People who subscribe to your newsletter can be huge assets for your business since they have shown interest in not only your products and services but also your brand. Here, we have 33 effective newsletter ideas to help you engage your valuable subscribers.
1. Write An Engaging Subject Line
Subject lines introduce a newsletter to subscribers by providing insight into the content.
47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. Attention-grabbing subject lines improve open rates and encourage replies.
Warby Parker evokes curiosity with this concise and personalized subject line.
2. Create Stand Out Email Designs
Email designs entice viewers to read the newsletter and elevate the readers’ experience.
For Nintendo’s 35th Anniversary newsletter, branded visuals and graphics have been strategically placed around the content hubs.
3. Ensure A Good Mobile Experience
Do you check emails on your phone? The average American spends 4.7 hours on their phone daily, which is why having a good mobile experience is essential.
Create a mobile-friendly newsletter for users to access quickly and easily. Try these 5 tips to make your newsletter convenient for mobile use.
4. Write Clickable Email Body Copy
Add a link in the body text – CTAs, ads, webpage, or content links can promote clickthroughs on your newsletter.
Best practices for email links:
- Link to valuable content
- Label the hyperlink with standard text
- Links align with the goal of the email
- Include at least one CTA
Julie Blanner promotes blogging content through her clickable email newsletter.
5. Interview Your Internal Team Members
You can add value to your email newsletter by interviewing your internal team members about their experience at your company.
Such interviews will help your subscribers learn more about your work culture and ethos, but they will also emphasize the human aspect of your brand — a great way to connect is to humanize.
For instance, sharing how employees in your company benefit from a collaborative work culture where ideas are preferred over hierarchy will boost a subscriber’s confidence in your brand. You can learn more about how employee testimonials help you improve your brand’s image here.
6. Interview Company Stakeholders
Interviewing some major stakeholders in your company, such as a high-ranking executive, like the CEO, CFO, etc., can be an excellent idea for a newsletter.
Your subscribers will be interested to learn how these high-level stakeholders approach their work and their ideas. Moreover, you can base the interview more on the daily activities of these stakeholders, as readers like to learn how such important figures spend their daily lives.
For example, one of Satya Nadella’s interviews about his views on Flexible Work, Metaverse, and the Power of Empathy gained a lot of traction in late 2021.
You should follow these rules while interviewing such stakeholders.
7. Interview Industry & Market Experts
Interviewing industry or market experts is another approach to generating an engaging newsletter for your readers.
You may interview a well-known industry person to help your subscribers learn more about your industry’s latest trends. Such information also helps readers make informed choices about your brand and industry.
For example, Fibre2Fashion has a section on its website where they regularly post interviews with industry experts. They aim to help readers become more informed about industry trends.
8. Interview Your Customers & Share Case Studies
You can easily engage your subscribers by including excerpts from interviews with your customers and sharing case studies.
When it comes to interviews, interaction with the customers works wonders in building confidence in your subscribers. Customer interaction is the most organic way of showing your subscribers how your products and services fare in real life beyond various claims. Case studies tend to have the same effect.
A case study or a customer interview helps your subscribers learn about the real-life performance of your brand. Therefore, you can shift the tide in your favor by using them as newsletter ideas.
9. Share New Helpful Content You’ve Published
It’s always a great idea to share helpful content published by you on your website or other platforms — it adds value to a subscriber.
Content that actually helps users increases the chances of their engagement with your brand and its products and services. Opening a newsletter to find something that adds value is priceless.
For example, if you are a fast fashion brand, your newsletter subscribers will appreciate an article, video, or infographic about pairing different styles with existing clothes in someone’s wardrobe.
10. Curate New Blog Posts From Many Sources
In addition to sharing your own content, you can also share listicles that curate the latest blog posts from multiple sources with your newsletter subscribers.
Such curated lists offer your subscribers a deep insight into the latest trends and industry knowledge. Your subscribers will appreciate your efforts to bring them the best content from various top-notch industry sources.
When you share curated lists of the latest blogs, it saves your subscribers time that they would otherwise spend searching for the latest content pieces in your industry. Therefore, they will see you as a reliable source.
Like other outreach ideas, by guest posting, your newsletter can benefit from relevant blog posts, even if you just share roundups from multiple sources.
You can learn more about curating lists and their uses here.
11. Round Up Books
Creating and sharing book roundups is a great way to engage your subscribers with your newsletter.
Books (including eBooks and audiobooks) constitute a market of more than $87.92 billion.This market expects to reach $124.2 billion by 2025. Books have retained their popularity after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic.
Given the popularity of books, it’s wise to create and share roundups of popular books related to your industry with your subscribers.
You can learn more about books and reading stats here.
12. Curate Industry News Articles
Consider sharing news articles about your industry as a whole, rather than just your brand, in your newsletter. Share curated lists of relevant industry news articles.
This strategy isn’t going to work for every company. If you own a hair salon, for example, your consumers are unlikely to be interested in hearing about the salon business as a whole.
