It’s like being a kid in a candy store these days, especially online. There are just so many tools, techniques, means, methods, gadgets, and gizmos – all designed to reach your customer, communicate your message, and deliver results.

As you sift through the books, Web sites, blogs, industry examples, and proposals, how do you choose the marketing communications vehicle that will meet your needs?

Here are five key sets of questions that will help you prioritize your marketing communications options:

1.    What are your communication goals? Who are you trying to reach and what actions do you want them to take?
2.    What is your budget? How much is there to spend overall, and what proportion of that do you want to allot to each initiative?
3.    What are the broader missions, mandates, or strategies that you have to adhere to? How well does this proposed solution fit?
4.    What are your available resources, including people, systems, and vendors? Will you have what you need to roll out this particular strategy?
5.    What are the time lines involved and how will this initiative fit into them? Is there a specific launch date or a scheduled event? Does your client have a preset deadline?

Selecting the appropriate communications media then comes down to deciding which ones will help you reach your goals, given your available budget, mandate, resources, and time.

So relax! You don’t need to know about, understand, or try every marketing communication tool that’s around. Avoid overwhelm by setting clear priorities, and make a deliberate choice.

Regular newsletters are a fantastic way to keep in front of your market. With every issue, you have the opportunity to solidify your credibility, likability, and trustworthiness, and reinforce your brand identity. And if you’re doing it right, that’s exactly what will happen.

Of course it needs to look great – a clean, attractive design with your corporate look, white space that makes it easy to read, and pleasant, colourful pictures that capture attention.

But what, exactly, should you put in there? How much news should actually go into a newsletter?

News they can use – This should make up the majority of your newsletter, at least 80%, and includes articles, tips, and industry announcements that teach your readers something they didn’t know or reinforces something they already knew. It has clear applications they can take action on immediately, and plenty of resources (including your products and service) to help them do it.

News about you – If your newsletter was targeted well, your reader is genuinely interested in what you do, and will eagerly want to hear your latest news. Reward their interest with sneak previews of new services, special offers, advanced notice of upcoming events, or other “insider” or “subscribers only” information. Even if your reader simply found your newsletter left behind in a boardroom or on a city bus, if you’ve provided some news they can use, they will usually keep reading.

As entertaining as some marketing communications are, what it all comes down to is whether or not they compel the reader, viewer, or listener to take action.

People take action as a way of meeting their most basic emotional needs. People decide with their feelings and then rationalize their decisions with the facts. If you can match your offer with their needs, you’ll get better results. For example:

People want to belong – Show them that other people, just like them, have taken the same action that you’re asking them to take. Use testimonials, case studies, or stories.

People want to escape pain – Put them in touch with the pain that will continue and worsen if they fail to take action.

People want to experience pleasure – Paint a colourful picture of the benefits and positive feelings waiting for them once they take action.

People want to feel financially secure – Offer a financial incentive to act now, such as a time-limited discount or bonus offer.

Depending on your product or service, you may also want to align your message with people’s needs for fame and fortune, increased wealth, or health and happiness. The inducement will differ with each offer you present, but the result should always be the same: Measurable response with every communication.

There is a new level of immediacy in so many of the written marketing communications vehicles we use today – including blogs, micro-blogs, and Web sites you can update with the click of a button. Your thoughts can be “out there” in an instant. And sometimes that’s not such a good thing.

Here are five levels of editing you can apply to any piece of writing that will maintain your credibility online:

1.    The content. Save your message and walk away from it for at least five or ten minutes, or longer if you can. Then re-read your message from an objective perspective. Is this what you meant to say? Could it be easily misunderstood or inflame controversy? Controversy is not necessarily a bad thing, nor can you always predict it, but it’s helpful to be as prepared as you can.
2.    The spelling and typing. Use your computer’s spell checker to catch any typos or other errors. Reading your message aloud (see the next point) can also help with words that are commonly mixed up (e.g., here and hear). If you’re not sure, look it up.
3.    The grammar and readability. Read your message out loud and ensure your words flow and make sense. Don’t try to combine too many ideas in the same sentence. Run-on sentences make it too hard for your reader to stay with you.
4.    The density. Break up long paragraphs so they are just one or two sentences each. Use lists to highlight key information and to allow the reader to scan through your message.
5.    The framework. Introduce your message, make your point, and then conclude your message.

Remember that just because you CAN share your thoughts with people around the world in an instant doesn’t mean that you SHOULD. So click the pause button before you click the send button, and practice these basic editing tips.