If you send out regular email newsletters but are coming up short on inspiration, this guide is for you! Customers and clients may start to turn a blind eye to your emails if you aren’t able to hold their interest. But on the flip side, great content can be a huge boost for your business! Did you know that 68% of marketers feel that a newsletter is one of their top tools for achieving business goals? Not only that, but around 90% of consumers prefer to receive updates and sales via email, as compared to social media sites like Facebook.
So if you need some quick ideas to get the ball rolling, here are 50 thought-starters to craft a great newsletter, grab your audience’s attention, and encourage interaction and sales.
Company Information
It’s always a good idea to keep subscribers in the know about your company, and email newsletters are a perfect way to fill them in about recent milestones, awards and good press.
- Favorable articles about your company
- Business changes that impact customers
- A company anniversary or milestone
- Recent award nominations or wins
- A list of open positions for hire
- Monthly business recap
- A behind-the-scenes look at your company
- A message from the CEO
- Insight into your company’s history
- Important dates to keep in mind
Product Updates and How-Tos
Of course, you’ll want to provide product updates in your email newsletters, but the key is to mix-up the formats. Sure, text is great, but try including videos, photos and other images to provide cool visuals along with the content text. Here are some ideas:
- New use cases and case studies
- A product video how-to
- Little known uses for your product or service
- Updates about new products and releases
- An exclusive tip of the month
- Images of your mobile app in action
- Partner mobile app reviews
- Deals and discounts
- A cool new best practice or tip
- New vendors for your products/services (like new stores or websites)
Content, Content, Content
There are so many opportunities to build your audience with content that’s not directly related to your company or product. So, be sure to make room for something fun and educational. Content often performs better than promotions—and constant “me-talk” can grow tiresome. Here are some ideas for great content:
- A top ten list
- A survey or poll
- Quotes—motivational or just plain funny (if appropriate)
- Recent studies or surveys related to your business
- Statistics and data points
- Infographics
- Updates about your social channels
- A guest blog post you’ve written for another company or brand
- Third-party apps and tools your audience would find useful
- A roundup of your most popular blogs, videos, or services from the month or year
Put a Human Face on Your Business
Building personal relationships with your subscribers helps you develop brand loyalty and a sense of trust—and people are more likely to trust your business if they know that real, live people work there. Use your email newsletters to spotlight your teams and add personality.
- A team spotlight with pictures and bios
- An interview with one of your executives
- New hire bios
- A “Dear Abby” type advice column
- Photos your customers have shared
- A blog post from someone on your team
- A meet-the-customer-support-agents post
- Positive feedback from customers
- Information on your customer loyalty program
- A “Thank You” to donors, event attendees, or customers
Help & Support
Newsletters are also a great way to proactively reduce the volume of help desk calls or emails. Posting FAQs, challenge resolutions, resources, and training classes helps people find the answers they need without involving your customer service department.
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs) with answers
- A customer service case and resolution
- Before and after stories
- New training opportunities
- Free resources, like white papers and guides
Event Information
You’ll definitely want to mention any upcoming events in your email newsletters, too. You’ve probably promoted the event in other ways, so this is just an additional chance to build excitement, sell tickets, or increase views.
- Upcoming events and webinars
- Webcast recordings of past events
- Information about an event you’re sponsoring
- Partner events related to your business
- Community service initiatives
I hope these 50 email newsletter ideas get your creative juices flowing next time you want to reach out to the audience you’ve worked so hard to build. Remember, subscribers have chosen to receive emails, so they want to hear from you!
Before you go, here are some final tips for creating successful newsletters:
- Don’t flood them with emails.
- Your newsletter shouldn’t always be about selling something.
- Publish content on a regular basis.
- Remember that a good newsletter doesn’t have to be wordy. Content is key!
- The title is important. Think about how it’s going to read when it pops up in their inbox.
- Make sure it’s mobile-friendly.
- Include your social media links at the bottom of every newsletter.
My thanks to sponsor Campaign Monitor for providing part of the content of this guide.
These are great tips for marketers who are in a rut. Thank you!
I love the idea of sending out my email newsletter more often. I don’t think I’ve touched it in over six months 🙁 Thanks for a good reminder and ideas.
You have inspired me to actually put more life into my newsletter. Thank you for the fun prompt.
I am trying to get better at emailing my list, but I get stuck! I grew my list but haven’t reached out to them in so long!
I always struggle about what to include in my newsletter. I definitely want to work on it this year.
These are helpful and important tips for a newslatter. I should make some changes to improve it. Thanks for the great ideas!
This is so helpful! Sometimes I lack on ideas to put, thank you for the tips!
These are great ideas. I like to do a top ten list here and there. I find people like them.
Yes, I really like to read Top 10 lists myself!