitive guide to why you should send newsletters monthly, not quarterly, for six more reasons why monthly is the sweet spot.

Be 1% Better

As Marcus Sheridan told us in this week’s webinar, “If I don’t do it, someone else will. The question is – am I ok with that?” If you’re not educating, engaging, and building trust with your clients, prospects, and professional connections through a monthly newsletter, someone else will. Are you ok with that?

If not, we can help. Our two newsletter services are designed for you and your audience.

For you, they:

• Save time: Every step, from writing to sending, is handled for you
• Build consistency: Regular, high-quality contact keeps you front of mind
• Deliver insight: You receive full reporting on how your newsletter performs.

And, for your readers, they:

• Add genuine value: Clear, relevant articles help them make better financial decisions
• Build trust: Useful, educational content strengthens their relationship with you
• Remind them you care: It’s proof they matter beyond review meetings.

To find out more about the newsletter services trusted by 323 financial services firms, email abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call the office on 0115 896 5300 to arrange a chat.