On the other hand, if your company works with blockchain technology, your subscribers will undoubtedly be interested in the most recent blockchain industry news.
You can learn more about curating the most relevant news here.
13. Curate Industry Reports & New Datasets
Comprehensive industry reports and new datasets based on the latest inputs can be great for your newsletter subscribers.
Industry reports help your subscribers understand your industry better and help them make informed decisions. Similarly, new datasets are vital to keeping them up to date about the numbers and figures that drive your business and the industry at large.
You can take a leaf out of SEOFOMO’s book when curating industry reports, guides, resources, news, and datasets, as shown below.
You can look at such newsletter examples and even more here.
14. Recommend Podcasts
Podcasts have revolutionized how people take in information, listen to informative and meaningful discussions, and more. Given the popularity of podcasts in today’s day and age, you can recommend the best podcasts related to your industry to your subscribers.
According to Insider Intelligence, the number of podcast listeners will account for 20.3% of all web users by this year. Therefore, recommending popular, industry-relevant podcasts to your subscribers will prove to be an excellent newsletter idea.
You can use a template like the one used by Wistia to promote a Chris Savage podcast.
You can learn more about podcast discovery here.
15. Round Up New Products & Releases
Before delivering a new service or product, you must pique your audience’s interest. Sending them roundups of new products and services is one way to do this.
You can tell your audience everything about your new product in the newsletter, including its prominent features, release date, use cases, and more.
Your subscribers will queue up on launch day to buy your new product if you send out a newsletter publicizing it. More than 80% of new consumer products fail every year because of a lack of preparation. A new release roundup helps beat these odds.
You can learn more about writing effective product roundups here.
16. Round Up Helpful Videos
Videos are one of the most interactive forms of content and the most readily consumed ones. You can create and share a roundup of helpful videos related to your industry with your newsletter subscribers.
According to Hubspot, people consume more video content than ever before after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, a curated list of helpful videos is a recipe to earn appreciation from your subscribers.
Below is an infographic that shows why marketers use more video than ever.
You can learn more about the benefits of video content here.
17. Curate Content To Share That All Relate To A Theme
You can curate and share a roundup of various content pieces on your website or social media that all fall under a particular theme. The content can include blogs, videos, infographics, and everything in between.
When your subscribers want to find information about a theme, they have to go through different content forms on your website manually. You can make it easier for them by creating theme-specific roundups for your newsletters.
For example, if your brand caters to the digital marketing industry, creating and sharing a roundup about all SEO-related content across your various channels will be immensely valuable to your subscribers.
You can learn more about effective content roundups here.
18. Curate “Best Of” Recommendations From Employees By Themes
Your newsletter can also contain “best of” recommendations from your employees based on particular themes.
“Best of” recommendations based on themes help subscribers find the most relevant and popular content about specific categories that your brand specializes in.
Asking employees to help in this endeavor makes the recommendations stand out as no one understands the themes and content better than them.
19. Spotlight Influencers To Follow
Curating and sharing a list of influencers your subscribers can follow can be a practical newsletter idea.
Influencer marketing has gained immense popularity in the last few years. All of us encounter multiple influencers across fields daily. According to an estimate, the influencer marketing industry will reach $16.4 billion this year.
You can benefit from this tactic because you can later approach these influencers to promote your brand. Therefore, when your subscribers follow influencers recommended by your newsletter, you stand a chance to capitalize on the same.
Learn more about the rise of influencers here.
20. Poll Or Survey Your Subscribers
To keep your subscribers interested, create a survey or a poll and ask for their comments/opinions.
People enjoy expressing their ideas and opinions. Interactive material, such as a poll or a survey, can also help to increase engagement.
Requesting feedback from your subscribers is a fantastic way to keep them involved and also provides you with crucial information that may help you expand your business and keep your consumers satisfied.
You can see below how BookBub uses brief surveys within their emails.
You can create surveys and polls for your newsletters by taking some inspiration here.
21. Ask For Input Via Replies
Another excellent way to extract engagement from users is to ask for their input on your newsletters via replies.
Asking for your subscribers’ input on the content of your newsletter can help you:
- Make informed decisions backed by real data.
- Understand the needs of your customers.
- Improve your newsletters.
For example, if you are opening a new store in a city, you can ask your subscribers for their input about the purported location of that store — whether it will be a good decision or not.
You can learn more about asking for input/feedback using newsletters here.
22. Answer Subscribers’ Questions
You can curate a list of questions your subscribers pose and then share a newsletter with the answers to all of those questions.
When you answer various questions your subscribers pose, they feel like your brand values them. This helps build significant trust between you and your subscribers.
Trust goes a long way in shaping your subscribers into long-term and loyal customers of your products and services.
You can learn more about the value of building trust as a brand here.
23. Share Case Studies
Your company’s social evidence comes in the form of case studies and testimonials. When a subscriber reads about one of your delighted customers’ success stories, it inspires them to become a customer as well.
In fact, according to social proof data, 92 percent of individuals will trust a peer suggestion, and 70 percent will trust a referral from someone they don’t know.
