Email Newsletter Plan: A 7-Day Guide to Developing an Effective Email Newsletter
To create an engaging and effective company newsletter, focus on planning, content creation, design, and marketing. Here's a seven-day guide to help you achieve that goal.
Day 1: Planning
- Define clear goals and objectives: Decide what you want your newsletter to achieve, such as informing employees, celebrating successes, or reinforcing company values. Clear goals keep your newsletters purposeful and measurable.
- Understand your audience: Segment your readers by roles, departments, or locations to tailor content that is relevant and personal. Personalized subject lines and dynamic content boost engagement.
- Develop a content strategy: Avoid overwhelming readers by compartmentalizing topics—short, focused updates more frequently and longer, in-depth editions quarterly. Use consistent formatting like a table of contents and section headings for easy navigation.
Day 2: Content Creation
- Craft compelling, relevant content: Include articles, success stories, tips, and company news that resonate with your audience’s interests and needs.
- Write attention-grabbing headlines: Use formulas such as how-tos, numbered lists, questions, or benefit-driven phrases to spark curiosity and clarify value.
- Make content scannable: Use short paragraphs, bullet points, subheadings, and bold key phrases to enable quick reading and comprehension.
- Add a personal touch: Incorporate brief messages or motivational notes to build a human connection with readers.
Day 3: Design
- Create an engaging, branded design: Use your logo, consistent fonts, and your brand’s color palette to make newsletters professional and recognizable.
- Keep it visually clean: Simple layouts with high-quality images and adequate white space enhance readability and appeal.
- Add interactivity: Include multimedia elements like videos, clickable links, and GIFs for immersive engagement. Interactive elements such as embedded lead capture forms can encourage feedback and list growth.
Day 4: Design (Continued)
- Use a single-column layout, large fonts, and big buttons for mobile design. With an estimated 81% of email opens taking place on a mobile device, it's essential to design the newsletter with small screens in mind.
- Limit the number of typefaces to two or three for visual appeal.
Day 5: Marketing & Distribution
- Choose the best send times: Industry data suggest Tuesdays and Thursdays are optimal days, but test different days and times to find what works best for your audience.
- Use segmented sending and personalization: Tailor newsletters to different groups to maximize relevance and open rates.
- Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Feature one primary CTA per newsletter aligned with your goals, using buttons or hyperlinked text to guide readers effectively.
Day 6: Final Touches
- Proofread each link in the newsletter.
- Share a sneak peek of the newsletter on social media to promote it and increase sign-ups.
- Set up a confirmation email in the newsletter service for new subscribers.
- Test and make sure everything looks and works as it should before sending the newsletter blast.
Day 7: Launch
- Schedule the newsletter to be sent at an optimal time.
- Continuously attract subscribers to the website via subscriber buttons.
- Update the subscriber list with any new customers or contacts.
- Share the "subscribe" link far and wide to grow the subscriber list.
By integrating these elements, your company newsletter can become a valuable communication tool that informs, inspires, and connects, rather than being ignored.
- On Day 1 of planning, consider including sections on education-and-self-development and personal-growth within the content strategy. Short, focused updates on topics like learning new skills or professional development can promote personal growth among employees.
- Day 5's marketing and distribution strategies can benefit from incorporating learning materials, such as how-to articles or training videos, to enhance the value of the newsletter and encourage continued learning and self-development among readers.