As a result, like Patagonia, you should create and share newsletters highlighting your brand’s case studies, evaluations, and testimonials.
24. Share Quick Tips & Best Practices
Target audiences take up articles and blogs that cover quick tips or best practices about a particular topic like hotcakes. Therefore, you can also use them to engage your subscribers in your newsletters.
The popularity of such content pieces results from their utility in a user’s life. Quick tips and best practices help users avoid mistakes as they approach a particular task.
For example, if you want to start a new blog, reading an article containing best practices and quick tips for first-time bloggers will help you immensely.
Additionally, make it a point to perform thorough keyword research and include the relevant keywords in the titles of such a newsletter(we will recommend using keywords in all your newsletters).
25. Share A Single, Simple Monthly Tip
Sharing a monthly tip to help your subscribers navigate something they might encounter regularly can be a great newsletter idea.
If your newsletter can become a source of bringing some ease into your subscribers’ lives, it is sure to generate better engagement and subscriber retention. Just make sure that you only share relevant tips by grouping your subscribers based on their interests.
For example, if your business caters to content marketing and your subscribers are budding content writers, you can share a detailed tip every month by referring to this blog post to help them improve various aspects of their writing skills.
26. Share Simple Step-By-Step Achievements
You can inform your subscribers and engage them by sharing your business achievements over the years.
You should list such achievements and share them in a chronological, step-by-step format with each newsletter iteration.
Your subscribers will be interested to learn about your brand’s success journey in simplified steps. For instance, if your subscribers include budding entrepreneurs in your industry, who aim to make it big, such newsletters will inspire them and help them tread their path by following in your business’s footsteps.
27. Share One Story Per Newsletter
Telling a story in your newsletter can be a highly effective way of engaging your subscribers and holding their attention.
If your newsletter contains one story per iteration, your subscribers will be able to connect with your brand through that story. According to Search Engine Watch, storytelling can boost conversion rates by 30%.
A case study by Sleeknote concluded that their email engagement increased considerably by telling stories, as can be seen below.
28. Share An Opinion Or Insider’s Perspective
You can improve engagement in your newsletter by sharing opinion pieces and insider perspectives about the hot topics in your industry. In other words, you can use expert opinion to hold the attention of your newsletter subscribers.
While there can be multiple perspectives about a given topic of debate in an industry, a user would always be interested in hearing from the insiders and learning about their informed opinion.
For example, a subscriber will be interested to read about your company’s CEO’s take on a raging debate over the ethics of using cryptocurrency if you are a blockchain-based company.
You can learn more about writing engaging opinion articles for your newsletter here.
29. Share Thought Leadership Advice
Are there any industry viewpoints or updates on which you have a distinct point of view? Are there any prevalent misconceptions that need to be dispelled?
You can act as a thought leader and expertly put your opinion across to offer a different perspective about any such topic. This method is excellent for educating your audience and setting yourself apart from your competition.
For example, suppose there is a discussion about the profitability of electric cars when compared to gas-powered ones. In that case, the advice of a thought leader and industry insider like Elon Musk will intrigue and interest subscribers.
You can learn more about writing compelling thought leadership pieces here.
30. Share A New Or Interesting Fact Per Newsletter
You can make your newsletter a source of new and interesting facts for your subscribers. All you need is to limit the number of facts to one per newsletter — to avoid information overload and help retain the user’s interest.
In this way, you can pique the interest of your subscribers and keep them waiting for your newsletters to learn the latest and most interesting facts about your industry or your brand.
Now I Know is a free daily newsletter that helps its subscribers learn one interesting fact per day. You can see it in action below.
31. Share “Lasterday’s Lessons” (Challenges You’ve Overcome)
You can make your newsletter a source of inspiration and a guide to finding success by sharing Lasterday’s lessons with your subscribers.
You can help your subscribers learn about the challenges you faced in your business journey and offer them the methods you adopted to overcome them.
From Career Contessa’s video below, you can learn how you can approach putting Lasterday’s challenges into words to make them palatable for your subscribers.
32. Share “What I Wish I Knew When”
People tend to resonate with and learn from the “what I wish I knew when” type of content. Therefore, you can adopt the same strategy as a newsletter idea.
Such content pieces are popular because they offer a learning opportunity for readers and help them navigate through challenges that you faced as a beginner in your field/industry.
For example, this post on Medium is a popular Google search result when searching for “I wish I knew when I started as a content creator.” Your newsletter can achieve the same popularity if you approach this content format correctly.
33. Create “Seasons” Of Monthly Or Quarterly Themes
You can make your newsletter interesting for your subscribers by introducing “seasons” defined by monthly or quarterly themes.
Doing so keeps things exciting and saves your newsletter from becoming monotonous. Therefore, you can ensure that your subscribers keep anticipating your newsletters because of their novel themes monthly or quarterly.
You can take inspiration for monthly (or quarterly) themes for your newsletter from this post by Heidi Cohen.
